Hailing From Nagazora/Dialogue

**Motorist:** Phew~

**Comms:** What’s up… You’re all good, right?

**Motorist:** No problem here. I just need to adjust its speed.

**Comms:** Don’t force it! This isn’t a drill.

**Motorist:** I’ll just do what I can and leave the navigating to you.

**Comms:** I’ll take care of it! I won’t miss a single detail…

**Comms:** Huh… when did these red dots show up?

**Motorist:** Huh?

**Comms:** T-That’s not good. Several enemies incoming. Get ready for an assault!

**Motorist:** Of course the tunnel is blocked.

**Comms:** Yep, just as my investigation revealed, Nagazora has already been overrun!

**Motorist:** But it looks like a bit of quick maneuvering should give us an edge.

**Comms:** Right… I’ll be extra careful not to miss any more enemy signals!

**Motorist:** Don’t sweat it, you caught them just in time.

**Comms:** Ah… Wait a sec!

**Comms:** More enemy reinforcements!

**Comms:** Huh, this reading…

**Comms:** Look out! Big one incoming!

**Motorist:** …!

**Comms:** We could try to lose it? But the tunnel…

**Motorist:** Don’t worry, I’ll think of something.

**Comms:** But…

**Motorist:** Once I lose it, I’ll meet you at a predetermined spot in Nagazora.

And just to make sure we can’t be tracked, we’ll have to cut communication for now. See you in a bit!

*[CG plays wherein the bike Seele was driving, Project Bunny’s USAGI Kinetik form, fades away:*

***Seele:** Good job, Bunny.*]

--

#### Gameplay 36-2 - Mystery

Gameplay 36-2 - Mystery:

We’ve finally entered Nagazora.

**Seele:** This place… is still waiting to be rebuilt.

**Seele:** …Let’s meet up with my partner first. She should be nearby.

**Seele:** Ah, that’s…

*[CG plays wherein Susannah stands behind a pillar, disguising herself in a trenchcoat, cap and glasses:*

***Susannah:** Front, left, right and rear… all clear!*

***Susannah:** Ready for rendezvous!*

***Susannah:** Go ahead!*]

**Seele:** Hello, Susannah.

**Susannah:** Be one with your surroundings…

**Seele:** Hmm?

**Susannah:** Hold your breath…

**Seele:** S-Susannah…?

**Susannah:** Huh…

**Susannah:** Whoaaa━! How did you find me?

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** (She doesn’t… think she’s doing a good job at hiding, does she?)

**Susannah:** I-I didn’t think my painstakingly prepared disguise would be seen through so quickly…

**Susannah:** As a Valkyrie, my combat experience is still an issue.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Susannah… You’re really nervous, huh?

**Susannah:** Huh?

**Seele:** Because you’re not usually like this. Everyone already thinks you’re a fantastic Valkyrie.

**Susannah:** But you have so much more experience! Battling Otto, being on the moon, always on the frontlines risking it all in combat!

**Seele:** But I thought we had already gone over this… When we were getting ready?

**Susannah:** Well… maybe we could work together as equals on this mission then?

**Susannah:** I-I mean… I’ve been at Schicksal for so long. And I was promoted… I-I will do my best to believe in myself!

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** (Seems like… The only thing to do is ease her anxieties by doing this mission…)

**Seele:** Alright then… Susannah. It’s not too late, let’s get to work.

**Susannah:** A-Alright, come with me!

**Susannah:** I’ve set up a safe house not too far ahead, let’s get inside and contact HQ.

**Susannah:** But be careful. The city is crawling with Incognito. There’s no telling when we’ll run into one…

**Susannah:** …L-Like now!

**Susannah:** (Seele… if you weren’t here, I would have lost for sure.)

…

**Susannah:** Ah, Seele, before going into the safe house, we have one more problem to fix…

**Seele:** Is that… a transceiver used for secret communications?

**Susannah:** Yep, it allows us to contact the HQ undetected. But not long ago… this device was wrecked by Incognito’s automatic mechas.

**Susannah:** And they’re a bad bunch! Every time I try to repair it, they’ll come mess with me… Speak of the devil!

**Seele:** You focus on repairing. Leave the rest to me.

…

**Susannah:** Done! With Seele around, everything becomes much easier~

…

**Susannah:** Let’s go into the safe house, this way.

…

**Susannah:** Oh, watch out for the triple traps I set when entering, I’ll tell you how to avoid them!

**Seele:** Huh? Uh, okay…

…

**Susannah:** Tada~ This place has a special vibe, doesn’t it?

**Susannah:** “Detective Seele and her assistant Susannah are going to find the real culprit behind what’s gone down in this room!”

**Seele:** Haha, sure. It’s certainly secluded enough.

**Susannah:** The local security office lent it to us. They heard Schicksal was coming to help with the investigation and hurried to find someplace safe for us.

**Seele:** (But all these fancy decorations… are probably her doing, right?)

**Seele:** It looks like they’re in need of some serious help. Let’s go and contact HQ then.

…

**Susannah:** Yeah!

**Seele:** (Huh? This is…)

**Seele:** (Must have been a trick of the light…)

Susannah walked over to the desk and opened the terminal there. After entering a series of clearance keys, a communication screen appeared, along with a rather impatient voice…

**???:** What have you gotten yourself into this time, Susannah?

**Susannah:** I’m s-sorry, Dr. Tesla!

**Susannah:** And nothing, I’m not in any mess this time! Just checking in like ordinary!

**Seele:** Dr. Tesla, hello.

**Tesla:** Oh, Seele, are you in Nagazora already? That was quicker than Mophead and I expected. It seems the breakthrough operation with Project Bunny went well.

**Seele:** Correct. Project Bunny’s ride mode performed excellently. I was able to break through the Incognito blockade thanks to it.

**Einstein:** I saw the combat logs. I didn’t know Incognito could get their hands on an RPC VTOL Craft.

**Tesla:** It’s a bunch of bandits in charge here. All they did was block the tunnel with that huge weapon; it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of strategy.

**Einstein:** But Project Bunny probably lost a lot of energy dealing with it.

**Seele:** That’s right. Project Bunny powered down and couldn’t change configuration afterward.

**Einstein:** This is the real risk of this fight. Even though you’re Project Bunny’s original owner and can utilise most of its functions, you’re unable to recharge it.

**Einstein:** It’s been fighting alongside its current owner for a while now. It’s changed and evolved many times; its energy system has formed a near-symbiotic relationshgip with its current owner.

**Seele:** So it would seem.

**Susannah:** Huh? So if we don’t return it to its current owner, Bronya, it can’t recharge? Then the next fight…

**Tesla:** You won’t be able to use it. Don’t think too much about it, it’s a one-and-done deal… Wait, wasn’t this all shared with you at the start of the plan?

**Susannah:** Ah… right, yes it was! I remember, of course! Just making sure, hehe!

**Susannah:** But with all the restrictions on Project Bunny, why doesn’t HQ just send Bronya to fight herself?

**Seele:** Bronya recently set out on a very important mission, so she can’t be here with us.

**Einstein:** A very important mission…?

**Tesla:** …

The two professors’ expressions became quizzical.

**Susannah:** That’s Bronya for you! It must be more urgent than our mission here, huh? But if that’s true…

**Susannah:** You probably know what her mission is, Seele?

**Seele:** Well… I asked at the time, but Bronya refused to tell me. She just had a look of accomplishment and said she was looking forward to it.

**Seele:** She also said it was going to change everything and that it was going to be like no one’s ever seen. But she was speaking too quickly for me to catch what she was talking about.

**Einstein:** Ahem… We might have some idea about this.

**Seele:** Really? Professor, what is Bronya up to?

**Einstein:** You’ve heard of Schicksal’s Restructuring Plan, yes?

**Susannah:** Right, Alvitr and the others mentioned it. The merger of two organisations, Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.

**Einstein:** Right. Anti-Entropy used to be independent of Schicksal, but now there’s no longer a conflict of ideas between them.

**Einstein:** Since it doesn’t make sense to operate separately, it’s more efficient to join forces.

**Einstein:** And it seems like Dr. Tesla is excited to teach the people at Nagamitsu Labs how to make weapons.

**Tesla:** Ha, it’s not my fault the person in charge is lazy and no one there has taste.

**Seele:** So did Bronya go to help the merger with Theresa and the others?

**Tesla:** Not exactly… She went to help with another issue that’s arisen with the merger.

**Einstein:** To keep it brief, there’s contention over who will be in charge after the merger.

**Susannah:** Let me think… Since it’s Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, it makes sense that it’d be the Schicksal Overseer and Anti-Entropy Sovereign that are in charge, no?

**Seele:** If I remember right, Mr. Yang was temporarily aligned with both organisations in the past…

**Einstein:** Right. They should have worked it out whether it's Overseer Theresa or Welt Yang in charge, but…

**Tesla:** Welt came to us and said he wanted to step down from his role and go into animation!

**Seele:** Huh? Go into… animation?

**Susannah:** Ah, I know! I watched Arahato when I was a kid. It was directed by Mr. Yang himself!

**Einstein:** …That’s right. Anti-Entropy has dabbled in the industry before to raise funds.

**Einstein:** But it seems like he wants to dedicate himself to production now. He’s even changed his title in the Internal Communications Software to “Art Designer”…

**Susannah:** Mr. Yang is so cool!

**Tesla:** Oh knock it off!

**Susannah:** S-Sorry!

**Seele:** So about Bronya then…

**Einstein:** It seems you’ve already figured it out. Bronya was always interested in making games, and Anti-Entropy is expanding into video games…

**Einstein:** So now Bronya is working by Joachim’s side, interning as an R&D engineer.

**Seele:** So that’s what she meant by “stay tuned”. She was talking about her game…

**Seele:** Yep. Sounds like her.

**Susannah:** But wait… if Mr. Yang gives up leadership, that means…

**Tesla:** Right. Theresa will take over as the new Schicksal Overseer. Ugh, that title is so old-fashioned… Couldn’t you guys think of anything else?

**Susannah:** Hmm…

**Susannah:** (Overseer Theresa is pretty easy-going. She’s not that pretentious.)

**Susannah:** But… won’t leading two organisations at once be too much pressure for her? Or worse… all the power goes to her head, and she tries to take over the world?)

**Susannah:** (Die a hero or live long enough to become the villain!)

**Seele:** Susannah, you alright?

**Susannah:** Huh? Yeah? Why?

**Seele:** You were quietly staring at the ceiling for a few minutes now…

**Susannah:** Oh, it’s nothing! Not rambling on about Overseer Theresa becoming a villain or anything!

**Seele:** But you just said…

**Einstein:** We’re a bit off track. Let’s get back to what’s going on with Nagazora.

**Einstein:** About two weeks ago, our scouts in Nagazora reported witnessing an incident… an attack on a chemical manufacturing plant. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

**Einstein:** In the two weeks since, there have been several other related incidents. Attacks on not just factories, but company buildings, warehouses, and even residential buildings.

**Einstein:** A week after the attacks, a group called Incognito claimed responsibility through the internet and flyers left at the scene of the crime.

**Einstein:** They say Incognito is a massive organisation with a ton of high-tech mechas and weapons and that they’re planning on putting the city in lockdown within a week.

**Einstein:** But there’s no word on why they’re going to attack and blockade the city.

**Tesla:** Nagazora’s still in ruins. With only a temporary police force in place, there’s no way they’ll be able to fight off a group that size. So it’s up to us then.

**Tesla:** Susannah, you’re in charge of investigating. Seele, you’re in charge of combat. You two need to find out Incognito’s motives, their members, and the location of their hideout.

**Tesla:** And, if you have the chance, clear them out. That’s the basic briefing for your mission. Is everything clear?

**Susannah:** Crystal!

**Seele:** Yes.

**Einstein:** Then proceed with your investigation in the city. Dr. Tesla and I will serve as your intelligence support. Other than that…

Both Seele and Susannah’s communication devices sounded off as they received a message.

**Tesla:** We’ve found the perfect guide for you while you’re here; head out and rendezvous with her. No one knows the city like she does.

--

#### Gameplay 36-3 - Old Roost

After ending their communication with the professors, Seele and Susannah went to a small corner of Nagazora to look for their guide.

**Seele:** This place is…

**Susannah:** It’s something else, isn’t it? This makeshift village was built by the residents of Nagazora after the destruction of their city.

**Susannah:** Since it’s built like a sphere, it got the name…

**Sora:** …It’s called the Roost.

**Seele:** Oh, you are…

**Sora:** Hello Miss Seele. And… Miss Susannah, correct? Welcome.

**Seele:** Sora? What are you doing here?

**Susannah:** Wait, Seele, how does she know my name?

**Seele:** Ah. So… Sora is the guide Dr. Tesla was talking about?

**Sora:** Yep, that’s right.

**Sora:** It’s been more than half a year, hasn’t it? This time, it’s my turn to help you, Miss Seele.

**Seele:** I see. Thank you, Sora.

**Susannah:** Ahem. I don’t think we’ve met…

**Seele:** Ah, right, sorry about that Susannah. I forgot the introductions.

Seele briefly explained her acquaintance with Sora to Susannah.

**Susannah:** Ah? That means… you met on the moon during the launch of Project STIGMA? The first time you met was offworld… that’s amazing!

**Susannah:** But if you’re our guide, Sora, that must mean you really know the area?

**Sora:** Right. Me and other children were taken in by Sensei here to live in Nagazora.

**Sora:** In this makeshift town, to be specific. Sensei called it the Roost, and we were children of the Roost.

**Seele:** Sora and the others would scavenge just to get by. The streets, alleys, hidden roads and passageways, she knows it all.

**Sora:** I’m not all that special, Miss Seele… you can’t believe everything Lyle tells you. But, we do know this place well. It is our home after all.

**Susannah:** Perfect! It’s a pretty cold and confusing city. Everything looks the same. When I first got here, I couldn’t get around without directions.

**Seele:** …

**Susannah:** Hm? What’s up, Seele?

**Seele:** I was thinking… the reports claiming Incognito organised all those attacks on the city. When I first got here, I came across a blockade of mechas at the city’s edge.

**Seele:** Incognito really seems like a group that doesn’t mind being bold and using force.

**Seele:** So… why are the streets so empty? There aren’t any residents out, but there’s also no sign of activity from Incognito either.

**Sora:** …

**Susannah:** It does seem weird, yeah. Incognito claims to have hundreds of members. Even more people than those that live here.

**Sora:** Well… It’s not entirely like that, Seele.

**Seele:** Hmm?

**Sora:** Incognito talks about their strength, but they don’t usually come to the city. I’ve heard they only come during an attack. They try to get it done as quick as possible and leave.

**Sora:** No one’s ever gotten a good look at them.

**Susannah:** So that’s why they’re called Incognito… No wonder I couldn’t find anything on them!

**Seele:** I see. And that’s why everyone is afraid to be outside.

**Seele:** Danger is always scarier when it lurks in the dark, since no one knows when it can strike.

**Susannah:** Ah, but if that’s true, I probably passed them without even knowing it when I was out scouting?

**Susannah:** But seeing as how they didn’t come after me… my disguise must be pretty good, huh?

**Seele:** Ugh…

**Sora:** The reconstruction of Nagazora is progressing very slowly. There weren’t many residents here to begin with.

**Sora:** After the Great Eruption, people gathered here from all over. Some had lived here previously, others saw a business opportunity, and others still just wanted to try something new.

**Sora:** But with time, the number of people who could tough it out and stay started decreasing.

**Susannah:** Why? Because there are better opportunities elsewhere?

**Seele:** You could say that. Nagazora has been abandoned for so long, everything has to be built from the ground up. That takes a lot of effort and resources.

**Sora:** Nagazora’s been like this for so long, everyone is used to it by now. So after the Great Eruption, it didn’t receive much attention…

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** But, on the bright side, the Honkai won’t threaten this place any longer. We may be overwhelmed here, but as soon as everyone realises what’s going on, we’ll put a plan together.

**Seele:** Besides, guiding others during moments like this is our responsibility.

**Susannah:** …

**Susannah:** That’s right, Seele! I-I’ll make sure to do my best.

**Sora:** Ah… Miss Seele, Miss Susannah, thank you.

**Sora:** Even now, there are those that want to live in Nagazora and make it their home. I believe that one day, Nagazora will be a city where everyone wants to live.

**Susannah:** Ah…

**Seele:** Susannah?

**Susannah:** Seele, this kid… this kid… I really like her!

Susannah lept to Sora’s side and gave her a tight hug.

**Sora:** M-Miss Susannah?!

Susannah put an arm around Sora, raised a fist in the air, and started rambling excitedly.

**Susannah:** Listen to me! It is our duty as Valkyries to take down Incognito!

**Sora:** But… I’m not a Valkyrie…

**Susannah:** That’s not a problem! Let’s go check out where Incognito has made an appearance and see if we can catch them by surprise!

**Sora:** Ah… Well they were nearby last night…

**Susannah:** Hehehe, show us the way, Sora!

**Susannah:** Ah, Incognito’s mechas. Should we just blow them up?

**Seele:** Hold on… If we take them on here, the fighting will affect the nearby homes…

**Sora:** Bring them to me Miss Seele, I have an idea.

**Sora:** This is where Incognito appeared last night.

**Seele:** This… looks residential. Were any homes attacked?

**Sora:** I’m not entirely sure. But someone reported seeing Incognito members here last night.

**Susannah:** Oh, I got it!

Susannah fished out a notebook, flipped to the last page, and began to read it over.

**Susannah:** Yep, there it is. Nagazora’s Security Offices received an emergency call at 11:54 at night. But it seems the culprit got away before they arrived.

**Susannah:** The resident that reported the crime lives in the area.

**Seele:** In that case, we should ask the residents about what went down.

**Drunk Resident:** Who is it?

**Susannah:** Hello, we’re part of an investigative unit from Schicksal…

**Drunk Resident:** Schicksal? Hmph. First thieves everywhere, then robbery, and now fraud?

**Susannah:** Huh? No, we really are with Schicksal…

**Drunk Resident:** I don’t buy it… If Schicksal really cared about Nagazora, why is everything such a mess!

**Drunk Resident:** The pharmacy’s been raided, my home has been ransacked, and police are absolutely useless. There’s nowhere to hide, and so they always find you… I’m fed up. Really fed up…

**Susannah:** Ransacked? You’ve been attacked?

**Susannah:** Wait just a second; we really are Valkyries with Schicksal!

**Drunk Resident:** So what? What difference does it make? I’ve got nothing to be afraid of… I have nothing left to lose, haha!

With that, the door slammed.

**Passionate Resident:** Ah, I haven’t seen you before. Are you new here? Would you like to come in for a cup of tea and a chat?

**Susannah:** No thank you, sir. We’re a special investigation unit sent from Schicksal to deal with Incognito.

**Passionate Resident:** In-cog-what-now?

**Susannah:** Incognito. You haven’t heard of them?

**Passionate Resident:** It’s hard to keep track of anything, the world changes so quickly nowadays. All these new names, who can remember them?

**Susannah:** So… you haven’t seen anything suspicious around here?

**Passionate Resident:** Suspicious? Oh, I’ve seen plenty suspicious! Like that old coot selling rice across the street. I’d bet good money he’s been weighting his scales.

**Passionate Resident:** And that old geezer living in the small warehouse to the north. Always sitting around home all day, doesn’t say hi to anyone, just keeps his head down. Looks an awful lot like a thief to me.

**Passionate Resident:** Oh, and I heard a suspicious girl in a trench coat came to town recently. Lots of people have been talking about her. She’s a blonde foreigner… called Su or something?

**Susannah:** Oh, that’s what we’re looking for! Can you tell me exactly what she looks like… Uh, Seele, why are you tugging at me?

**Seele:** Thank you so much, sir! We’ll make sure to follow up on these… clues!

**Passionate Resident:** Oh, no need to be polite. You young folk are so busy, it’s nice just to have someone to talk to.

**Seele:** Hello, is anyone there?

**Timid Resident:** Who are you?

**Seele:** We’re an investigation team sent from Schicksal to investigate Incognito. Do you know anything about the attack here last night?

**Timid Resident:** Schicksal? The world-famous disaster relief organisation? That’s fantastic! You’re here to take back the city?

**Seele:** Well, not just yet. We’re still working on getting the staff necessary. Anyway, about last night…

**Timid Resident:** Now that you know, you have to help us! Everything is in complete chaos here. A gang of thugs has taken over and even blocked the road leading out of town!

**Seele:** That’s already been taken care of. And I promise we’ll help fix your other issues as well. But about last night…

**Timid Resident:** It’s solved? Fantastic! I also heard Schicksal has prepared relief funds for affected cities. Will we be receiving those funds soon?

**Seele:** We’ll make sure to do everything in our power, you just need to wait a bit longer. We’re just part of the investigation and can’t make any promises.

**Seele:** So… did you see anything at all around here last night?

**Timid Resident:** Last night? Things are so crazy around here, why would I ever go out at night?

**Seele:** I see… Alright then, thank you for your cooperation!

**Sora:** Looks like… we’re still at square one.

**Susannah:** It’s weird, the person who made the call should be around here somewhere…

**Susannah:** Ah, it looks like we haven’t checked over there yet. Let’s go have a quick look, Seele.

**Seele:** Yeah…

**Sora:** Huh? Miss Seele, what are you writing?

**Seele:** Ah, sorry about that. I was jotting down some of the information we just received and wasn’t paying attention.

**Sora:** Just now? But we didn’t learn anything useful.

**Seele:** Maybe not about Incognito. But the residents here need supplies, and help managing newcomers. And then there’s the security problems…

**Seele:** These are things the locals are struggling to keep up with. Even if they don’t have to do with this specific mission, these issues should be assessed and dealt with later… right?

**Sora:** Ah, you’re absolutely right Miss Seele.

**Seele:** I just don’t know what we should do. Have you done similar work to this in the past, Susannah?

**Susannah:** Ahaha… I’m not quite as attentive as you are, Seele.

**Sora:** Look, long-term goals are important… but right now, we still need to prioritise Incognito, right?

**Seele:** Right, let’s go and check out that last room.

**Susannah:** Hello, is anyone home?

…

**Young Resident:** Hello. Who are you looking for?

**Seele:** Hey there! Do you know if any adults are home?

**Young Resident:** My Dad’s at work.

**Susannah:** And your Mum?

**Young Resident:** I live alone with my Dad.

**Susannah:** Ah… I didn’t mean to assume…

**Young Resident:** It’s alright. Are you with the police, miss?

**Susannah:** Huh? What makes you think that?

**Young Resident:** Because I was waiting for you. In the book I’m reading it says after calling the police, you wait for them to come and collect evidence. So I’ve been waiting for you all day.

**Sora:** You’re not the one that called the security office last night, are you…

**Young Resident:** That was me!

**Seele:** I see. Well, we’re not police, but we do work with the police. We’re from an organisation called Schicksal.

**Young Resident:** Oh, I know Schicksal. The organisation dedicated to world peace, right? You guys aren’t police.

**Seele:** …I suppose you’re not wrong there. But for right now, we’re the ones protecting Nagazora. And we need everyone’s help to do it.

**Seele:** Can you tell us what you saw last night?

**Young Resident:** Of course! I’ve had a ton of time to practice.

**Young Resident:** So, last night I was at home reading a book, waiting for my Dad as usual.

**Young Resident:** Dad works at a building material factory. With all the recent attacks, my Dad and other guys do nightly patrols, and then he returns home really late.

**Young Resident:** I usually start getting sleepy around 11 PM, so I’m never able to stay up by the time he gets back…

**Susannah:** I get you. Whenever I read late at night, I’m the same way.

**Young Resident:** But last night was different. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I suddenly heard a buzzing noise that woke me up.

**Young Resident:** I peeked out the window and saw a group of cloaked men hop out of a truck. They passed my door one by one and quietly went straight to the warehouse at the end of the road.

**Young Resident:** I saw them walk right up to the warehouse door. But instead of using a key or knocking, they used a weird tool to make a huge hole in the door.

**Young Resident:** I thought it was probably the group of bad guys my Dad has told me about, so I called the police right away!

**Young Resident:** But they didn’t believe me at first. I kept telling them, and finally they said they’d send someone over to look.

**Sora:** Maybe they didn’t think anything of it because it was a child that called?

**Susannah:** How unreliable can they get!

**Seele:** So what happened next?

**Young Resident:** After that… the men had already left before the police came, and it was quiet outside. So… I accidentally fell asleep.

**Young Resident:** When I woke up, it was already day time. Did you guys catch them?

**Seele:** We’re going to catch them, don’t you worry.

**Young Resident:** Really?

**Seele:** Of course! Aren’t we already doing our investigation?

**Seele:** (This child was a witness to Incognito… Help her along, we might get some important information out of her…)

**[CHOICE] =** About this warehouse at the end of the street…

**Seele:** You said they went to a warehouse at the end of the street. What’s usually stored in there?

**Young Resident:** Oh, that I don’t know. All I know is there’s an old person that lives there.

**Young Resident:** He doesn’t really interact with others, so no one knows what he’s up to over there. The old man across the street always complains about it.

**Susannah:** …So that’s the warehouse the old man was referring to.

**Young Resident:** Is there anything else you’d like to ask, miss officer?

**[CHOICE] =** About the noise that woke you up…

**Seele:** What do you think that buzzing noise that woke you up was?

**Young Resident:** I’m not sure. It’s a sound I hear every now and again. It’s not loud, but non-stop, like a mosquito buzz. It’s really annoying.

**Young Resident:** Usually, when something’s going on, the lush old man down the way will start yelling at people. But last night, it was really quiet.

**Seele:** Have you ever heard the sound anywhere else?

**Young Resident:** Hmm…

**Young Resident:** Now that you mention it, I heard something similar at my Dad’s factory. But he didn’t believe me when I told him.

**Seele:** (A sound her father can’t hear? You don’t think it’s what Dr. Einstein was talking about…)

**Seele:** Right, Sora, do you still have Mark II?

**Sora:** Huh? Mark II? I always bring it with me, why?

**Seele:** Can you take it out now?

Unclear as to why Seele would ask, Sora took out Mark II as she was asked.

**Young Resident:** Ah, that’s it! That’s just like the buzzing I heard earlier!

**Sora:** She doesn’t mean… Mark II’s sound?

**Seele:** Not Mark II itself.

**Seele:** What she heard is a high-frequency mechanical sound. Dr. Einstein mentioned the electromagnetic coils in old tube monitors make the same sound.

**Susannah:** Ah, I remember machines around my house making those sorts of noises when I was a kid!

**Seele:** High-frequency sounds can be difficult to hear sometimes. Some adults can’t hear them at all. This child is likely more sensitive to such sounds, so she can hear it.

**Seele:** Some parts of Mark II are more… classic. So maybe that’s why it’s emitting that noise?

**Sora:** Yeah…

**Seele:** (But Incognito’s gear isn’t like that… So why would it emit that sound?)

**Young Resident:** Is there anything else you’d like to ask, miss officer?

**[CHOICE] =** About the people in the cloaks…

**Seele:** Did you notice anything other than their cloaks?

**Young Resident:** Let me think… Oh right, something really scary!

**Susannah:** Scary!

**Young Resident:** Yes. After they opened the door, a guy that looked like their leader had them go in one by one while he stood by the truck and waited.

**Young Resident:** That’s when I noticed he was standing right under the truck’s rear view mirror. From where I was, I was able to see his face under the cloak in the mirror.

**Young Resident:** So I took a peek…

**Susannah:** A-And…?

**Young Resident:** Under his cloak… there was no face!

**Susannah:** …?!

**Sora:** What do you mean… there was no face?

**Young Resident:** It was just black! No face, not even his eyes!

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** What else? What else did you see?

**Young Resident:** Nothing else. After that, he lifted his hand and punched the rearview mirror. It fell off and I couldn’t see him anymore.

**Sora:** You don’t think… he saw you looking?

Young President: I don’t think so, since he didn’t turn around afterward. He just held his head and squatted down. He looked like he was uncomfortable.

**Susannah:** That sounds even stranger… I’m not chasing after a ghost again, am I?

**Sora:** Again?

**Seele:** Don’t worry, Susannah. There’s a likely explanation… FIrst, let’s write this all down.

**Susannah:** But Seele, you look pale…

**Seele:** …

**Young Resident:** Is there anything else you’d like to ask, miss officer?

**[CHOICE] =** I don’t have any other questions right now.

**Seele:** That’s more than enough information for now. Thank you for your help!

**Seele:** I promise we’ll figure out what’s going on with Incognito and your father can start coming home early again.

**Young Resident:** Yay! Good luck, officers!

They waved goodbye to the girl.

**Susannah:** Finally, some useful information.

**Sora:** You look deep in thought, Miss Seele. Did you find something unusual?

**Seele:** Well… I’m not entirely sure. There are some contradictions in the answers I got, but I don’t fully understand it yet…

**Seele:** Anyway, let’s move on to the next crime scene. According to everyone’s testimony, it should be to the north, at the end of this street.

--

#### Gameplay 36-4 - Visit

**Susannah:** There it is! That’s a massive warehouse.

**Sora:** And look at that, a hole in the door.

**Seele:** Even still… we should knock first.

**Seele:** Hello? Is anyone here?

…

There was no response. An unsettling silence filled the warehouse.

**Seele:** (…)

**Seele:** Excuse me…

Seele suddenly sensed danger, immediately reached out and pushed the door open.

…

**Seele:** Ah. It’s unlocked.

The sight wasn’t out of the ordinary, but still enough to make them feel uneasy.

Scattered boxes, overturned furniture, locks broken forcefully… It was easy to tell the place had been robbed recently.

But no one was there now.

**Susannah:** Looks like the owner of the warehouse isn’t here.

**Seele:** …

**Sora:** What should we do, Miss Seele? Wait at the door for the owner to return?

**Seele:** No, let’s go inside first and investigate.

**Susannah:** Right. The warehouse owner might be in trouble. We should find them quick and… Oh!

As Susannah rushed to break into the warehouse, she tripped over something and landed with a thud.

**Seele:** Are you okay, Miss Susannah?

**Susannah:** I’m fine… I just tripped over nothing…

**Sora:** There’s a step here. The room is so messy, it’s impossible to get around, so be careful as well, Miss Seele.

**Sora:** You didn’t contaminate any evidence, did you, Miss Susannah?

**Susannah:** (Ugh… She’s more worried about evidence than me…)

**Susannah:** Don’t look at me like that. I fall over all the time, so I’ve become a master at controlling my fall!

**Sora:** …

**Susannah:** So nothing was crushed.

**Susannah:** Huh? T-This is…

**Susannah:** A red… red ball?

**Sora:** It doesn’t look like a complete part, but more like something that was broken off.

**Susannah:** Uh… Don’t look at me, Sora! I-I really didn’t hit anything! At least, I don’t think I did…

**Seele:** Well, if Susannah really had broken something, we would’ve heard it. But there wasn’t a sound.

**Seele:** I think this was already here.

**Sora:** But… What is it used for?

**Seele:** It’s tough to say. Let’s put it away as evidence for now.

Seele bent down and picked up the ball and then continued exploring the rest of the warehouse.

**Seele:** Something clearly went down here. Let’s investigate the area.

The four corners of the warehouse, originally meant for storing goods, were swept clean and looked very empty.

**Seele:** (Huh?)

**Seele:** Sora, can you help me check something?

**Sora:** What is it, Miss Seele?

Seele picked up a squashed box, carefully flipping to the side with the logo on it.

**Seele:** This logo. This came from a Nagazora business?

**Sora:** Hm… That rings a bell, but I don’t really recall…

**Sora:** Do you know, Mark II?

…

Mark II scanned the logo.

**Sora:** Wait a minute, Miss Seele. Mark II should be able to recognise it.

**Seele:** Okay. Thank you, Sora.

**Seele:** (This is…)

On the desk in the corner, there were hastily scribbled notes.

**Scrawled Notes:** Date: X, X. “Ko.” Two cases. For sale. Keep frozen.

**Scrawled Notes:** Date: X, X. “Shin.” Five cases. For sale. It looks like one of the branch’s buildings were attacked. I should keep a low profile for now. I don’t want to waste this stuff on myself.

**Scrawled Notes:** Date: X, X. “Joyo.” One case. For sale. The roads leaving town are blocked…

**Scrawled Notes:** Date: X, X. Ko warehouse was finally raided. There are still a lot of goods that haven’t been moved…

**Seele:** (It looks like the owner was moving products under the radar.)

**Seele:** (But what’s with this “Ko”, “Shin”, and “Joyo”?)

Boxes, bags, clothes, snacks… all cluttered into a pile on the floor. Despite its size, the warehouse was surprisingly cramped.

**Seele:** (All this clutter… It’s hard to imagine this is all from one person living here.)

**Seele:** (This warehouse might have just been robbed, but with all the stuff thrown about here… It doesn’t look like it was just Incognito’s doing.)

**Seele:** (I don’t think the owner did a lot of cleaning up around here…)

**Seele:** Susannah, what’s that in your hand…?

**Susannah:** Oh, this? I call it a Bio Clue Analyser.

**Seele:** …?

**Susannah:** It can analyse biological evidence left at the crime scene.

**Susannah:** See? You can get fingerprints from this certificate. It can also detect any bodily fluids, hair, that sort of thing. And then it cross-references with an external database.

**Susannah:** If there’s any genetic material left at the scene of the crime, we’ll have a suspect in no time.

**Seele:** So if Incognito members are in this database, we should be able to find them?

**Susannah:** If it all works like it should. Except… up until now, no one has successfully extracted their genetic material…

**Susannah:** But that’s alright. I’m gonna search this place wall to wall, leaving no stone unturned. You’ll see, Seele.

**Seele:** Right… good luck.

**Seele:** Find anything, Sora?

**Sora:** Well, I had Mark II measure the volume of the room and analyse the warehouse’s basic construction.

**Seele:** Basic construction?

**Sora:** With hideouts like this, there’s always secret passages and doorways. I just want to make sure we don’t miss anything.

**Seele:** And, what’d you find?

**Sora:** …There’s only a front door and a small vent that even Mark II can’t fit into.

**Sora:** It looks like one-fifth of the space is for his personal junk, and three-fifths is for stock. And the rest… is just too much of a mess for Mark II to get a clear reading.

**Sora:** But one thing I can tell for sure! Judging from the marks on the ground here, there was plenty of stock left but it’s all been dragged away, except for a few empty boxes.

**Seele:** Got it. Thank you, Sora.

**Seele:** (These boxes are a part of that cargo… But what was being stored here…)

--

#### Gameplay 36-5 - Interrogation

**Seele:** Let’s check over here.

**Susannah:** …

**Seele:** What is it, Susannah?

**Susannah:** I’m sorry Seele… I’ve wiped down every wall, every inch of the floor, even turned over all the trash cans…

**Susannah:** But I haven’t found as much as a single strand of hair. All I got were fingerprints, and those belonged to the same person.

**Seele:** Whose fingerprints?

**Susannah:** I just sent them to the database. We should know shortly.

**Susannah:** But it should be the warehouse owner’s, right?

**Seele:** That’d make sense…

**Susannah:** How is it that Incognito doesn’t leave a single clue? They can’t be supernatural, can they…

**Sora:** There’s no such thing, Miss Susannah. Don’t be so superstitious.

**Sora:** I’ve lived in Nagazora forever, and have only seen zombies and Honkai beasts. Now that the Great Eruption has ended, if there still exists any other unknown living creatures, it’s probably a zombie trapped in a basement or some form of mutated Honkai beasts.

**Susannah:** What you just described sounds pretty supernatural to me!

**Seele:** …

**Sora:** Oh, Miss Seele, we’ve gotten a reading from Mark II.

**Sora:** The logo on those boxes are from an organisation called “Neopolis Pharmaceutical”.

**Seele:** “Neopolis Pharmaceutical”?

It was then that she recalled another organisation’s name, a branch of the World Serpent, Arc City’s Heliopolis Life Sciences.

It seemed like the mechas used by Incognito were somehow connected to the World Serpent. If those were the same mechas, there would have to be a link.

But the organisations’ names weren’t identical. There was a slight difference.

**Sora:** There used to be a pharmaceuticals company here in Nagazora with branches all over the city. But after the incident, there’s only one branch remaining.

**Seele:** …

**Sora:** But I had Mark II scan the other boxes. Only the one Miss Seele gave me matched the logo.

**Sora:** The logos have different shapes on the other boxes. And some of the boxes are too far gone, there’s no way to make out the logo…

**Sora:** But those boxes likely come from different businesses.

**Seele:** Hmm…

She fell into deep thought. She had just taken in a lot of information and needed some time to sift through it all.

Unlike the grueling fights of her past, now she was hunting for clues, tracking enemies that lurked in the shadows, and trying to take them out before it was too late.

This wasn’t any easier than combat. In fact, with the responsibility weighing on her shoulders, she was finding it rather difficult.

And she had a hunch this wasn’t going to be the last time she had to take on assignments like this.

**Seele:** (Haa…)

**Seele:** (You’ve got this, Seele. You can do this yourself…)

Ka-da.

**Seele:** …?!

**Sora:** …Who is it?

There was a sudden bang at the warehouse’s front door that resonated throughout the otherwise silent room. The three all reacted at once, looking at the door.

**???:** Shoot…

A man’s voice could be heard coming from the door, and then the sound of footsteps running in the distance.

**Susannah:** Stop! Ugh!

**Seele:** Susannah?!

**Susannah:** It’s okay… I just tripped, that’s all! Now let’s go after him!

**Seele:** Right! Sora, you stay here and wait for us to return!

The man was quick on his feet, but he was still no match for Seele and Susannah who blocked his path.

**Bald Man:** Huff… Huff… You really are Schicksal Valkyries… You’re so fast…

**Susannah:** Who are you? Why are you running? Were you spying on us?

**Bald Man:** …Do I have to answer?

**Seele:** I’m sorry, but we’re hoping you’ll cooperate with our investigation.

**Seele:** How about we return to the warehouse and chat for a bit?

**Sora:** You’re back! Who is this?

**Seele:** We’re not sure yet. We’re hoping he’ll tell us.

**Bald Man:** …

He remained silent as he walked across the messy room and found a chair to sit in.

**Susannah:** What’s the meaning of this?

**Bald Man:** …

**Seele:** I’m sorry we had to force you to come here, but we really need your cooperation here. Can you answer our questions?

**Seele:** Do you live here in Nagazora? What sort of work do you do? Did you have any specific reason for coming here?

**Bald Man:** Do I have to answer? You may be a Valkyrie from Schicksal, but that doesn’t mean you can just torture someone until you get a confession.

**Bald Man:** I’m just a helpless nobody caught and held captive at a warehouse by three Valkyries… Haha, if the press hears about this, they’ll have a field day.

**Susannah:** Huh? You…

**Seele:** It’s alright, Susannah. If he doesn’t want to talk, we’ll let him stay silent.

**Seele:** One thing is clear, you’ve been following us. And trying to get in our way.

**Bald Man:** Huh? What do you mean? What proof do you have?

**Seele:** Oh, we have proof…

**[CHOICE] =** Your face.

**Seele:** The look on your face.

**Bald Man:** The look on my face? What’s wrong with my face?

**Susannah:** We all get the face we deserve, and you look like a bad guy right from a TV show!

**Bald Man:** …

**Seele:** (No, that doesn’t count as evidence…)

**Seele:** Schicksal doesn’t judge people based on their looks. But the real evidence is…

**[CHOICE] =** Your voice.

**Seele:** Your voice!

**Bald Man:** …?

**Sora:** Miss Seele… Have you heard his voice before?

**Seele:** …Well, no. Now that I think about it, I haven’t.

**Seele:** Sorry, that was my mistake. What I meant to say was…

**[CHOICE] =** What you said.

**Seele:** It’s what you said!

**Bald Man:** What I said?

**Seele:** More specifically, what you called us. You called us Valkyries from Schicksal, but how did you know? We had never met before.

**Susannah:** That’s right! How did you know we’re from Schicksal?

**Bald Man:** Uh… Well…

**Bald Man:** I-I guessed by looking at you! I’ve met Schicksal Valkyries a few times before, you all have the same uniform!

**Seele:** Then you’re even more wrong.

**Bald Man:** …?

**Seele:** Of everyone here, only Susannah is a regular Valkyrie from Schicksal. Sora is an external support, while I’m just an Anti-Honkai Team reserve member.

**Seele:** And today… None of us are even wearing Valkyrie uniforms.

**Bald Man:** Ugh…

**Seele:** You must have been following us all over town, eavesdropping on our conversations. That’s how you knew we were Valkyries from Schicksal.

**Bald Man:** …

**Bald Man:** Alright, I just said what popped into my head. I was just guessing you were Valkyries, and it turns out I was right.

**Susannah:** Why are you still talking nonsense? Do you really want to embarrass yourself further?

**Bald Man:** Hmph. Even if I was wandering around and happened to hear what you were talking about… That’s not a crime, is it? You can’t detain me for that, can you?

**Sora:** …

**Seele:** No, because you didn’t just happen to overhear our conversation. You’re a suspect in this investigation.

**Seele:** And if I’m not mistaken, your real identity is…

**[CHOICE] =** A member of Incognito.

**Seele:** It’s like they say, a criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. You’re a member of Incognito.

**Bald Man:** Don’t talk crazy. Do you have any proof?

**Seele:** Do I have any proof… Do I have any proof…

Susannah I don’t think he is, Seele. The little girl said Incognito had a cloak on, and the description just doesn’t match.

**Seele:** (Right. He’s awfully suspicious, but there doesn’t seem to be any connection with Incognito…)

**Seele:** Sorry, that was my mistake. What I meant to say was…

**[CHOICE] =** A Neopolis Pharmaceutical researcher.

**Seele:** You’re a researcher with Neopolis Pharmaceutical!

**Bald Man:** …What makes you say that?

**Seele:** Because… we found boxes belonging to Neopolis Pharmaceutical right in this warehouse…

**Sora:** That’s not right, Miss Seele. There aren’t just boxes belonging to Neopolis Pharmaceutical here. And the boxes don’t seem to have anything to do with him.

**Bald Man:** Hmph. Does everyone at Schicksal talk nonsense all day?

**Seele:** (Ugh… Keep it cool, Seele…)

**[CHOICE] =** The warehouse owner.

**Seele:** You’re the warehouse owner!

**Bald Man:** …!

**Susannah:** Huh? Could it really be him?

**Seele:** I heard the owner is an old man, similar to you. And here you are checking on the warehouse, unlike Incognito which was here last night. That means you’re probably the owner.

**Seele:** Most important of all, you’re clearly very familiar with the warehouse. The step Susannah tripped over twice, you crossed easily. And you found a seat right away in all the mess.

**Sora:** Right! Now that I think about it, he moved like he was in his own home.

**Susannah:** Exactly. After all, this is your own home, no?

**Bald Man:** Uhh…

**Bald Man:** T-This doesn’t explain anything. I’m just agile, and limber when I walk…

**Seele:** …

**Bald Man:** What? You don’t buy it? What’s weird about not falling when you walk?

**Seele:** And that’s not all. There are other things that confirm you’re the owner.

**Bald Man:** …?

**Seele:** And that’s…

**[CHOICE] =**  Your voice.

**Seele:** Your voice.

**Bald Man:** …?

**Sora:** But we haven’t heard the owner’s voice before.

**Seele:** Right. That answer doesn’t make much sense…)

**Seele:** (Hm… Let me think some more…)

**Seele:** And that’s…

**[CHOICE] =** What you said.

**Seele:** What you called us.

**Bald Man:** This again?

**Susannah:** Uh… You can still tell something from what he called us?

**Seele:** (N-No, not really…)

**Seele:** (Hm… Let me think some more…)

**Seele:** And that’s…

**[CHOICE] =** Your face.

**Seele:** From your appearance… Or more specifically, your hair.

**Bald Man:** …?

**Seele:** Susannah, remember what you found when you investigated the warehouse?

**Susannah:** Oh?

**Seele:** You said you couldn’t find a single strand of hair in the entire warehouse…

**Susannah:** Right. Incognito’s actions were really well thought out. Not a single hair was left behind.

**Seele:** But that’s not the point. Even if Incognito is careful enough not to leave behind a single strand of hair…

**Seele:** The warehouse owner should have. Unless…

**Bald Man:** …

**Sora:** He doesn’t have any hair!

**Bald Man:** …

**Sora:** Ahem. Sorry… I mean, you do have some sideburns…

**Seele:** Sure, it’s not watertight proof, but Susannah also found fingerprints, right? They must be the owner’s fingerprints.

**Susannah:** Right! And I should have the results back any second now… Let me see…

**Susannah:** There, we have a match. Ah, the photo… It’s him!

**Bald Man:** Alright, alright! I’ll admit it; this is my home!

He suddenly stood up and stared at them, angry and dejected.

**Bald Man:** And so what if it is? I was robbed by Incognito! I’m the victim here! Why are you taking this out on me?

**Bald Man:** And it’s illegal to enter my house without permission! So get out of here, go!

**Seele:** It’s true, we don’t have the right to search ordinary citizen’s houses. But what if you’re not an ordinary citizen?

**Bald Man:** …

**Sora:** Miss Seele… What do you mean?

**Seele:** At first, I was a bit apprehensive when I heard only the young girl who witnessed the crime called the police…

**Seele:** Because along with witnesses, the victim should have reported it as well.

**Seele:** But the warehouse owner never called the police. So I was worried, maybe he was kidnapped or in danger.

**Seele:** But here you are, alive and well. And that tells me, you didn’t run into any accident, but chose to not call the police…

**Bald Man:** I… Well, I…

**Bald Man:** Right, I didn’t know why my warehouse had been robbed, so I didn’t report it to the police! Yeah, that’s it!

**Susannah:** But you weren’t surprised at all when you entered the warehouse just now. And what do you mean, “that’s it”?

**Sora:** You even mentioned Incognito by name. You must have witnessed the robbery with your own eyes.

**Bald Man:** …

**Susannah:** But why would he keep quiet about being robbed? That doesn’t mean…

**Seele:** I think that has to do with what was lost. Tell me the truth, what sort of supplies were you storing here?

**Bald Man:** …I didn’t lose anything.

**Susannah:** Ugh. Do we have to go back to this nonsense again?

**Bald Man:** Really, I didn’t! When Incognito came here and saw how poor I was, there was nothing to take.

**Susannah:** How can that be? Then how do you explain all this empty space?

**Bald Man:** This warehouse was always this empty.

**Susannah:** And these empty boxes?

**Bald Man:** I love picking up discarded boxes. What’s it to you?

**Susannah:** …

**Seele:** I don’t think so. I can confirm there were goods here.

**Seele:** And the proof is…

**[CHOICE] =** This weird ball.

**Seele:** This ball! This is what you were storing here.

**Sora:** What is that ball, anyway?

**Seele:** Oh… It’s…

**Susannah:** It looks like a bouncy ball like I used to play with as a kid. You can’t get them nowadays… I know, you’re a reseller hoarding bouncy balls!

**Seele:** (No, that’s not right…)

**Seele:** Sorry, that was my mistake. What I meant to say was…

**Seele:** And the proof is…

**[CHOICE] =** Mark II.

**Seele:** The proof is Mark II!

**Sora:** Wha…

**Seele:** Mark II has already seen everything!

**Bald Man:** …

**Sora:** But Miss Seele… Mark II hasn’t said anything…

**Seele:** (I thought maybe I could bluff a little, but it looks like it didn’t work… No, no, what am I doing?)

**Seele:** Sorry, that was my mistake. What I meant to say was…

**Seele:** And the proof is…

**[CHOICE] =** The mysterious notes.

**Seele:** Here’s the proof.

**Bald Man:** Ah… You found it!

**Seele:** This note says it all. Two cases, for sale, to be frozen… that proves it, you were hoarding these goods, weren’t you?

**Bald Man:** Ah… About that…

**Bald Man:** I know! Those were old notes…

**Seele:** The time is written clearly.

**Bald Man:** That’s… no, it’s like this, those are receipt records. I sold that stuff! I didn’t lose anything last night, you don’t need to keep investigating!

**Seele:** Is that right? Sold to whom? I can have Susannah check it out.

**Bald Man:** Sold to… to another city. Somewhere else. Is that good enough for you?

**Bald Man:** You won’t find it, so why not take it easy… I’m sure you people at Schicksal are awfully busy. You don’t need to worry about something like this…

**Seele:** Oh, we plan on looking into this. No matter how small, it’s our duty to check it out.

**Seele:** Sir… You’re still not telling the truth. Even if you sold it to someplace else, I can still find out where they really went.

**Seele:** Because…

**[CHOICE] =** Schicksal

**Seele:** Schicksal has plenty of resources. I would be able to track every transaction you made in an instant…

**Seele:** (Is what I wish I could say… but Schicksal is actually a bit understaffed at the moment…)

**Seele:** (We’re on our own here. But you’re lying, and I can tell because…)

**Seele:** Because…

**[CHOICE] =** Interim Security Office

**Seele:** We can check the transaction records at the Interim Security Office.

**Susannah:** Seele, the Interim Security Office is limited to inside Nagazora city-limits… For something outside those limits…

**Seele:** (Right, we can’t really rely on them. I should focus on the real issue here…)

**Seele:** Because…

**[CHOICE] =** Incognito

**Seele:** Because of Incognito.

**Susannah:** Incognito?

**Seele:** Right. Do you remember how I met up with you this morning, Susannah?

**Susannah:** Of course, I remember! It still bugs me that I didn’t get to see your amazing performance!

**Susannah:** You took down Incognito’s entire mecha blockade by yourself… ah… Ah!

**Bald Man:** …!

**Seele:** That’s right! Up until this morning, Nagazora was under blockade from Incognito.

**Seele:** The attack was just last night. You couldn’t have sold any goods from out of Nagazora before then.

**Seele:** And so… please, no more lies. The goods here were without a doubt taken by Incognito.

**Bald Man:** I…

He wanted to speak again, but caved in, deflated like a punctured tire.

**Susannah:** But why would he lie about being so clearly robbed?

**Sora:** Perhaps because… he was storing something he shouldn’t have.

**Susannah:** Huh?

**Seele:** Exactly. Perhaps our friend here was stealing goods from major warehouses that were abandoned after the Great Eruption. Like Neopolis Pharmaceutical.

**Seele:** So he didn’t report it. Because if Incognito’s caught, then he’ll be in trouble too.

**Seele:** And the proof is this ball.

**Seele:** This ball is really a prosthetic eye, isn’t it?

**Seele:** Your specialty is stealing medical supplies and reselling them on the black market. But you didn’t expect Incognito to blackmail you, did you?

**Bald Man:** …

He didn’t answer, but his reaction told them everything they needed to know.

**Seele:** Ah, well, that clears that up.

**Seele:** Now, if you’ll come back with us, we have a lot of questions about Incognito, since you’re the only witness…

Ding ding ding…

An incoming message alert suddenly sounded off.

**Susannah:** Oh?

**Susannah:** Wait… This is it!

**Seele:** What is it, Susannah?

**Susannah:** I set a trap and someone took the bait…

**Susannah:** Someone… has broken into our safe house!

### Act 2 - Chasing Shadows

#### Gameplay 36-6 - Intrude

**Seele:** Are the mechas… blocking our path back?

**Susannah:** Looks like we’ll have to clear them out first!

**Sora:** That seems to be it for now.

**Seele:** Let’s get back to the safe house and check things out.

Seele and the rest left behind the wrecked mechas and made their way to the not-so-safe safe house, where they had contacted the Anti-Entropy professors only a few hours prior.

**Susannah:** They pried the door open. These guys aren’t exactly subtle…

**Susannah:** It’s a good thing I took all of my valuables with me. My Valkyrie Guide, my emergency transponder, my cellphone…

**Seele:** And sure enough… the place has been raided.

**Seele:** Susannah, I remember you saying the Interim Security Office lent you this place. What was it used for originally?

**Susannah:** It used to be the Nagazora police department’s examination room but was abandoned. I got my Bio Clue Analyser from here.

**Susannah:** Speaking of… Right! The biological information database should still be intact, right?

**Susannah:** I’ll go check!

**Seele:** Sounds good. I’ll use this time to look around some more.

This place where only a few hours earlier, the two had communicated with Schicksal HQ, was now in shambles.

But the communication device they had used was still intact.

**Seele:** (So why would Incognito want to attack this place?)

**Seele:** (The possessions are rummaged, but nothing seems to be lost… the more valuable looking equipment is still intact.)

**Seele:** (At least they didn’t come for the money…)

**Seele:** (Huh?)

**Seele:** (What is this…)

**Seele:** This is…!

A severed arm laid on the floor.

Seele was shocked at first, but then realised it wasn’t a human limb. On closer inspection, she could see it was made of a glossy black metal.

**Seele:** Is this… a prosthetic limb?

**Seele:** Laying by the door like this… It seems like a member of Incognito fell for Susannah’s trap.

**Seele:** But what’s a prosthetic limb doing here?

Machines can continue to move even after losing their lives. Or rather, from the outset, a machine doesn’t need life in order for there to be movement.

Even though it was just a lone, severed arm, there seemed to be some sort of vitality to it.

The mechanical fingers were open as though trying to hold… or maybe even covet something.

**Seele:** …

**Susannah:** As expected…

**Seele:** What is it, Susannah?

**Susannah:** I went to the storage room to have a look. The database has been destroyed. All the samples and tools have been taken. All that’s left is this analyser.

**Susannah:** Now, even if we did get fingerprints or a hair sample from a member of Incognito, there’d be no way to cross-reference it.

**Susannah:** Wait… So this was their motive?

**Seele:** (But if that’s true…)

At that moment, the door of the safe house opened gently and Sora walked in.

**Seele:** Ah, Sora, you’re back.

**Sora:** Yep. The thief in the warehouse has been handed over to the police.

**Sora:** And I heard the fight here had finished, so I came to join you.

**Sora:** So Miss Seele, did you catch any members of Incognito?

**Seele:** They got away. It doesn’t seem like they ever wanted a fight.

**Sora:** …So they came here looking for something too?

**Seele:** (Oh, now that you mention it…)

A moment later…

**Susannah:** Uh… no, that can’t be right. These are all the clues we’ve got.

**Susannah:** And we didn’t find any fingerprints or hair here either. Although, it’d be difficult to cross-reference them even if we did…

**Susannah:** Not a single clue… this must be Incognito’s MO.

**Sora:** But Miss Seele found a prosthetic limb, no? So we know Incognito isn’t some supernatural force that can disappear without a trace. They can be hurt.

**Seele:** Right. I didn’t get a strong sense of oppression when I first came to Nagazora, or when I fought with Incognito.

**Susannah:** Well… that’s just because you’re strong, right Seele?

**Seele:** It’s not just a question of strength. Their actions don’t seem to be very well thought out. It’s almost as if there are a ton of blindspots for us to catch.

**Seele:** But then why haven’t we been able to find where they’re at or who they are…

**Sora:** At least we’re making progress, Miss Seele.

**Sora:** The owner explained, he had been stealing medical supplies from warehouses abandoned after the Great Eruption and had been selling them on the black market for months, just like you said.

**Sora:** The reason he was after medical supplies was, other than his own experience, medicine is as good as cash following the Great Eruption.

**Susannah:** …Some people can find a way to turn any hardship into a business opportunity.

**Sora:** Predation, taking in nutrients, this is the nature of animals. That’s what Sensei told me.

**Sora:** But Sensei also said, we’re not animals, we’re people. So we have human nature, not animal nature.

**Susannah:** (Sounds like someone good at teaching children. But, it reminds me…)

**Sora:** Anyway, with his testimony, it should be easy to follow the stolen goods. The police can pick up the trail and continue the investigation.

**Susannah:** But Incognito still has the supplies that were stolen during the previous raid. Like sheep in a tiger’s mouth…

**Seele:** (Stolen goods…)

**Seele:** (It still doesn’t seem to fit together. The information is vaguely related, but I can’t draw any conclusions yet…)

**Seele:** (What do you do in this situation… Everyone says try to find something you’re missing, or change your perspective…)

And then she recalled, someone that shared her name, but a different perspective,

Since she had arrived at Nagazora, she made no attempt to call her out. And it seems there was a tacit understanding that there was no need for her to make an appearance.

Perhaps this made her a bit lonely… but it’s clear, this wasn’t the time to think about that.

**Seele:** (No, I’ve got this, I can do it by myself. Whether it’s fighting or strategising…)

**Seele:** (I can come up with an answer on my own.)

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Sora, Susannah, I’ve been thinking. We’re actually not far off from knowing the truth about Incognito.

**Sora:** …!

**Susannah:** Really?

**Seele:** That’s right. Susannah, do you remember where it was the first time Incognito had appeared in Nagazora?

**Susannah:** If I recall… they went after a chemical manufacturing plant in Nagazora.

**Seele:** Right. In fact, afterwards, their targets seem to share something in common.

**Seele:** And that’s…

**[CHOICE] =** All are abandoned buildings.

**Seele:** (No… that’s not right.)

**Seele:** (The answer is clear. It’s…)

**[CHOICE] =** They all have to do with Honkai energy.

**Seele:** (No… that’s not right.)

**Seele:** (The answer is clear. It’s…)

**[CHOICE] =** They all have to do with medical technology.

**Seele:** All of their targets are related to medical technology.

**Seele:** The chemical plant is a part of a pharmaceutical company. The warehouse was storing stolen medical goods. That drunk resident we met said his pharmacy was also raided.

**Seele:** As for the safe house… I don’t believe the target was the database, but the samples and tools.

**Susannah:** Is that right? I thought they destroyed the database to conceal their identity.

**Sora:** It’s not like we had a sample of their hair or their fingerprints, so there wasn’t a need to attack the database. And I have a suspicion they didn’t know where our safe house was.

**Susannah:** So Incognito and the warehouse owner share the same goal? To sell medical supplies on the black market?

**Seele:** I don’t think it’s so simple. It looks like they have some kind of connection to the World Serpent. Even now with the World Serpent gone, they still have such a large amount of mechas.

**Seele:** It seems like, as far as money goes, Incognito is flush with cash.

**Seele:** And shouldn’t the police have recovered some stolen goods by now? Even in the black market, those supplies should be leaving some sort of trail.

**Sora:** Miss Seele, you’re saying that… the goods were left behind by Incognito themselves?

**Sora:** But what would they be doing with all that medical equipment?

**Susannah:** You don’t think they’re all sick, do you…

**Seele:** No, I doubt all the members of Incognito are all sick.

**Susannah:** …?

**Seele:** Because Incognito is none other than…

**[CHOICE] =** Former members of the World Serpent.

**Seele:** (Even though they have World Serpent mechas… that alone doesn’t explain it.)

**Seele:** (The World Serpent are believers and thinkers, but Incognito doesn’t match their MO. That’s because Incognito is really…)

**Seele:** Because Incognito is none other than…

**[CHOICE] =** A group of zombies.

**Seele:** (It doesn’t look like zombies are able to coordinate such a thought out plan.)

**Seele:** (But they do have some things in common with Incognito. Which leads me to believe that its…)

**Seele:** Because Incognito is none other than…

**[CHOICE] =** A legion of androids.

**Seele:** I noticed some discrepancies during my investigation earlier.

**Seele:** No one has ever seen Incognito’s face. And they never leave behind hair, bodily fluids, or fingerprints.

**Seele:** But they aren’t very discreet when they’re on the move. Maybe they get caught by some kid on the street, or have to engage in a fight like when we first got here.

**Seele:** Something about it seems off… Like they were able to put together a well thought out plan, but fail to follow through on every detail.

**Seele:** It’s like Incognito has a sharp mind but a weak body. It’s like a puppet being guided by a string.

**Seele:** It’s almost as if Incognito’s face has never been seen and no biological trace has been left behind isn’t because they’re so discreet…

**Seele:** But because it’d be impossible to see their face or for them to leave evidence behind.

**Susannah:** You… don’t mean…

**Seele:** Right. And the mechanical limb we found is another piece of evidence.

**Seele:** I don’t think that arm was the only mechanical part of its owner’s body.

**Seele:** Incognito is just a group of low-grade androids. Even if you did see under their cloaks, there’s nothing to see.

**Seele:** Adults don’t believe and think they must have just missed their face, whereas children say it exactly as they saw it, but no one believes them.

**Seele:** They even go as far as to… wear cloaks to conceal their identity.

**Seele:** Put human clothes on a fake person and people will treat them like they’re human too.

**Sora:** …

**Susannah:** So Incognito is a… group of androids that steals medical supplies?

**Susannah:** That’s so strange, what would they need with those supplies? Do androids need that stuff too?

**Seele:** …

Right. Even though she had finally deduced their culprit’s identity, she couldn’t pin down a motive.

Inanimate humanoid monsters come out at night to steal life-giving supplies… It was a horrific thought, if not an absurd one as well.

But she knew better from experience. Underneath the absurdity, there was always a reason that would make sense.

**Seele:** I don’t know their motive yet… But at least now that we know what they are, we can predict their next move.

**Seele:** No, not predict. What we need to do next is control their next action.

--

#### Gameplay 36-7 - Hide

The block we went to that night.

In the daytime, it’s silent, and it remains silent through the night. There is no life at night born from the death of day. There is no ritual that can restore life to that place.

…This was going through the cloaked figure’s mind, who then felt annoyed at such useless thoughts.

Remnants of thought weren’t helpful to the plan at this point. In fact, the purpose of the plan was to eliminate such trivialities…

An experiment.

**???:** …

Inorganic lifeforms began to surround the warehouse.

Just a few hours ago, they had intercepted a report from Nagazora’s Interim Security Office. Incognito’s leader felt ridiculous relying on such primitive tech.

The report claimed a black market medical supplies dealer had just escaped from prison due to a surprise attack from Incognito.

In that cowardly, greedy man’s hands was a wealth of information collected over time. But in the chaos of the night, that man broke free.

Thinking about it again, he became annoyed once more. It would be wrong to blame it on his men, but he couldn’t help thinking like that.

At any rate, victory must be close at hand. The day when Incognito achieves its goals is nigh.

When a criminal escapes from prison, there’s only one place he can go and hide, and that’s his old hideout. Tonight’s the night.

He wasn’t able to pass up the opportunity… Like a mouse falling for a piece of bait.

And he was certainly prepared. Even if he’s hooked, he’d be able to get away in one piece.

…Get away in one piece?

He swayed gently, as though recalling a dry punchline.

…

**Susannah:** Of course, Incognito’s mechas!

**Seele:** Looks like our fake bulletin… really worked.

**Sora:** Miss Seele, I’ve brought everyone to the perimeter like you said,

**Sora:** The entire block has been vacated. Still, it’d be nice if we can keep damage to a minimum…

**Seele:** Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. Thank you, Sora.

**Seele:** Let’s do this, Susannah. The mechas are in range, now it’s our turn.

**Susannah:** Roger!

**Susannah:** It’s just as Seele said! There’s no one piloting these mechas. They’re just functioning according to their program.

**Seele:** But no trace of any android yet…

**Susannah:** Ah, over there, by the warehouse!

**Susannah:** We’ve got him now, Seele!

As the encirclement began to shrink, the mechas began to retreat until they had completely fallen back.

Finally, at the center of the encirclement, was a familiar warehouse with an equally familiar truck parked in front.

**Susannah:** This is Incognito’s transport, right?

Seele remembered what the child had told her and looked to the rear view mirror.

**Seele:** As expected…

**Seele:** Just as she had said, the mirror was busted.

**Susannah:** The police had mentioned a truck with a shattered mirror during the safe house attack earlier that day.

**Susannah:** Time to avenge the safe house!

…As the truck had been empty for a while now, everyone’s eyes turned instead to the warehouse.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Excuse me! Can you hear me?

**Seele:** The place is surrounded. I would like to do this without anyone getting hurt.

**Seele:** Please, come out and surrender. What you’ve done is wrong, and you need to make things right.

**???:** …

**???:** You’re going pretty easy on me, miss.

**Seele:** …!

**Seele:** (This voice… It’s…)

**???:** I’m sorry, but I cannot obey you. I don’t fear physical damage and it is not in my nature to give in to it.

**???:** In fact, no one can restrain me… I am just one step away from freedom.

**Seele:** …

**Susannah:** What are we gonna do, Seele?)

She bit her lip as she made up her mind.

**Seele:** Let’s get into that warehouse!

The door flung outward, the light of dusk dimly illuminating the warehouse.

Boxes were scattered everywhere, daily household items thrown about…

It looks just like it did this morning… Just pieces of machinery on the ground left by Incognito when they broke in and fled.

And the one thing that should have been there was missing.

**Susannah:** Incognito’s leader… is gone?

**Susannah:** But he was just talking to us…

They looked at the empty space, despondent. His final words echoed in their minds, but he was nowhere to be found.

**Susannah:** How can it be?! This morning we confirmed there were no other ways in and out of the warehouse…

**Susannah:** How did he escape?

**Seele:** …

She held her head as she tried to get her thoughts in order. More than his disappearance, what she couldn’t get her mind around was that voice.

She had without a doubt heard that voice before, up close and face-to-face not too long ago, about 380,000 kilometers from where she now was.

**Seele:** (Gray Serpent… but why?)

**Seele:** (Is it really them? In Nagazora? Is someone else operating for the World Serpent? Or…)

**Seele:** …

**Susannah:** Are you alright, Seele?

**Seele:** I’m fine. Since he escaped, there’s nothing we can do now. Things are looking more complicated than I first assumed; we’ll have to report this to Schicksal HQ.

**Susannah:** Right. Now that we’ve collected plenty of information, we have a lot for the professors to analyse.

**Seele:** …Oh and Susannah, contact Sora and let her know we’ll need a place to stay tonight.

**Susannah:** …?

**Susannah:** Right, it’s a bit drafty here in the safe house now… Sora! If you don’t mind!

**Sora:** I know just the place, and it’s not too far from here. You two are sure to be welcomed!

**Susannah:** Sora? Ah, I forgot to hang up the phone, didn’t I…

**Sora:** Yep. I heard everything you said. I…

**Sora:** I have a bit more experience with Gray Serpent than Miss Seele, I think. That voice… is really familiar. But something about it is different…

**Sora:** Alright then, let’s go ahead and rendezvous. I’m excited to take you to this place.

**Sora:** The recently built Cioara’s Home of the Far East branch.

--

#### Gameplay 36-8 - Home of Raven

There was a crisp breeze and the moon was as clear as day.

The kind of night that soothes the soul after a long, hard day.

While the real mastermind might be long gone, they can count on each other to put together a full picture of what had happened.

And perhaps by tomorrow, it would all be finished.

That was what Susannah thought, as she gave a big, lazy stretch.

**Susannah:** Cioara’s Home… if I remember correctly, that’s a foster home under the Cioara Foundation.

**Susannah:** I was reading this really popular thread in the Schicksal forums about how Cioara was a legendary assassin.

**Susannah:** He was ruthless, kept a low profile, and was well-connected throughout the northern hemisphere. He was even respected by local rulers, earning him the name “One-Eyed Lord”.

**Susannah:** He had perpetrated countless evils in his life, but before his death, he spent his entire life’s savings on a childhood dream.

**Susannah:** I can’t believe Sora came out of there.

**Sora:** Hmm…

She put her hand over her head and looked troubled.

**Sora:** I don’t understand, Miss Susannah. Are you saying someone else has made several Cioara’s Homes?

**Susannah:** …Huh?

**Sora:** We’ll be going to the first Cioara’s Home that Sensei built. Sensei didn’t have as strange a title as the One-Eyed Lord, she was just called Raven.

**Sora:** You know, if it weren’t for Sensei, I wouldn’t have met Miss Seele.

After listening to the two’s story, Seele quickly understood.

Though she never met her, she had gotten to know her indirectly through other people.

A powerful mercenary that was imprisoned after the Great Eruption, and only recently released on bail. But she was also a gentle teacher that brought in and took care of orphans.

The best way to sum her up was as a contradiction.

As for why the thread posts were so different from reality, that’s mostly due to the other member of the World Serpent she had met on the moon… Gray Serpent.

**Seele:** She really is an amazing teacher. Without her, I would have never been on that amazing adventure where I met Sora.

**Susannah:** …You really can’t trust anything on the internet!

**Susannah:** I’m sorry for saying all those things about you, Sora.

**Sora:** It’s alright. Sensei says she’s done so many things in her life that can’t be forgiven. So she doesn’t care what other people think about her. Only what we think about her.

**Seele:** Did she… tell you everything?

**Sora:** Sensei… Found me by herself and went over all the questions everyone had asked before, but that she had never answered even once.

**Sora:** About her past, what she’s doing now, what kind of person she is…

**Sora:** She would get really quiet after she spoke, then she’d rub her nose, fix her hair, and walk around the room.

**Sora:** I felt like there was so much more Sensei wanted to tell me… and what she did say was only a few sentences.

**Sora:** I’ve never seen her so nervous before. I think she was worried I’d hate her for her past.

Sora was silent for a moment as she tried to piece together an objective, genuine retelling from a vast sea of memories.

She tried to convince her friends to like her Sensei, weighing each word carefully as as her Sensei had with the children that had been with her for years.

**Sora:** Perhaps…

**Sora:** Perhaps I’m not grown enough yet. And I don’t understand why things happened the way Sensei had said.

**Sora:** But I know that, other than ourselves, Sensei must be the person that loves us most in the world.

**Sora:** So I want to be like Sensei. Become independent, and find my own path while helping others.

**Susannah:** …

**Susannah:** Sounds like our Special Assistant’s action statement.

**Susannah:** Thanks to you, everything has gone more smoothly than ever!

**Sora:** Rea… Really?

**Sora:** I will do my best to keep going!

**Susannah:** Haha, we’ll be cheering you on too!

**Susannah:** So will we be meeting your teacher? She runs the place we’ll be staying at, after all.

**Sora:** As much as I’d love that… Sensei left Nagazora after Cioara’s Home was finished, telling us she still had more work to do as part of her bail.

**Seele:** Did she say when she was coming back?

**Sora:** About that…

Sora ran forward a few steps, turned around, and smiled.

**Sora:** That’s a secret between Sensei and me.

…

**Sora:** Walk this way, and watch out for any debris on the ground.

**Susannah:** Thanks for reminding me. I almost tripped.

**Susannah:** But you really know your way around. This path isn’t on any map, but you’re still taking us right to where we need to go.

**Susannah:** When I first came to Nagazora, I watched my every step. I was worried there would be someone out to get me around every corner.

**Sora:** Thank Gray Serpent for helping me update Mark II. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be willing to travel Nagazora by myself.

**Seele:** By yourself?

**Seele:** Sora, you don’t mean…

**Sora:** Yep! I’m not always at Cioara’s Home. The last time I returned was two weeks ago.

**Seele:** (Two weeks?)

**Sora:** Things weren’t going so well in Nagazora, and as one of the older children, I had to take on some responsibility.

**Sora:** Don’t worry Miss Seele, I can take care of myself.

**Seele:** Even still, what if…

**Sora:** A-Anyway, let’s pick up the pace! Otherwise, we won’t make it to Cioara’s Home in time!

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** (We have to solve this quickly.)

In the bright moonlight, and through several narrow alleyways, they finally saw the building hidden behind the trees.

It didn’t look like how one might expect an orphanage to look, but more like a school campus.

Even the well-off and well-traveled Susannah could not help but let out a gasp of surprise.

**Susannah:** It’s gigantic!

**Sora:** Turning her hatchlings’ roosts into real homes that they could go back to was what Sensei always wanted to do.

**Sora:** As for Cioara’s Island which sank before the Great Eruption…

**Sora:** Sensei said that when she returns, she’ll come up with a new version of that idea! After all, the Honkai has been eliminated by humanity!

**Seele:** You’re right!

…

**???:** Seele looks like she’s fighting back laughter. Does she know?

**???:** I told you, we should have waited for them to enter first before appearing. Now it’s not a surprise. It just looks like we’re purposefully eavesdropping.

**???:** Oh, let’s get out of here then. Besides… there’s too many kids here!

…

**Rozaliya & Liliya:** Good to see you, Seele!

**Seele:** Rozaliya, Liliya, what are you doing here?

**Rozaliya:** We’re a couple of class clowns that bring laughter to our teacher. Where else would we be but here?

**Liliya:** Rozaliya idiotka, we are the teachers. We’re traveling here with the Cioara Foundation…

Children: “Wandering Teachers”!

**Liliya:** That’s “Touring Teachers”.

**Susannah:** …

**Sora:** …

**Seele:** …Ah, right. Got it.

**Susannah:** Well… It’s getting late. How about I help the kids back to their rooms and you guys find some place to catch up?

**Sora:** I’ll go with you, Miss Susannah. I haven’t seen them for a while.

**Susannah:** Good idea. With you around, I’ll feel more at ease.

**Seele:** Then I’ll leave you to it. But don’t forget, we still have to report that information back to the professors.

**Susannah:** Don’t worry, I didn’t forget. I’ll come find you in a bit!

With the children gone, Liliya collapsed on the couch.

**Liliya:** Ah, much more peaceful than having kids running around all day.

**Rozaliya:** Liliya, watch it! How can a touring teacher say something like that?

**Rozaliya:** Plus Vodka Girls will be out soon! If someone digs up what you just said after the debut, it could cause a lot of trouble!

**Seele:** …Debut?

**Liliya:** Rozaliya is talking nonsense. Nothing is coming out soon. We’re just getting ready for a release is all.

**Liliya:** Singing, dancing, behavior lessons, we didn’t miss a single one during our tour. And we always did our homework.

**Liliya:** We wanted to know how to become the world’s number one idols. So we asked Th-

**Rozaliya:** Shhhhhh…

**Rozaliya:** Liliya, we promised Theresa we wouldn’t talk about it!

**Liliya:** Ahem, anyway, Rozaliya and I signed up for the talent contest. In a few months, you’ll be able to watch us perform on TV.

**Seele:** Sounds great. I’ll be sure to call up all my friends to vote for you when the time comes.

**Seele:** But it must be hard to care for the children in the foster home while you also take classes, no?

**Rozaliya:** To be honest, it can be a bit taxing. But everyone has something they’re working hard at, right?

**Rozaliya:** Sora, Susannah, and Seele too.

**Rozaliya:** So, if we're talking about becoming idols and doing the same thing as before, going through the motions without making any changes…

Rozaliya tightened her fists as she recalled a book she had read in class.

“I sat down at the desk in the comfiest position and tilted my head to the window once more.”

“The mellow smell of wood came from the desk and the sound of nearby reading was in my ears. I let my body and mind drift into the restful air and quickly close my eyes.”

“I didn’t turn my body once, nor did I notice the drool as it dripped from my mouth onto the textbook.”

“It wasn’t until the bell rang and the sun shone in my eyes that I realised…”

**Rozaliya:** What’s the difference between us and a sloth?

**Seele:** Rozaliya…

**Liliya:** Seele’s giving you that same look.

**Liliya:** That night, Rozaliya dragged me along to find Theresa.

**Liliya:** “Other than not wanting to become a sloth, do you have any other reason?”

**Liliya:** “If it’s justified, I can consider agreeing.”

**Rozaliya:** We have other reasons!

**Rozaliya:** Like wanting to always have ice cream with the cherry on top, to realise our dreams, to make everyone smile, to…

**Rozaliya:** The words I had heard earlier in a dream.

**Liliya:** Rozaliya idiotka, you were awake then.

**Liliya:** We were talking about everyone, including Kiana who is working on the moon. She’ll be so happy seeing us on TV. Just like you guys, the support group, right?

**Rozaliya:** That’s right! It’s…

Before she could finish her thought, she suddenly fell silent. Then, realising something, she stomped her feet.

**Rozaliya:** Isn’t something like that exactly what a Vodka Girls contestant would say?

**Rozaliya:** No, no, Liliya, repeat it again. I want to take notes.

**Liliya:** …You won’t be shy saying this in front of a camera?

**Seele:** Haha. Well, if your goal is to make everyone smile, Rozaliya and Liliya have accomplished that much.

**Rozaliya:** Hehe, that’s sweet of you to say, Seele.

**Liliya:** Rozaliya gets embarrassed…

**Liliya:** Over the strangest things.

**Seele:** …

Seele noticed a weariness across Liliya’s face. That’s when she noticed something was wrong.

Due to the Assaka gene injection, Liliya falls asleep every night at around 7:00 PM.

And right now, the hour hand was pointing sharply at 8 o’clock. Despite how tired she looked, Liliya showed no signs that she was going to stop talking.

**Seele:** Liliya, is it… time for bed?

**Rozaliya:** Don’t worry, Liliya’s been sleeping all morning to be prepared for tonight’s big reunion! I even told Sora not to tell you so as not to ruin the surprise!

**Liliya:** Yep. I’m not sleepy at all right now.

Though there was still much conversation to be had, Seele could see it was time for her to end things for now.

So, she narrowed her eyes and…

**Seele:** …But Liliya, I’m getting sleepy.

**Liliya:** Huh? You’re tired, Seele?

**Rozaliya:** Yep! At Cocolia’s Orphanage, Seele would stay up late talking to Bronya everyday.

**Liliya:** I remember one time, you got caught by Matushka Cocolia. And you and Rozaliya, who was stealing food from the kitchen, got an earful.

**Liliya:** Ah, and there was that one time with Seele and Bronya…

**Seele:** T-Things have changed a lot since then! I’ve been out all day and tomorrow I have to continue tracking this culprit.

**Seele:** Speaking of, you need to be more careful on your tours.

**Seele:** I’m off to get some rest too. Rozaliya, Liliya, good night!

While Seele only wanted to give Liliya an out so that she could head to bed, she also got up and left.

**Rozaliya:** Liliya, I don’t think we told Seele where she’ll be staying?

**Liliya:** No need to worry. Seele’s smart… She’ll be able to…

**Liliya:** …

**Rozaliya:** …Ah, she fell asleep.

**Rozaliya:** Ha… As your sister, I’ll forget about the stuff you just said.

…

**Rozaliya:** Good night, Liliya.

**Seele:** Really now…

**Seele:** I didn’t ask any questions and just left.

**Seele:** Susannah and Sora… They’re probably still taking care of the kids.

**Seele:** I’ll go and ask the staff.

**Seele:** Hello, do you know where the dorms are?

**Staff Member:** See the iron door behind that fountain?

**Staff Member:** After you do a facial recognition at that door, it’ll open and you can enter the dorms.

**Staff Member:** But right now it’s under scheduled maintenance… and there’s 15 minutes left.

**Staff Member:** If you’re in a hurry, I can rush Clarence along.

**Seele:** No need, I can just hang around here for now.

**Seele:** (Clarence? Speaking of which, on the moon… But, it could just be someone with the same name.)

**Seele:** Good evening.

**Teacher:** You are… Oh, you’re the one that Rozaliya mentioned. You’ll be sleeping over tonight, yes?

**Seele:** Yes, sorry for the trouble.

**Teacher:** Not at all, the children here love those two sisters. We welcome any guest of theirs.

**Teacher:** Haa…

**Seele:** (She seems a little restless?)

**Seele:** Did something happen?

**Teacher:** Oh, no, it’s nothing important. It’s just… It’s almost bedtime for the children now, but one of them is nowhere to be found.

**Seele:** That’s…

**Teacher:** Please don’t worry, it’s a common occurrence. The children are at a playful age. They were playing hide and seek here just now, one of them must have hidden but wasn’t found.

**Seele:** Then I’ll look for her with you, since I’m still waiting for access permission.

**Teacher:** Then… I’m sorry to trouble you. I’ll look around here. If you find her, please bring her to me.

The female teacher described how the missing child looked like.

**Seele:** I understand, I’ll look for her now.

**Seele:** (Ah, she must be the child that teacher is looking for?)

**Seele:** (I’ll greet her first, lest I scare her…)

**Seele:** (Huh?)

**Seele:** (It’s that… crack again?)

**Seele:** (I feel so strange, what am I…)

**Seele:** Where am I? Cioara’s Home… no, that’s not it…

**Seele:** It’s… hard to focus…

**Seele:** I must find that child!

**Seele:** Ah, there she is.

**Seele:** Little girl, you can’t… loiter in a place like this. Let’s go back to your teacher.

**Seele:** These monsters are…

**Seele:** Quick, hide behind me. I’ll definitely save you!

**Seele:** Save… you…

**???:** Seele… Seele…

**Susannah:** Seele? Hello? Can you hear me?

**Seele:** Huh?

**Seele:** Susannah? I just…

**Susannah:** Mm, you were so strange just now, standing there in a daze. You didn’t respond even though I called out to you numerous times.

**Susannah:** Ah, I know, you must be sleepy. That can’t be helped, I’m really tired from all the missions today~

**Seele:** I was… Oh, I was helping a teacher who was looking for a child who hadn’t gone to sleep.

**Susannah:** Do you mean that child in that corner just now? She already went back while you were staring into space.

**Seele:** Really?

**Seele:** (Was that scene… a delusion caused by my fatigue? No, I’m definitely not that tired.)

**Seele:** (I shouldn’t tell Susannah before I get to the bottom of this, it’ll only worry her.)

**Seele:** Yeah, looks like we need rest, but I should contact the professors first.

**Susannah:** Sure, I’ve finished chatting with the children too. That’s the door to the dormitory, the person in charge has arranged rooms for us. Let’s give our report there.

**Seele:** Ah… I heard that the gate’s recognition system is under maintenance. It’ll take another ten minutes before it’s done.

**Susannah:** I see. Oh, then let me use this ten minutes to share an interesting story! I heard some amazing things from the children just now.

**Susannah:** For example, there’s a boy among them that created a mecha bigger than an adult, all by himself. That mecha can transform and speak!

**Susannah:** Even when that boy isn’t around, it’ll automatically go on patrols, read stories to the children, play games, and watch them do their homework.

**Seele:** Hmm…

**Seele:** (The “Clarence” that the person was talking about, could it be…)

**Susannah:** Shocking, isn’t it? And that’s not all.

**Susannah:** That boy came back from his secret base recently and controlled the mecha to collect lots of materials from all over Nagazora. He said that he wanted to build his own sniper rifle and apply to the school where The Warrior was trained.

**Susannah:** When I was his age, I didn’t even dare to cross the road on my own.

**Susannah:** But he already knows his aspirations for the future at such a young age. That’s so cool!

**Seele:** …Yeah, really cool.

**Seele:** Theresa is also considering the idea of a prep school. Maybe that boy will be one of the first students.

**Susannah:** But the teachers probably won’t allow him to bring a mecha to school, right? I really want to see it for myself though.

**Seele:** If it’s only bringing him to school, it should be fine.

**Seele:** After all, that talking Uncle Robo…

**Seele:** Will try to grant all the wishes of children.

…

Perhaps it was because they knew their comrades were safe, or perhaps the moon stole their hearts away…

When the girls reported their work for the day and returned to their rooms, they realised…

That night was truly very short.

**Seele:** It’s already so late… But this shows that it has been a productive day.

**Seele:** I hope that the professors can find some useful leads from the information we collected.

The girl thought about the mission she did during the day again, to make sure that she did not miss anything, before she could relax. And then she thought of…

**Seele:** She… should still be awake, right?

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Hello?

**Bronya:** I hear you, Seele.

**Seele:** Bronya, am I bothering you?

**Bronya:** Of course not. Rather, I only realised that I’ve been sitting at my desk for two hours again, because of your call.

**Bronya:** Mmm…

**Bronya:** It’s time for a change of mood.

**Bronya:** Project Bunny, I’ll leave this analysis to you too… Ah.

**Seele:** Heheh, Bronya, did you forget that I’ve borrowed Project Bunny from you?

**Bronya:** Can’t be helped, looks like I’ll have to do all this tedious work myself.

**Seele:** Project Bunny is going to protest at this rate.

**Bronya:** Ahem, speaking of which… When do you intend to return it?

**Seele:** Do you know what your Bunny told me? It pleaded for me not to return it so soon. It said that if it gets ordered around endlessly again, it’ll break down soon.

**Bronya:** …

**Bronya:** Arahato is Anti-Entropy Entertainment’s most renowned production. If its derivative game isn’t on par with the original, lots of fans would be disappointed.

**Bronya:** Also, it has kept me company for a long time and witnessed many special moments in my life.

**Bronya:** So, rather than extrinsic reasons, I don’t want to disappoint myself.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** I think that you always put too much pressure on yourself.

**Bronya:** Hmm?

**Seele:** You like it, therefore you care about others’ opinions, and you don’t want to let the past you down.

**Seele:** There’s nothing wrong with your mindset, but sometimes, if you care too much about something, it’ll ironically lose its roots. It may even become a curse that obstructs us from moving forward.

**Seele:** Just like in the past, a week before a performance at the orphanage, I kept telling myself, “Seele, you mustn’t be nervous.” But in the end…

**Bronya:** In the end, you fell before you even got onto the stage and the paper swords in your hand landed right in my hair.

**Seele:** Bronya, you don’t have to remember such things so vividly!

**Bronya:** Alright, I’ll stop. I’ll listen to you too, and focus less on others’ opinions.

**Bronya:** But what about you, Seele? Did your day in Nagazora go smoothly?

**Seele:** With Susannah and Sora around, we progressed much faster than I thought. Once this mission ends, I can also turn from a temporary Schicksal member to a real Valkyrie.

**Bronya:** Looks like you plan to join the Anti-Honkai Team? Oh, or did Durandal recruit you into the Immortal Blades?

**Seele:** I’m not sure about that yet… But I do want to be independent like you.

**Bronya:** But you’ve already done many great things in New Atra. Everyone has witnessed your growth.

**Seele:** I’m clearly not as mature as you or the others yet, and I can’t become a good Valkyrie just by familiarising myself with battles.

**Seele:** Grasping the details, planning battle strategies… I still need to learn all those, and those are also the aspects I hope to excel in for this mission.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Bronya, do you still remember? I saw many dreamlands with Theresa in Project STIGMA’s Spiritual Adam.

**Seele:** Some people lived bitterly and were numb to reality. They continued to torture themselves even in those dreams.

**Seele:** Others had aged and were gravely ill. To them, their dreamlands were but the last candy that life had to offer.

**Seele:** But when we explained ourselves and wished for everyone to leave their dreamlands, it was the latter who gave a more resolute response.

**Seele:** I think the courage from those elderly wasn’t purely from a selfless mentality.

**Seele:** It’s precisely because they’d experienced similar pains that they wish to let youths cherish all the beautiful things hidden around them.

**Seele:** How regretful it would be, for one to refuse a rose and leave a garden only because they fear the rose’s thorns.

**Seele:** Thanks to them, and Kiana who also held the same conviction as they did, the largest thorn in the world has been removed. Naturally, the rest is up to us.

**Bronya:** Seele… Those are some great words.

**Seele:** M-Maybe I’ve listened to too much of “Herrscher of Sentience’s Lessons”?

**Bronya:** I don’t think so.

It’s hard to come up with such a conclusion, even with the power of a Herrscher.

One could only empathise with such feelings if they’d stepped into the shoes of others and referred to their perspectives.

**Bronya:** Oh, as a trainee team member, you should have a specialised teacher like Miss Himeko, right? Of course, if there’s a need, I can also join your team.

**Seele:** Haha, I look forward to fighting alongside everyone again.

**Seele:** As for our teacher, Theresa mentioned that she has quite a few recommendations, like Durandal, Rita, or Mei. Of course, when they aren’t on vacation.

**Bronya:** Mei?

**Bronya:** She expressed that she was willing to do it, and she’s good at mentoring others too, but… she has only tried it on a particular lazy person. She might have some trouble getting used to someone serious like you.

**Seele:** Is that so? I was even thinking that I should treat this mission seriously to give Mei a surprise.

**Bronya:** If that’s what you’re after, you have to brace yourself.

**Seele:** Huh?

**Bronya:** After all, Mei barely raised her brow when Kiana said Durandal was her sister.

**Bronya:** The only thing that can surprise her now is Kiana suddenly appearing on the streets and greeting her with a silly smile.

**Bronya:** But…

**Bronya:** Even if Mei isn’t surprised, I am proud of you.

**Bronya:** I believe that Theresa wants Durandal and the others to guide you because she wants them to learn something special from you too.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Alright, I’ll continue to work hard.

**Seele:** Ah… We’ve only been talking about me, what are you busy with recently?

**Bronya:** As for me…

**Bronya:** Mr. Yang asked me to do the project planning for Arahato, and even gave me lots of past information from the studio.

**Bronya:** From original art, to design archives, to production manuscripts, to the whole set of Arahato series figurines. He moved everything that he thought would be useful for the planning to my work station.

**Bronya:** At first, I wanted to research about this seriously, and began to look for inspiration for the new game from those resources.

**Bronya:** But as a die-hard fan of the series, I can’t fully immerse myself into the perspective of a creator. Most of the time, I’d be busy admiring, and would forget about my work…

**Seele:** So that’s why you’re working overtime?

**Bronya:** Ugh…

**Bronya:** I guess so, but I’m very confident about my future product.

**Bronya:** When the game goes on sale, its continuation would already be in the works. Then, we’ll hold an announcement event for it to double the hype.

**Bronya:** Seele, do you think we should add some easter eggs about the past productions in the continuation?

**Bronya:** That way, we can attract players of the previous games and get more funds to continue developing…

…

When a speaker and a listener synchronises, a normal conversation can extend endlessly.

And to put a stop to it, sometimes, you might need some external intervention.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Are you two done yet? Don’t you need to sleep?

Through Seele’s lips, the other Seele expressed the emotions she had suppressed for a long time.

After her exclamation, the two of them fell into silence.

**Seele:** Well… Bronya, it’s very late now.

**Seele:** I still have other things to do tomorrow, so let’s stop here for today, shall we?

**Bronya:** Yeah, I tend to talk too much when it’s about games. You still have your mission to do tomorrow, rest early.

**Seele:** Then I’ll be hanging up.

**Bronya:** Alright. Good night, Seele.

**Seele:** Good night, Bronya.

After hanging up, the girl laid back on the bed and closed her eyes.

She inhaled a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, resting for a while in that position.

When she had recovered to a more stable state, she carefully called out to her other self in her heart.

**Seele:** Seele… Are you there?

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you much today.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Seele, are you sleepy? If so, I won’t disturb you anymore.

**Seele:** Don’t just assume that you’re disturbing me!

**Seele:** If you have the energy to chat, of course I can keep you company. But don’t blame me if Susannah and Sora see you snoozing in bed tomorrow.

**Seele:** Haha. I’m sure you’ll wake me up.

**Seele:** Who knows? What if I want them to hear you sleep talking?

**Seele:** For example…

**Seele:** “I want… I want to go to the beach again… with Bronya…”

**Seele:** “I still want… to eat six big parfaits…”

**Seele:** I… I’ve never said anything like that!

**Seele:** I’ve heard them all. If you weren’t asleep, I would have recorded all that with a voice recorder.

**Seele:** Wait… Right, you’re already asleep, so why did I not do so before?

**Seele:** But if I really do talk in my sleep, doesn’t that mean…

**Seele:** You’re actually watching me in my sleep?

**Seele:** Uh…

**Seele:** I did not! You just kept talking and I happened to hear a few lines.

**Seele:** Just like today, when I was chatting with Bronya?

**Seele:** That’s right, you guys were talking away when you should be sleeping, and so loudly too. If this goes on, my mind can’t handle it.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Sorry, I’ll watch when I talk to others from now on, I won’t disturb your rest.

**Seele:** But sleep talking is out of my control.

**Seele:** After this case, I’ll go for a check at a hospital. Maybe the doctor can prescribe me some medicine…

**Seele:** Wait, wait, what are you talking about? What happened to that great detective Seele during the day?

**Seele:** Or maybe… You didn’t realise that I was teasing you?

**Seele:** You don’t talk in your sleep that much, just once or twice a month. You don’t disturb me when you talk to those two dummies and Bronya either.

**Seele:** I was just…

**Seele:** I just thought that you’re too tired, so you should rest early, that’s why I said all that. Really, why are you so dense at times like this?

**Seele:** Ah, I see…

**Seele:** If you can hear me talk in my sleep even though it’s just once or twice a month, doesn’t that mean that everyday, you’re…

**Seele:** Tsk… What’s the point of talking about this?

**Seele:** Skip it, talk about something else, then hurry up and go to sleep!

**Seele:** Haha, alright.

…

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** …You’ve really done a lot today.

**Seele:** Yeah. I didn’t notice it during the day, but now that I think about it, I think that I’m pretty amazing.

**Seele:** Yup, you’ve grown a lot since that time in New Atra.

**Seele:** After this mission, or maybe after you’ve trained under Mei for a period of time…

**Seele:** I believe you’ll fulfill your wish of becoming someone independent.

**Seele:** Seele…

**Seele:** Don’t get all emotional now, I’m not saying this just to encourage you.

**Seele:** What was it again… This is an absolute conclusion deduced from careful observation.

**Seele:** Regardless, you just have to keep up the momentum and push forward.

**Seele:** And I’ll also…

**Seele:** Always be watching over you.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Just watching isn’t enough.

**Seele:** I still need your help and suggestions.

**Seele:** Hmm?

**Seele:** After all, the independent “me” that I wish to become…

**Seele:** Is you, Seele.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** What are you talking about?

**Seele:** You said “I want to be independent like you, Bronya”.

**Seele:** “I want to be independent like Bronya” and “I want ‘myself’ to be independent” aren’t mutually exclusive.

**Seele:** What a stretch.

**Seele:** Haha, it’s not.

**Seele:** I can only protect us if I become independent.

**Seele:** Then, I don’t have to worry about you disappearing abruptly, and we can face strong, fearsome opponents like Hare together.

**Seele:** Ugh… Yeah.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Anyway, enough about that weird woman, just talking about her makes me angry.

**Seele:** If she dares to appear again…

**Seele:** We’ll… beat her up?

**Seele:** Whether we beat her or not… We need to show her our true power.

**Seele:** Alright, just as you say, we’ll show her our power!

**Seele:** Okay, enough of this silliness! Hurry up and go to sleep!

**Seele:** Oh, alright.

…

**Seele:** (Hmph. This child… Should I say that she grew, or not at all?)

**Seele:** (But… If that day really comes…)

**Seele:** (Never mind. We’ve been together for so many years after all…)

**Seele:** (It’s normal to feel sad, right?)

--

#### Gameplay 36-9 - Incognito

…

The next morning, Seele was awoken by the notification from her communicator. She quickly woke Susannah, who was in the room next door.

**Einstein:** Good morning, Seele, Susannah. The time in Nagazora now is… Ah, I’m sorry for waking you guys up so early.

**Tesla:** But in return, I’ve brought undoubtedly great news.

**Susannah:** It’s fine, lack of sleep won’t trouble a true Valkyrie! Did you learn anything about Incognito?

**Einstein:** That’s right, and Seele’s guess was proven correct.

**Seele:** Could it be…

**Tesla:** Seele, you weren’t mistaken about that voice. That voice belongs to the ex-cadet of the World Serpent, Gray Serpent. Or rather, one of his remaining bodies.

**Seele:** …!

**Einstein:** We’ve analysed the resources that Susannah obtained in Nagazora, especially the products that Incognito attempted to take from pharmaceutical companies.

**Einstein:** Bionic prosthetics, electronic eyes, artificial organs… The model numbers of these products match with that of those recorded from a Gray Serpent’s body parts.

**Einstein:** In other words, medical machines and products that Incognito is looting in Nagazora are precisely what’s needed to create a new Gray Serpent. This can’t be a coincidence.

**Susannah:** But, if Gray Serpent is already a member, why are they making all this effort to create another one?

**Seele:** Maybe his original body has been damaged, and he needs some spare parts?

**Susannah:** Mm… But that wouldn’t require them to collect every part needed for his body, right? If he’s already been utterly broken down, then he wouldn’t be able to join all those raids.

**Seele:** Indeed… That makes sense.

**Tesla:** According to Mei and the others’ previous report, the Gray Serpent Network has already self-destructed. But it’s precisely because they self-destructed…

**Tesla:** There’s a supposition for why that fellow is collecting materials for a body, one that’s much more convincing than simply collecting spare parts.

**Einstein:** I said that the medical and bionic products looted match those of a Gray Serpent’s body, but that’s only one of the common purposes these products have.

**Einstein:** Aside from that, they also have another purpose that state-of-the-art bionic products serve… simulation.

**Susannah:** Simulation?

**Einstein:** That’s right, to use artificial body parts and organs to simulate a human’s natural body and organs as much as possible.

**Tesla:** They can’t understand if you phrase it that way, Mophead. For example, the simplest form of a prosthetic leg is to connect a carbon fiber tube to a metal dome that replaces the leg. A design purely meant to walk.

**Tesla:** Although such a prosthetic can recover a certain degree of limb movement for the user, a carbon fiber tube is nothing like a human’s shin, and the metal dome is nothing like a human’s foot.

**Tesla:** It’s not just about the appearance. This kind of prosthetic cannot provide tactile sensations, because there’s no signal connection to the neural system. Even if the prosthetic was to break or be damaged, the user wouldn’t feel any pain.

**Susannah:** Huh? Isn’t that a good thing?

**Einstein:** Of course, this saves a lot of trouble and lowers the resources needed to make the prosthetic. However, in recent years, more and more of the disabled wish to have prosthetics that are similar to their original body.

**Einstein:** “I want real skin”, “I want to feel pain and warmth”, “I want blood to flow within”… “I want to look like a human”.

**Seele:** That’s simulation?

**Einstein:** Yes. Simply put, it’s not only about the function, the prosthetic’s appearance and sensation has to seem like a real limb or organ.

**Seele:** Incognito’s Gray Serpent is looking for a prosthetic like this…?

**Tesla:** Almost all the products they’ve looted are of this category. Oh right, among the raided medical companies, there’s one named Neopolis Pharmaceutical, right?

**Tesla:** That company… Hmph, I’m sure you can guess just from its name, but it has contemptible relations with the infamous Heliopolis Life Sciences.

**Tesla:** But, before the Great Eruption… This company was one of the biggest researchers and manufacturers of bionic prosthetics.

**Seele:** Which is to say… Maybe the Gray Serpent in Incognito wants to look like a human…

**Seele:** And will raid facilities like Neopolis Pharmaceutical again?

**Einstein:** It’s highly possible. After making a checklist of all the bionic prosthetics that the Gray Serpent needs, we realised that he is still missing two parts. These parts can only be made by Neopolis Pharmaceutical.

**Einstein:** But Neopolis Pharmaceutical is a big company with tight security. Before the Incognito fiasco ends, it probably won’t announce any other valuable products.

**Einstein:** Storing those products in its headquarter’s core area is probably the safest method.

**Seele:** In that case… Incognito’s next raid target is likely to be Neopolis Pharmaceutical’s headquarters?

**Tesla:** That’s right, so we need to get there preemptively and wait for the Gray Serpent to come to us!

**Susannah:** Roger that! Seele and I will head to Neopolis Pharmaceutical’s headquarters now. If we explain our intentions to the people in charge, they will probably agree to let us in for an ambush, right?

**Tesla:** …Don’t have high hopes. A company like Neopolis Pharmaceutical that lurks in the gray area of the law doesn’t like outsiders in their territory. Even if we’re there to help.

**Seele:** In that case… we can only sneak in, or use assertive methods.

**Tesla:** Yeah, don’t let our efforts go to waste, we stayed up all night for this!

The red-haired professor pointed to herself with her thumb, before hanging up.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Let’s go, Susannah, to Neopolis Pharmaceutical.

**Susannah:** Yeah! This time, we won’t let Incognito get away!

**Susannah:** Neopolis Pharmaceutical’s headquarters… Wow, there are so many mechas walking around, the security sure is tight here.

**Seele:** Are these… really Neopolis Pharmaceutical’s security guards?

**Susannah:** Er… Huh? Looking closely, they seem to be the same type of model as the mechas that Incognito uses. Could it be…

**Seele:** …Let’s hurry inside and see!

**Seele:** It’s strange indeed. Along the way here, we haven’t seen anyone, just those weaponised mechas.

**Susannah:** And those mechas… their model type and equipment obviously belong to Incognito.

**Seele:** It’s very likely that… Incognito has already taken over this place.

**Susannah:** We came too late? Oh no, maybe the Gray Serpent already got the bionic parts he wanted and escaped?

**Seele:** Let’s not get hasty, I think that he hasn’t gotten them yet. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have left all these mechas behind to surround Neopolis Pharmaceutical.

**Seele:** He should be somewhere in this building… Let’s hurry and see if there are any marks he left leading to the warehouse or research labs.

**Susannah:** Alright!

**Susannah:** Seele, look, it says that this elevator leads to the underground research center.

**Seele:** Looks like someone insists on keeping us out of there.

**Seele:** It’s too obvious to be true.

**Susannah:** Let’s hurry up and get rid of this nuisance, and catch up with Gray Serpent!

The wide elevator descended steadily and finally came to a slow stop.

The elevator doors opened silently, revealing the scene before their eyes…

**Susannah:** This is Neopolis Pharmaceutical’s underground… Ugh, those organs in that refining cabin are really just artificial, right?

**Seele:** Wait, Susannah… I feel like someone else is here.

Seele was right, and the person she felt had no intentions of hiding himself.

**Gray Serpent:** …

**Susannah:** Who’s there?! Put your hands in the air, t-this is your only warning!

**Seele:** Calm down, Susannah. As we expected, it’s the Gray Serpent.

**Gray Serpent:** …

They could not see the expression on the masked man. He did not speak, but merely tilted his head as he observed the two girls with slight interest. A seemingly affective red light flashed through his prosthetic eye.

**Susannah:** Seele, why isn’t he speaking?

**Seele:** Perhaps he’s waiting for us to question him.

**Susannah:** Then we will!

**Susannah:** Hey, the Gray Serpent over there! We’re the Schicksal special search team sent to Nagazora! You’re the mastermind behind Incognito, wrecking havoc throughout the city, aren’t you?

**Gray Serpent:** …

**Susannah:** You can’t deny, we’ve already caught you red-handed! Stop resisting and follow us!

**Gray Serpent:** …

**Susannah:** Hey, Seele, he’s not reacting at all!

**Seele:** Maybe he’s just a specially programmed android as well?

**Susannah:** Then shall we… try to go a little closer?

**Seele:** Yeah, but be very careful…

Before she could finish, the Gray Serpent shook his body and made a strange clicking sound. Before the two girls’ bewildered eyes, the Gray Serpent’s head fell out and landed on his hands in front of his waist.

**Susannah:** Aaah!

**Seele:** …

**Gray Serpent:** As expected, you can only get this kind of reaction when performing a robot dance with a mechanical body.

**Susannah:** Huh? Y-Your head…

Before they realised, the Gray Serpent’s head was reattached normally on his shoulders. It was done so quickly, as if that chilling scene had never happened at all.

**Susannah:** You’re right. Now that I think about it, you’re an artificial body, there’s nothing strange about being able to remove your head.

**Susannah:** And, you’re finally willing to speak?

**Gray Serpent:** My apologies, I did not mean disrespect or disdain with my silence just now. It was just part of the performance.

**Seele:** Performance?

**Gray Serpent:** Yes. In layman’s terms, it’s creating the atmosphere.

**Gray Serpent:** As long as I don’t speak, I will seem more and more mysterious to the both of you. When you finally succumb to the allure of your curiosity, you’ll unconsciously come closer.

**Gray Serpent:** Then, it’ll be the perfect opportunity to perform my trick just now. How was it, did it give you a scare?

**Susannah:** Seele… This fellow seems to be a really weird one!

**Gray Serpent:** Weird? Me…?

**Gray Serpent:** No, I’m your average joe, the most average a person can be.

**Gray Serpent:** My dream is to be an average and normal person.

**Gray Serpent:** Young lady, let me ask you… If I had a body of flesh and bones, just like you, would you have applauded my previous performance?

**Susannah:** How could a body of flesh and bones do what you just did?

**Gray Serpent:** Of course it can. About four months ago, there was a talent show in North America. A dancer… oh no, a magician I suppose, used his shocking body control combined with some accessories to complete such a performance.

**Gray Serpent:** His head seemed to have fell off his shoulders, down to his waist. Truthfully, when I saw that scene, I was filled with indescribable admiration.

**Seele:** …

**Gray Serpent:** I immediately tried to imitate that performance, and I was able to do it within an hour. In fact, I did it more perfectly, because my head really dropped off.

**Susannah:** …

**Gray Serpent:** However, nobody cheered for me. At best, I can only use it to scare young ladies like you.

**Gray Serpent:** Why? That dancer received thunderous applause!

**Gray Serpent:** The reason is “only those made of flesh are real humans”. Only real humans hold meaning and value.

**Gray Serpent:** Nobody will praise a robot regardless of how neatly it slices food; but a chef with impeccable knife work would be widely praised as an artist.

**Gray Serpent:** There are many other examples. Regardless of how fast transportation tools may be, nobody will think that they are dexterous; but even a child would have heard of the 100m race champion.

**Susannah:** What are you trying to say?

**Gray Serpent:** I told you. Only real humans hold meaning and value. If one desires to have meaning and value, one must become a real human.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** I see. You looted all those bionic prosthetics, not to act as spare parts, but because you wanted a body of flesh.

**Gray Serpent:** You’re smart, Miss Schicksal Special Search Member. I probably knew your name in the past, but after receiving 1904’s amazing blessing, now that I’m more human-like, I ironically cannot remember.

**Gray Serpent:** But, look. I cannot choose how I was born, but I can choose what I wish to become.

**Susannah:** Hmph, Mr. Gray Serpent, as you chase after your dreams, aren’t you forgetting something?

**Susannah:** Stealing, arson, robbery, illegal possession of dangerous weapons, destruction of public properties, violent assault… If you want to become a real human, please atone for your crimes like a rational human!

Seele and Susannah exchanged eye contact in unison and carefully surrounded the Gray Serpent from both sides.

**Gray Serpent:** Regrettably, I cannot abide by your rules and restrictions before I become a real human.

**Susannah:** What’s with the double standards?

**Gray Serpent:** A flexible moral standard is also one of the weapons humans use to survive. Or rather…

**Gray Serpent:** I’m more like a regular human when I do this, no?

**Susannah:** …

**Susannah:** I’ve realised, what this fellow says seems to make sense at first, but he’s actually just spouting nonsense.

**Seele:** Yeah, let’s just arrest him, Susannah.

**Susannah:** Phew, we’re finally done. I didn’t think that he’d be so persistent.

**Seele:** Looks like he’s finally exhausted his storage.

In the rather cramped underground lab, mechanical limbs and fragmented parts were scattered all over the floor.

Gray Serpent usually sat on a railing by the side, no longer summoning new weapons. He raised his head slightly, as if everything that had happened around him did not matter.

**Susannah:** Even after such a long fight, none of the other Incognito members came to save you. Are you really an important member in the organisation?

**Gray Serpent:** Heh.

Gray Serpent laughed softly upon hearing that, sounding rather delighted.

**Seele:** Susannah, I don’t think other Incognito members exist at all.

**Susannah:** Huh?

**Seele:** Ever since we came to Nagazora, we’ve always been fighting mechas or robots. Aside from him, we’ve never met a living Incognito member.

**Seele:** And throughout our investigation, we’ve never found anything related to the appearance of other Incognito members, nor any witness testimonies. Only him.

**Seele:** And, Incognito’s motive is to collect bionic prosthetics for Gray Serpent, so he should have a high rank in the organisation. But he’s always been in the front line for these operations, alone with no support.

**Susannah:** This… is unreasonable indeed.

**Seele:** So I’m guessing that the whole Incognito organisation is but smokes and mirrors set up by this Gray Serpent… From the beginning, you’ve been the only member of Incognito, haven’t you?

**Gray Serpent:** …

**Susannah:** So… All the rumors about the hundreds of members, countless mechas, and lockdown operations, those are also…

**Seele:** Yes, all a disguise to make the “existence of the Incognito organisation” more convincing.

**Seele:** From the start, this Gray Serpent was our only enemy.

**Gray Serpent:** …

**Gray Serpent:** I thought that making this seemingly huge organisation would be enough to confuse those who pursue me, and hide my true motives.

**Gray Serpent:** I’d never imagined that to the perceptive audience, this was but a cheap performance.

**Seele:** Mr. Gray Serpent… Why do you want a body of flesh?

Gray Serpent raised his body slightly. His prosthetic eye looked behind Seele, as if he was looking through the wall, into a distance.

**Gray Serpent:** Since you know my name, you should also know what I… what a Gray Serpent is like.

**Susannah:** You guys are mechanical artificial lives created by the World Serpent. All of you have different personalities, but have the same type of bodies, and share memories and consciousness through the Gray Serpent Network.

**Gray Serpent:** Yeah, that’s pretty much it. But the Gray Serpents that you have interacted with or heard of must be the complete models, right?

**Seele:** Complete models?

**Gray Serpent:** In other words, regardless of their personality, mental age, self-proclaimed gender, likes, and dislikes, those Gray Serpents have a complete persona, right?

**Seele:** Are you saying that… there are Gray Serpents who don’t have one?

**Gray Serpent:** Ha, of course, there’s one right before you. Or rather, I used to be one of those incomplete models.

**Gray Serpent:** Not all Gray Serpents have complete and stable personas upon gaining consciousness. Due to the random algorithm, about 30% of Gray Serpents have an incomplete soul. We can only live like the simplest of robots.

**Susannah:** T-That can happen?

**Gray Serpent:** It’s reasonable that you do not know, as we don’t have the ability to move autonomously. Naturally, we cannot interact with the outside world. However, the World Serpent did not abandon us, in spite of this.

**Gray Serpent:** We were taken to a particularly secluded underground workshop where we absorbed memories to complete or repair our incomplete personas, using the Gray Serpent Network.

**Gray Serpent:** It’s said that, with enough time, we will become a complete model. But mockingly…

**Seele:** …The Gray Serpent Network no longer exists.

**Gray Serpent:** That’s right. For the complete Gray Serpents, this represents freedom and liberation. But for us, we’re like fetuses that had our umbilical cords forcefully removed.

**Susannah:** …

**Seele:** Then, Mr. Gray Serpent, how did you survive and obtain a complete persona?

**Gray Serpent:** Hah, just a stroke of luck.

**Gray Serpent:** When I woke… The scene before my eyes was no different from that of hell.

**Gray Serpent:** Familiar bodies surrounded me… The same limbs, masks, and eyes that I have.

**Gray Serpent:** I immediately realised what had happened. The Network no longer exists and my siblings around me will never have the chance to wake again.

**Gray Serpent:** Yes, I was just a little luckier. I managed to awaken with complete consciousness before the Network disappeared.

**Gray Serpent:** When I crawled over their lifeless bodies, I had already decided how I wanted to live the rest of my life.

**Gray Serpent:** I want to find a real body of flesh for my soul, a temple that can truly inherit my heart.

**Gray Serpent:** I want to leave this cold, man-made coffin, never to remember those dark, chilly, and humid feelings of disgust.

**Gray Serpent:** Thus my obsession with a living body, clever… Miss Seele.

He paused occasionally while he spoke, as if trying to remember the conversation… And he correctly called out the other’s name.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** I sympathise with your situation, and admire your perseverance, Mr. Gray Serpent.

**Seele:** But I cannot agree with your perspective.

**Gray Serpent:** …??

**Seele:** Even without a body of flesh and blood, even without a body at all, the soul is also a form of life.

**Seele:** I don’t agree with… how you view that as a flawed existence.

**Susannah:** …Seele?!

**Gray Serpent:** …

**Gray Serpent:** Seems like you also have some personal experience that allows you to believe differently, in contrast with my beliefs. But unfortunately…

**Gray Serpent:** Our time is up.

**Seele:** …?

**Gray Serpent:** Truthfully, I’d love to hear your story, but now is not the time.

**Seele:** …!

Suddenly, the Gray Serpent swayed and his head fell off yet again. But this time, it did not fall to his waist, but rolled straight onto the ground.

**Susannah:** Darn, it was a clone!

**Gray Serpent:** Bingo.

*[CG plays wherein the collapsed remains and spare parts begin sparking and floating, constructing a new body for the Gray Serpent.*]

**Susannah:** A Gray Serpent made… made from the spare parts underground?

**Seele:** Hurry and catch him!

**Gray Serpent:** Well then, until we meet again.

The Gray Serpent’s real body agilely climbed into the vent next to him, and the sounds of explosions followed after.

Seele and Susannah rushed forward but found that the vent had been firmly blocked by rubble and debris.

**Seele:** Hurry, let’s take another route!

**Seele:** How is it, have you found him?

**Susannah:** No… Looks like we let him get away again…

The two looked at each other with a helpless expression. Suddenly, it seemed like Susannah had thought of something…

**Susannah:** Ah, I got it.

**Seele:** Hmm?

**Susannah:** Seele, do you remember how we trapped the Gray Serpent in the warehouse yesterday, but he vanished as if he had evaporated? Maybe… it’s the same tactic?

**Seele:** You mean… Ah!

**Seele:** There was nobody in the warehouse, just boxes and spare parts strewn all over the floor.

**Susannah:** Those are actually Gray Serpents, right? He was the same, he split himself into numerous pieces to pretend that he had already gone elsewhere.

**Seele:** Which means he was actually in the warehouse… He patiently waited for us to leave before recovering to his original form, and leisurely left.

**Susannah:** That fellow fooled us with the same trick twice… He slipped away right under our noses twice…

**Seele:** Yeah…

Susannah and Seele looked at each other again. This time, they both showed a bitter smile.

Their exhaustion began to surface slowly, like shells left behind by receding sea waves.

Of course, aside from that a clear passage could be seen on the beach. But who knew if this narrow path would lead to somewhere ominous…

To solve this case in Nagazora, they continued to hurry about.

### Act 3 - Dangerous Path

#### Gameplay 36-10 - Change

As the Gray Serpent escaped once again, Seele and Susannah had temporarily lost all clues to pursue, and returned to their safe house.

Last night, the temp security maintenance workers had tidied and organised the place, and the various facilities had been repaired to a certain degree.

The two immediately reported what had happened in the morning to Einstein and Tesla.

**Susannah:** Ugh, the police officers in Nagazora are really nice, but we let Gray Serpent escape again…

**Tesla:** Haa, don’t be sorry, you’re trying your best to arrest a criminal that they are helpless against.

**Einstein:** Dr. Tesla is right. And as for Gray Serpent’s ability to piece bits and pieces of himself together…

**Einstein:** Both of you were given insufficient information. Strictly speaking, we are the ones to blame.

**Seele:** Professor, please don’t say that.

**Tesla:** From your description and the fragments that Gray Serpent left behind, that guy can break himself into numerous pieces, and each of those pieces act as an individual module on standby.

**Tesla:** But once they receive the signal from the core component, they can awaken and gather within a very short amount of time, to form the whole body of a Gray Serpent.

**Einstein:** According to the mechanical bodies of past Gray Serpents, it’s impossible to achieve this. This means that the Gray Serpent in Nagazora has managed to improve and modify himself.

**Tesla:** Hah, in this aspect, he’s pretty amazing.

**Seele:** To become more like a human…

**Susannah:** No, no, no. No matter how you look at it, he’s becoming further from a human.

**Tesla:** But this transformer obsessed with modifications isn’t flawless.

Dr. Tesla displayed a schematic diagram full of data on the communicator screen as she spoke.

**Tesla:** This is a model that Mophead and I made based on the properties of those body parts. It shows that whenever Gray Serpent uses that resurrection trick, it’s like hot-swapping. It’ll deal a certain degree of damage to those parts.

**Seele:** I see… Looks like this isn’t a cheap trick for the Gray Serpent.

**Susannah:** Huh, but he was able to get away with such agility once he rebuilt himself right in front of us. It didn’t seem like this type of damage affected him in any way.

**Einstein:** The damage barely affects the Gray Serpent’s movements in a short duration, but it definitely hinders the efficiency of his body’s operations in the long run.

**Tesla:** Simply put, the durability of those mechanical parts will decrease greatly. This gives us quite an opportunity, doesn’t it?

**Susannah:** Yeah… We’ll definitely be able to catch the Gray Serpent next time, right? He’ll become slower with time.

**Tesla:** Yup, as expected of our reckless Susannah, you’ve gotten it completely wrong!

**Susannah:** Sorry!

**Seele:** I think that Gray Serpent is aware of this himself, that’s why he’s finding ways to repair himself while on the run.

**Einstein:** Maybe he’s not simply repairing. Gray Serpent stole the precious bionic prosthetic from Neopolis Pharmaceutical and obtained the last piece required to modify himself. He doesn’t have a reason to remain in Nagazora now.

**Einstein:** Right now, he probably wants to leave this city immediately, and find a quiet place to complete his self-modification.

**Einstein:** But in his current state, Gray Serpent isn’t confident of operating for a long duration. To him, the prerequisite for leaving Nagazora is to make sure that he is in perfect condition.

**Susannah:** Which means… Gray Serpent will steal new spare parts again to repair himself?

**Tesla:** Gosh, why can’t you think out of the box? Mophead just said that he has already gathered all the components he needs.

**Seele:** So the two of you are saying that… Gray Serpent may complete his modification somewhere within Nagazora?

Susannah frowned and pondered for a while, before showing an expression of sudden realisation.

**Susannah:** Oh, I got it too! Gray Serpent’s ultimate goal is to modify himself, and now he needs to repair himself too. So why not hit two birds with one stone and…

**Susannah:** Renew himself completely?

**Tesla:** Aha, now we’re talking.

**Einstein:** Even though Gray Serpent has already modularised most parts of himself, to switch his body entirely still requires some time, place, and settings.

**Seele:** And this means that… Gray Serpent has a secret stronghold somewhere in Nagazora. It’s likely that he’s hiding there now.

**Susannah:** But how are we going to find that secret stronghold? Once he revamps his appearance, it’ll be tough for us to find him…

**Tesla:** Relax, think about who’s in charge of providing information. We’ve already made a list of every area in Nagazora that fulfills the conditions, and sent it to your guide.

**Seele:** Do you mean Sora?

**Tesla:** I’m sure she’ll bring us good news soon.

And right then and there…

**Tesla:** Oh, speak of the devil.

**Sora:** Miss Seele, Miss Susannah, and our two professors, everyone’s here.

**Einstein:** Did you find it, Sora?

**Sora:** Yeah, a friend of mine in Nagazora spotted a masked man in black clothes entering the old city area earlier.

**Sora:** I’ll send the coordinates to all of you.

**Susannah:** This is… Seele, it’s really close to where we assembled before. It’s near the safe house!

**Seele:** Yeah, it’s probably the part of the city that has submerged into the sea… But can one really stay in a place like that?

**Sora:** There are more habitable areas within than it seems. For example, the top floors of buildings and some tightly sealed warehouses aren’t flooded yet.

**Sora:** Some of the homeless or runaways would live in those spaces… The witness who saw the Gray Serpent is one of these people.

**Susannah:** What are we waiting for, let’s go check it out! We can’t let that sly fellow escape again!

**Seele:** Yeah, let’s go.

**Susannah:** There are lots of mechas controlled by Gray Serpent all around here, more than any area in the city. I’m sure he’s hiding somewhere here!

**Seele:** Yeah… We’re pretty close to the coordinates given by the witness.

**Seele:** We don’t know what other tricks Gray Serpent has up his sleeve… We should be careful as we move ahead.

**Susannah:** Yeah…

**Seele:** …Huh?

**Susannah:** What’s wrong, Seele?

**Susannah:** Is it a trap?

**Seele:** No… What’s that thing?

**Susannah:** Where?

**Susannah:** Where do you want me to look, Seele?

**Seele:** (It disappeared again…)

**Susannah:** Hmm?

**Seele:** …It’s nothing, I must be seeing things. Sorry, Susannah.

**Susannah:** …

**Seele:** Susannah?

**Susannah:** Seele, watch out!

**Seele:** …!

**Susannah:** Wah! What are these, machines? Humans? Or Gray Serpent’s secret weapons?

**Susannah:** Whatever they are, they’re heading over here!

**Seele:** No, they’re…

**Seele:** …Seeds of Ideas.

**Seele:** Why are that woman’s subordinates here?

**Seele:** Seele?

**Seele:** Hmph, it’s because you talked about that troublesome woman last night. Now look, her strange little minions really appeared…

**Seele:** But… According to Bronya and the rest, Hare shouldn’t even be on Earth anymore.

**Seele:** Well, aren’t we on Earth now?

**Susannah:** W-W-W-What should we do, Seele? These things look really dangerous!

**Seele:** Seele, Susannah is in a helpless panic, let’s get rid of these Seeds of Ideas first!

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Can’t be helped, let’s get this over and done with.

**Seele:** (Hm? This strange feeling is…)

**Susannah:** Huff… Huff…

**Susannah:** It’s finally… over.

Susannah panted heavily, her face pale.

**Seele:** Yeah, but…

**Seele:** We didn’t exactly defeat those guys, they just disappeared mid-battle.

**Seele:** You think so too?

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** I thought that you’d finish this mission with ease, but things are more complicated now that Hare has something to do with this incident.

**Seele:** Do you think she’s Gray Serpent’s ally? They were previously cadets of the World Serpent after all. Maybe… she’s secretly helping Gray Serpent with his self-modification?

**Seele:** That’s hard to say… I suspect that woman is too whimsical to help an old comrade just for old times’ sake.

**Seele:** She won’t join a project that she isn’t personally interested in.

**Seele:** It’s hard to imagine that the wish of a mere Gray Serpent, just one out of dozens of them, is enough to pique her interest to help.

**Seele:** Perhaps they have a grander plan in mind, and the modification of Gray Serpent is just the first step?

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** I say you go back with Susannah and report the situation to the two professors first.

**Seele:** Things are looking uncanny now, and I have a bad feeling about this… Tch, or rather a strange frustration.

**Seele:** (Seele… She’s worried about us.)

**Seele:** Seele, I understand your concerns… but we’re one step away from our target. If we turn back now, it’ll all be for naught.

**Seele:** And if Hare is really relevant to this case, we are also responsible for investigating her involvement.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Forget it, I can’t always act on my thoughts alone.

**Seele:** But you must stay wary. We don’t know what Hare sent her minions for… Right now, she has an edge over us.

**Seele:** Yeah, we’ll be careful, Seele.

**Susannah:** Seele, are you alright? You’ve been silent this whole time… Or rather, you’ve been talking to yourself?

**Seele:** Ah… I’m fine, I was just thinking about the enemies we encountered. They’re not simple.

**Susannah:** Huh? Do you… know where they’re from?

Seele nodded and gave Susannah a simple explanation about Hare.

**Susannah:** T-To think it’d be a leader of Project STIGMA…

**Susannah:** The ability to catch dreams, and those servants that are called “Seeds of Ideas”… They sound like a huge pain to go up against!

**Seele:** Yes, so we must be extremely careful from now on… She knows more than us, after all.

**Susannah:** …

**Seele:** But we can’t give up now. Let’s continue toward the location that Gray Serpent was spotted at.

**Susannah:** But our priority… isn’t arresting the Gray Serpent now, but to investigate the situation, right?

**Seele:** Yeah. After all that had happened, please give a simple report to the professors of Anti-Entropy and Schicksal HQ.

**Susannah:** …Roger!

--

#### Gameplay 36-11 - Trap

Before the future becomes the past, the purpose of something significant always seems elusive and unpredictable.

Initially, potatoes and tomatoes were originally meant to be ornamental in Europe, and the steamer was actually meant to remove excess water underground from mines.

Or perhaps, consider the underlying meaning behind a famous work about a white animal…

“And doubtless, my going on this whaling voyage, formed part of the grand program of Providence that was drawn up a long time ago. It came in as a brief interlude and solo between more extensive performances.”

Just as how it took twenty-eight chapters of the book to show that the deranged Captain met his end with his prey, the strong will behind that trivial anomaly would only reveal itself after a long time.

At least now, to those unexpectedly caught up in this: Seele, Susannah, the two Anti-Entropy professors, and even the mastermind, Gray Serpent…

They still lack some requirements to find out the truth.

**Susannah:** …

**Susannah:** According to the coordinates Sora gave us, Gray Serpent should be hiding nearby.

**Susannah:** But…

**Gray Serpent:** …

**Susannah:** Aaaaah! T-There he is!

**Seele:** …

**Susannah:** (Seele, look, his body’s barely changed from the last time we saw him!)

**Seele:** (Yes, it seems like he hadn’t had time to complete his self-modification.)

**Gray Serpent:** Why whisper? You have already seen through my plans.

**Gray Serpent:** And you guys have an extremely talented informant. To think that you’d find me so quickly.

**Susannah:** Ha, of course! Did you think that hiding in the old city area would help?

**Gray Serpent:** The two of you from the Schicksal Special Search team always manage to surprise me.

**Gray Serpent:** If we were somewhere else, perhaps I would have opened a bottle of wine in self-pity, and congratulate you for completing your mission.

**Susannah:** Cut the nonsense. We won’t let you run away this time, give up resisting!

**Gray Serpent:** Sorry, but it’s hard for me to comply. I want to struggle a little more.

**Susannah:** Hey, wait!

**Seele:** Quick, give chase!

**Susannah:** It’s Hare’s subordinates again!

**Seele:** …

…

**Susannah:** Give up, Gray Serpent! You have nowhere to run!

**Gray Serpent:** Is that so? Then should I reward you two with a bottle of wine, just like I said I would?

**Susannah:** (W-Why does he still seem so relaxed? Is he plotting something weird again?)

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Because for unknown reasons… Hare is helping you right now, isn’t she?

**Gray Serpent:** What if I said no?

**Seele:** …?

**Gray Serpent:** For example…

**Gray Serpent:** Do you think that Hare ever helped us back when we were executing Project STIGMA?

**Susannah:** …Huh? Isn’t she a leader of Project STIGMA?

**Gray Serpent:** Ha. That woman only works for what interests her… She doesn’t even deem Sire important, why would she offer to help me?

**Gray Serpent:** But… judging from the results, your conclusion isn’t exactly wrong.

**Gray Serpent:** All in all, I don’t care what Hare wants to do.

**Gray Serpent:** As long as the outcome is favorable to me, I’ll happily go with the flow.

**Gray Serpent:** Such as now…

*[CG plays wherein Gray Serpent vanishes, and Seele is once again brought to the all-too-familiar graveyard of worlds:*

***Gray Serpent:** The one to be caught…*

***Gray Serpent:** Doesn’t seem to be me.*

***Seele:** This is…*

***Seele:** The Sea of Quanta?*]

--

#### Gameplay 36-12 - Lost

The looming rain subsided, the sky and buildings faded away.

The surrounded scenery quickly changed, as if an intricate layer of shell had been broken, revealing the true contents within…

**Susannah:** Eh… Huh? What’s going on?

Susannah rubbed her eyes roughly.

**Susannah:** How did Nagazora change into this? Is this some sort of optical illusion? Holo-projection? Hypnosis?

**Susannah:** Ah, where did Gray Serpent go? Did he escape again?

**Seele:** Susannah, calm down.

**Susannah:** Seele… But where are we? In the blink of an eye, we…

Unlike Susannah, Seele was very familiar with the place they were in. She understood instantly that the scenery before her was no illusion or scheme, but a space that truly existed.

**Seele:** This is… the Sea of Quanta.

**Susannah:** The Sea of Quanta…

**Susannah:** …

**Susannah:** What?!

**Susannah:** The Sea of Quanta… where different universes simultaneously exist, where everything becomes a mess… where it’s really difficult to get out from?

**Susannah:** No, that’s not the problem…

**Susannah:** Weren’t you trapped in the Sea of Quanta before?

**Seele:** Yes. I once entered here… because of an accident, and drifted between the multiple universes for a long time.

**Seele:** Speaking from personal experience…

**Seele:** Even though it seems absurd, we are definitely in the same situation as I was in back then.

**Susannah:** But we were just in Nagazora! I remember Master Rita said that the criteria to enter the Sea of Quanta are actually very stringent. Even if you used a specialised facility like the Eye of the Deep, you aren’t guaranteed to succeed.

**Susannah:** It can’t be that… Gray Serpent threw us in here?

**Seele:** From what I know, Gray Serpents don’t have that ability.

**Seele:** And according to Gray Serpent himself, it seems like he only utilised a phenomenon created by Hare, not…

What had happened just now quickly flashed through Seele’s mind.

They had already forced Gray Serpent into a corner, but suddenly, fissures cracked the surrounding space open. By the time they realised it, they were already in the unreachable Sea of Quanta.

**Seele:** (Wait… Fissures?)

A few vague memories flitted through her mind.

**Seele:** Susannah, I have a question.

**Susannah:** What is it?

**Seele:** When we began investigating in Nagazora, did you notice anything strange?

**Susannah:** Strange? S-Seele, why are you suddenly bringing up paranormal stories? I’m not good with this topic!

**Seele:** Ah, no, actually…

Seele told Susannah about how she had seen mysterious fissures multiple times.

**Seele:** The first time was in the safe house. I thought that the table had cracked and didn’t pay much attention to it. The second time was in the courtyard of Cioara’s Home. I had a strange dream after seeing it too…

**Seele:** And the third time was when we were arresting Gray Serpent just now. Once that fissure appeared, our surroundings distorted and transformed into a space in the Sea of Quanta.

**Susannah:** …Huh? Fissures?

Susannah gave it a thought, but eventually shook her head.

**Susannah:** Sorry, I don’t remember seeing anything like that.

**Susannah:** But if such abnormal things had happened before, getting worse each time… Why didn’t you discuss this with the professors?

**Seele:** That’s because…

Seele opened her mouth to answer, but an unsettling feeling stopped her. She realised that she didn’t have an answer to that question.

**Seele:** (Susannah is right. Why didn’t I talk to anyone about such a weird phenomenon?)

**Seele:** (I seemingly… treated it as something trivial… Why?)

Seele felt more and more confused. It was as if she had fallen into some intricate and elusive trap.

But at that moment…

**Susannah:** Seele…

**Susannah:** I think…

**Susannah:** …Something’s wrong with me.

**Seele:** Susannah… What’s wrong?

**Seele:** Why are you so pale?

**Susannah:** I don’t know… Did I eat something bad today? I was feeling a little dizzy when fighting against those Seeds of Ideas…

**Susannah:** Huff… Huff…

**Susannah:** It’s finally… over.

**Susannah:** Now… That discomfort is getting more intense in this space…

**Susannah:** Feels like… I’m getting airsick…

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** (That’s strange. I remember, unlike Theresa, Susannah should adapt well to the Sea of Quanta… Why is this happening?)

**Seele:** (And how I didn’t report about those strange happenings…)

**Seele:** (Seele, do you notice anything wrong? This Sea of Quanta is really weird!)

…

**Seele:** (…?)

…

…

**Seele:** (Ugh… It’s weird indeed.)

**Seele:** (Ah… I’m glad you’re alright.)

**Seele:** (No. Strictly speaking… I feel different too.)

**Seele:** (Huh? Are you feeling sick too?)

**Seele:** (Uh… Not in that sense.)

**Seele:** (Or rather… In a way, I’m faring better than ever.)

**Seele:** (…?)

**Seele:** (It might scare Susannah, but after we do this, she might feel better.)

**Seele:** (…??)

**Seele:** (…)

**Seele:** (Oh, don’t get too shocked either, alright? After all…)

As another Seele, this was the second time she showed this kind of power outside her “soul”.

The first time was many years ago, when facing Bronya. Unfortunately, Seele saw her as a devil then, and caused a ridiculous misunderstanding.

Truthfully, that was a failed attempt at awakening.

…But this time, it’s completely different.

**Seele:** After all, we can separate easily in this space.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Huh?!

**Susannah:** Ugh… Am I too dizzy? Why are there two Seeles?

**Seele:** Yup, there’s always been two.

**Susannah:** Ah… Looks like it really is a hallucination…

**Susannah:** Ouch!

That hallucination smacked her head heavily.

**Susannah:** …Huh?

**Seele:** You dummy. Are you awake now?

**Susannah:** This airsickness… is slowly subsiding… But there are still two Seeles?

**Seele:** Of course. You feel better now because I came out of Seele.

**Susannah & Seele:** …?

**Seele:** Simply put, when the three of us exist independently, the Sea of Quanta can form a stable formation around us, like a triangle that cannot be deformed by external forces.

**Seele:** Whether it’s Susannah’s dizziness or Seele’s acknowledgement of the fissures, they are both effects caused by this space.

**Seele:** Ah. Gray Serpent said that the effects that Hare caused were advantageous for him… Was he referring to this?

**Seele:** Are we affected by Hare’s illusions?

**Seele:** Isn’t that obvious? A Gray Serpent who seems to know of all of the anomalies, Seele strangely letting her guard down even though she noticed the anomalies, and Susannah who didn’t notice the anomalies that restrained her…

**Seele:** Clearly, the effects depend on the individuals.

**Seele:** Which means those fissures… They are trying to separate us?

**Seele:** Probably, although I’m not sure what can be achieved by doing that.

**Seele:** Maybe Hare only wants to show her trails to non-humans like Gray Serpent? What a weird woman.

**Seele:** (…?)

**Susannah:** W-Wait… You all have said so much…

**Susannah:** But can someone tell me why there are two Seeles here at the same time?!

…

**Susannah:** Uh… To think that it’s something like that…

**Seele:** I’m sorry, I never had the chance to tell you before.

**Seele:** Whenever you saw me stare into space, I was actually talking to this Seele.

**Susannah:** Haha, you two get along so well.

**Seele:** Of course. We’ve always been together since a long time ago.

**Seele:** …?

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Enough, let’s cut to the chase. We told you why there are two Seeles…

**Seele:** As for why there are two Seeles here at the same time, I’m not sure either.

**Susannah:** Huh?

**Seele:** Don’t get me wrong… What I mean is, I don’t know why that mastermind, probably Hare, would put in all that effort to create an area where an existence with no tangible body like me, can move around freely.

**Seele:** As I’ve said just now, it’s probably because she’s weird.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** But, speaking of “no tangible body” or “non-human”… The past Project STIGMA does fit these descriptions.

**Susannah:** Seele, are you saying that… Hare actually hasn’t given up on Project STIGMA?

**Seele:** …I don’t know.

**Seele:** But we can’t stay here for long. Right now, only our past experiences against Project STIGMA can help us get out of here.

**Susannah:** …?

**Seele:** A lot of bubble universes float in the Sea of Quanta. They are like shadows of the real world, or some concept of a parallel universe.

**Seele:** If we can’t find the route back to reality for now, maybe we can search for bubble universes that we can interact with. Then, we’ll figure out their relationship with the real world’s coordinates.

**Susannah:** Which means… We’re actually lost in the Sea of Quanta now?

**Seele:** Dummy, you’ve got it backwards. Getting lost is inevitable because it’s the Sea of Quanta…

**Seele:** Unless we can use the necessary facility like Durandal to anchor our coordinates to the real world.

**Seele:** Of course, it’s too late to talk about all this now.

**Seele:** Anyway, we can’t sit around, waiting for death. Let’s move to an area with a more stable space, and look for a way back from there.

**Susannah:** Do you know which way to go?

**Seele:** Yes. I can feel that aura… There’s another relatively stable universe nearby.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** This is the only way, although it makes me mad to think about who forced us in here in the first place.

**Seele:** But before we cut off her head, we have to take care of ourselves, right, Susannah?

**Susannah:** Ugh… Ah.

**Susannah:** (She’s gonna c-cut off the enemy’s head?)

**???:** Ugh… Aaaah…

**Seele:** (Gray Serpent? No, this is…)

**???:** Oh, I see… You’re… not here…

**Seele:** (Can’t Susannah and Seele notice this kind of… signal?)

**???:** Hah… What’s the difference between what you want… and what I want…?

**Seele:** (…?)

**???:** Is that so…? Then, I suppose I should thank you… for having a chat with me…

**Seele:** (…)

**???:** …

**Seele:** (…)

**Susannah:** Ah! There’s a portal here!

**Susannah:** Can we get out of this unstable space now?

**Seele:** …

**Susannah:** N-No?

**Seele:** We still can’t tell where this portal will bring us.

**Seele:** And… I feel this disturbing aura nearby…

**Seele:** Start digging.

**Susannah:** Digging?

**Seele:** Yeah. You’ll know it when you dig it out.

**Susannah:** But, even if you say that…

**Seele:** Alright, move over.

**Seele:** In this space, a normal human is practically blind and deaf.

…

**Susannah:** What’s this?

**Seele:** …Why Gray Serpent?

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Hmph, too smart for your own good.

**Seele:** He had it coming… but the situation has gotten even more problematic.

**Susannah:** Is this really that Gray Serpent from Incognito?

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** This one has already replaced some parts of himself with Neopolis Pharmaceutical’s bionic prosthetics. It has to be him.

**Susannah:** But this body isn’t damaged at all…

**Susannah:** Is he really dead? Or did he abandon his body again?

**Seele:** He spent so much effort to get this body, he can’t possibly ditch it just like that. And if this is another escape scheme, who would bother leaving an empty shell in the Sea of Quanta?

**Seele:** Even Hare wouldn’t do something like that.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** I see, so this is a red herring.

**Seele:** He’s simply making the best of the situation for his personal motives… What we should really be wary of isn’t him, but the phenomenon that is allowing him to act.

**Seele:** Unfortunately, we can’t find the answer we need from him.

**Seele:** The more important question is, he wasn’t captured by the Sea of Quanta before, so why did he sink here?

**Susannah:** That… The portal ahead is…

**Seele:** Who knows what’s hidden behind it?

**Seele:** In my opinion, let’s just take these…

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** …?

**Seele:** No. Something’s coming!

**Seele:** Seele, Susannah, prepare for battle!

**Susannah:** What’s happening, why are they pouring in everywhere?!

**Seele:** Susannah, stay calm, get behind me for now!

**Seele:** Hah, what’s to fear? They’re no different from the mechs we fight during practice!

**Seele:** Mechs have shells, they have shells too. They’re all the same!

**Susannah:** You’re right, Seele! They’re all the same!

**Seele:** There are so many of them… Susannah, can you keep up?

**Susannah:** I’m fine… At least with everyone around, I don’t get dizzy!

**Seele:** (But… At this rate…)

**Seele:** Seele, Susannah, keep it up! Let’s see just how many of them there are!

**Susannah:** Ah… New enemies again…?

**Seele:** Tch. Is there really no end to them?!

**Seele:** (…)

**Seele:** (Wait… That means, the situation now and Bronya’s situation then…)

**Seele:** (Seele, is there a way we can retreat?)

**Seele:** (Huh?)

**Seele:** (Just like when Bronya saved us that time… Unlike us, a normal human like Susannah can’t continue fighting like this for too long!)

**Seele:** (You say to get out… Does it look like there’s anywhere we can retreat to?)

**Susannah:** Seele, don’t worry about me! I can hold on!

**Seele:** …

**Susannah:** Oh right… After we complete this mission, I’ll bring the both of you to the castle back home…

**Susannah:** There’s only a small field, but the horizon looks really amazing there…

**Susannah:** And the mutton and carrots there… Oh, the spring onions too… You won’t get to taste them anywhere else…

**Seele:** Hey! What’s wrong with you?!

**Seele:** Shut up, don’t say such ominous things!

**Seele:** Looks like there’s a lapse in their attack.

**Seele:** Susannah, get ready to retreat!

**Susannah:** R-Retreat? Where to?

The two Seeles looked at the portal behind them simultaneously, and nodded at one another.

**Seele:** Remember that Seele said she sensed another more stable space in the Sea of Quanta? It should be the universe behind this portal.

**Seele:** And perhaps the Gray Serpent’s corpse floated here due to the Sea of Quanta’s natural flow. Or maybe…

**Seele:** He realised the secrets of that universe, and was silenced by death.

**Susannah:** Huh? That’s way too dangerous.

**Seele:** But if we continue to fight against these countless quantum creations, it’ll be hard for us to last until a rescue team comes.

**Seele:** In such circumstances… It’s worth the risk to travel through that portal into a universe that may be completely different from reality.

**Seele:** Of course, if we’re fortunate, we’ll be rejected by the rules of that universe.

**Susannah:** Fortunate? Wouldn’t it be a disaster to be rejected?

**Seele:** If you’re rejected by the rules of the Sea of Quanta, you’ll return to your original world immediately. Don’t you know how Schicksal’s Genius works?

**Susannah:** Ah… I see.

**Susannah:** Wait. That means, if the Sea of Quanta’s rules reject us, we can return to Nagazora?

**Seele:** Yeah. Truthfully, this fellow met with a similar situation before, but she wasn’t satisfied with how the incident ended. So she returned to the Sea of Quanta again, to save her most cherished comrade.

Perhaps out of a peculiar emotion, she did not directly refer to Bronya.

**Seele:** But… The situation that Susannah mentioned rarely occurs naturally.

**Seele:** We… must prepare our hearts, to live in a different universe for the time being.

**Susannah:** But you think that would be better than being cornered by enemies?

**Seele:** Yes, we think so. What about you?

**Susannah:** You guys are the experts when it comes to the Sea of Quanta! Of course I’ll listen to you.

**Seele:** Alright then, Susannah will go first, then Seele, then me. Those quantum creations are closing in again, let’s make haste.

As she spoke, she pushed the B-rank Valkyrie. The moment Susannah’s hand touched the portal…

A gentle, white light embraced her, like an angel’s wings, like a white flower blooming.

She had extraordinary luck. That bright light was the sign of someone being sent back to their original world, from the Sea of Quanta.

**Seele:** Hah, must be nice to be lucky. Then, we’re in no rush for our adventure in that other universe.

**Seele:** Mhm, if we can wait for Schicksal’s rescue…

Before she could finish her sentence, boundless darkness suddenly engulfed them, and the ground seemed to spin.

A strange, crushing might attacked her body, but Seele did not feel any pain.

She quickly realised that when the triangle of stability formed by the two of herself and Susannah crumbled…

Susannah definitely wasn’t the only one who would be affected.

The portal that had been stable was now expanding… And the direct consequence of this incident threw the two separated Seeles…

Into different bubble universes, as different physical forms.

**Seele:** (Seele…!)

Under such abrupt changes, the girl could…

…Only pray.

--

#### Gameplay 36-13 - Country of Darkness

…

…

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** She’s not returning…

…

The girl had already paced back and forth for a long time.

This was not a real physical space. Its shape, size, scenery, and decorations could change at its owners’ whims.

But the owners here kept the space as it looked when it first appeared, which means that this tiny universe had never expanded.

So, the girl quickly walked over the entire space again, back to the center of the room.

**Seele:** Seele hasn’t returned.

The girl made this conclusion calmly, not because she wasn’t shocked, but because she had yet to believe this outcome.

**Seele:** What nonsense… This place is within our heart. Or more accurately, within Seele’s heart.

**Seele:** Her heart was here, but the soul of its owner wasn’t. How could this happen?

**Seele:** She should have… returned here quickly…

**Seele:** Seele, what are we…

**???:** Seele?

**Seele:** …!

The girl turned around abruptly.

**Seele (?):** Are you looking for me?

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Who are you?

**Seele (?):** I’m Seele, can’t you recognise me?

**Seele:** Why can you enter this room? Are you… messing around now that Seele is missing?

**Seele (?):** What are you talking about, Seele? I…

A dark scythe tinted with the color of blood instantly appeared in the hands of the black-clothed girl. The arc of its blade swiftly pressed against the throat of the girl in white.

**Seele:** I asked… who are you?

The girl in white did not fear the blade at her neck. She calmly looked into the eyes of the girl in black.

**Seele (?):** Seele, are you angry?

**Seele (?):** No… Anger is only used to hide a deeper emotion. The disappearance of this room’s original owner made you so insecure?

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Hah, I got it, you’re another of Hare’s tricks. Nobody else can break into this place.

**Seele (?):** No. I’m here because the owner has allowed me in.

**Seele:** Huh? Are you really trying to piss me off? Seele would never allow you in here!

**Seele (?):** No. When I said owner, I meant you.

**Seele:** …What?

**Seele (?):** Haven’t you realised? This isn’t her soul, but yours.

**Seele (?):** You sensed me, that’s why I’m here; you are angry at me, that’s why a weapon appeared in your hands.

**Seele:** Enough of your nonsense! This place is Seele and my… Our…

**Seele (?):** Not “ours”, just yours.

**Seele:** …

**Seele (?):** I see, you are afraid to make this conclusion. Then, let me do it for you.

**Seele:** …Shut up.

**Seele (?):** You and Seele are no longer together as one…

**Seele:** …Shut up.

**Seele (?):** The two of you are separate entities. You don’t need to be in the Sea of Quanta to separate from one another.

**Seele (?):** You’re free, “Seele”. Allow me to offer my sincerest blessings.

**Seele:** …I told you to shut up!

An ominous black quickly descended, as if slicing the space apart. The figure of the girl in white immediately disappeared like ashes in a flame.

Even so, her voice could be heard from an unknown place.

**Seele (?):** I understand, you need time to adapt to this.

**Seele:** You think I’d believe in your nonsense? The dead should stay quiet.

**Seele (?):** Thank you very much.

**Seele:** Ah?

**Seele (?):** I’m not dead, but I’m extremely honored to be treated as a human. This is indeed the highest compliment.

**Seele:** (Tch… Incoherent, just like Hare… It’s obvious who created this illusion now.)

**Seele (?):** …But, a picture speaks a thousand words. It’s easier for you to understand your current situation if you witness it for yourself.

**Seele (?):** Then, awaken and return to the open world. Use your own body to experience this freedom.

**Seele:** Why should I listen to you? Scram, I still have important things to do.

**Seele (?):** No, you’ll definitely wake up. Because…

**Seele (?):** The borders are very cold, after all.

**Seele:** Huh? What are you talking ab-

**Seele:** …Achoo!

**Seele:** This is…

**Seele:** What the heck is this place?

**Seele:** An abandoned village covered in snow?

**Seele:** That illusion called this place a border… the border of where?

**Seele:** (What kind of world am I in? Is it the other side of that door?)

**Seele:** (Anyway, gotta find Seele and Susannah. I’ll go ahead.)

**Seele:** …Hmph, these monsters are so persistent.

**Seele:** …I’ll end all of you!

**Seele:** The feeling of fighting against those monsters… This really is an independent universe.

**Seele:** In fact, what I see, hear, and smell… All these sensations feel so real.

**Seele:** Hmph, with that woman’s power now, it'll be too difficult to create such a realistic and huge dreamland, right?

**Seele:** But my powers… Seele’s Stigmata powers can be used normally…. Even in…

**Seele:** In…

**Seele:** …In the case where I can’t find Seele at all.

**Seele (?):** The two of you are separate entities. You don’t need to be in the Sea of Quanta to separate from one another.

**Seele (?):** You’re free, “Seele”. Allow me to offer my sincerest blessings.

**Seele:** Don’t tell me that she’s right…

**Seele:** Hah! That’s impossible.

**Seele:** Haa, even though I can’t wait to be free from having to look after that weak dummy, she still can’t…

**Seele:** (Still can’t leave… me, right?)

**Seele:** Tch, what am I even thinking about? She must be crying now because she can’t find me.

**Seele:** Can’t be helped, I’d better hurry and find her.

**???:** Lady, please wait!

**Seele:** Who’s talking?

**???:** It’s me, over here.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Oh, new monsters have developed in the Sea of Quanta.

**???:** W-Wait! Don’t hurt me, I’m not a monster!

**Seele:** Look in the mirror! Is there anything more monstrous than you?

**???:** Please believe me! I may look like a monster, but I was once a living human like you!

**Seele:** Human?

**???:** He isn’t lying. We were all humans.

**Seele:** Who are you…

**???:** Please don’t panic. We didn’t expect a human would visit this desolate border, either.

**???:** We’re the denizens of the Country of Iron Sand.

**Seele:** The Country of Iron Sand?

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** You haven’t heard of it? Then you must be from the outside world?

**Seele:** (The outside world… Well, looks I’m definitely in a bubble universe.)

**Seele:** Do the denizens of this country all look like you?

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** Mostly, albeit a few who are more complete.

**Seele:** Complete?

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** They’re transparent like us, but the outlines of their bodies, or even facial features, are visible.

**Seele:** But transparent too?

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** Aye…

**Seele:** (It’s a bubble universe, so anything could happen…)

**Seele:** Why did you stop me?

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** We want to ask you for help.

**Seele:** Help?

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** As you can see, lady from the outside world, we denizens of Iron Sand have lost our human form, and only a glow marks our existence.

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** For the glow to live on, we must often bathe in moonlight.

**Seele:** Moonlight?

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** Yes. Above our biggest oasis city is a moon that never sets, emitting a gentle, serene light for eternity.

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** As long as the moon shines on us, we will not disappear nor be forgotten.

**Seele:** Are you saying that you can only live as this “thing” in the moonlight?

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** You’re very clever. Unfortunately, the moonlight cannot reach this remote border.

**Seele:** …Then why did you come here?

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** Because, of course… this is the first place to merge.

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** Starting here, the great Sage will give us new life!

**Seele:** Ah?

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** Ahem, please ignore those words. We came here to attend to some matters.

**Seele:** (It’s probably their religion… Tsk, how troublesome.)

**Seele:** I don’t know how I can help you with that. I can’t move the moon here or anything.

**Seele:** I’m in a hurry, bye.

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** No need! No need! A special crystal that we call the Moonrock can be found nearby. It emits a faint white light that has the same effects as the moonlight!

**Seele:** …Outta my way, I’m not your errand girl.

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** Please! We’ve discovered where it is. You only need to collect a number of it and place them in the right place.

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** We want to do it ourselves if possible, but as you can see, we don’t have the hands to do it…

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** If you don’t help us… we can only wait for disappearance…

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** Ah, Lord Sage…

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Fine, fine! I’ll help you.

**Seele:** (…So a certain dummy won’t chew my ear off.)

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** Rea… really?

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** You are such a kind soul!

**Resident from Country of Iron Sand:** We cannot thank you enough!

**Iron Sand Citizen:** Dear miss…

**Seele:** Call me Seele.

**Iron Sand Citizen:** Yes, Miss Seele. Aside from glowing, the moonstone also attracts monsters, so please be careful.

**Seele:** The monsters here can’t hurt me. You lot be careful not to get eaten.

**Iron Sand Citizen:** Miss Seele, the moonstone is right there!

**Seele:** I see. Alright, stand back.

**Iron Sand Citizen:** As expected of Miss Seele!

**Seele:** I just have to move this rock to where you all live, that’s all?

**Iron Sand Citizen:** Of course, please come with me!

As the residents of the Country of Iron Sand cheered, the girl slowly embedded the strange white crystal into the pedestal.

And right then and there…

**Seele:** Huh?

She felt a special sensation on her hand, soft and warm, definitely not how a crystal should feel like.

**Seele:** This is… a hand?

Looking down, there was only a moonstone in her hand. But the warmth made it feel like something transparent had broken through the space and gently laid on the back of the girl’s hand.

**Seele:** …Seele?!

Purely out of intuition, she called out her name.

But she instantly knew that she was right. That invisible hand belonged to her missing other half.

**Seele:** Seele! Are you there?

Her loud shouts seemed to have scared the invisible being. Its touch and warmth slowly disappeared into the frigid air…

She could no longer feel that hand.

Only a hard and cold moonstone remained in her trembling hand.

--

#### Gameplay 36-14 - City of Light

At the other end of the Sea of Quanta, the world was in considerable chaos.

**Tesla:** Phew… Finally got the bureau of the international police to retreat.

**Tesla:** How is it, has Nagamitsu found Seele and Susannah?

**Einstein:** …

**Einstein:** We’re in trouble now.

**Tesla:** Huh? What trouble? Can’t you speak clearly?

**Einstein:** Cosmic Juggernaut cannot find Seele and Susannah’s signal. And what’s more worrying is… this might be a dangerous premonition for the world.

**Tesla:** You mean… it’s not a coincidence that they went missing?

**Einstein:** Likely not. After all, ignoring obviously impossible scenarios like deep space, to hide from Cosmic Juggernaut…

**Einstein:** There is only one way. Their current location isn’t in the same dimension as this universe.

**Einstein:** Considering that there’s nothing wrong with Kiana’s authority, this location is likely in the Sea of Quanta. The location where the Sea of Quanta is connected to the real world is precisely the problem.

**Tesla:** It’s definitely Nagazora, right? It might be around the previous Imaginary singularity…

**Tesla:** …Ah.

**Tesla:** Tch, are you serious?! The Sea of Quanta’s penetration point is near the previous Imaginary singularity?! How can that be? They should negate one another!

**Tesla:** Other than Kiana’s authority, there can’t be a power similar to FInality that is powerful enough to merge everything, right?

**Tesla:** No, no… Calm down, Nikola. This is merely a world mechanism that we have yet to understand.

**Einstein:** Yeah. But if it’s a world mechanism… I’m afraid it’s not only Nagazora that’s affected.

**Einstein:** I’ve asked Nagamitsu to use Cosmic Juggernaut to look for other Valkyries and relevant members, just in case… If possible, it’s best to contact Durandal and Rita, who have headed to a certain bubble universe.

**Einstein:** But considering that this situation could be caused by the Sea of Quanta’s abnormal fluctuations… We probably can’t expect their support for now.

**Tesla:** Then… shall we gather that group of people from St. Freya?

**Einstein:** Yeah, I’ve already contacted them with the Sovereign. In this aspect, the most worrying thing is…

**Einstein:** …We can’t seem to contact Fu Hua.

**Tesla:** Huh? How can that be…?

**Einstein:** Yeah. In the past, to help the Herrscher of Sentience, Nagamitsu specially modified her settings, such that she can contact Cosmic Juggernaut anytime through her phone.

**Einstein:** Theoretically speaking, she should be the easiest person to contact.

**Tesla:** …

…

**Tesla:** Hm? A mail?

**Tesla:** Forwarded by Nagamitsu… The original sender is…

**Tesla:** Unknown?

Meanwhile…

As the spinning sensation subsided, light illuminated the darkness before her.

**Seele:** Hmm…

After a short while, the girl’s feet landed on steady and soft land again.

As she recovered various senses…

The most intense sensation was the frigid cold.

A pure white and foreign world laid before her eyes. Seele quickly checked her surroundings while activating the thermostat in her battlesuit.

But, before she could even think of her next course of action…

**Seele:** …Achoo!

**Susannah:** Ohhhh! Amazing! What’s this place? The North Pole? Land of snow? Santa’s hometown? It’s straight out of a fairytale!

**Susannah:** Hmm… I get it, is this the fabled Quantum Leap? No, wait, I might actually be in an isekai!

**Seele:** Susannah?

**Susannah:** Ah, Seele! Look! The snow is super thick! The whole world is white!

**Susannah:** Ahem, sorry, I was a little too excited.

**Susannah:** After all, in my hometown, we rarely even see a snowflake, much less a whole field of snow.

**Susannah:** Although I’ve seen lots of snowscapes since I came to Schicksal HQ… I’m still so amazed every time I see it.

**Susannah:** Alvitr always makes fun of me for it… Heheh.

**Seele:** I see. Oh, you weren’t feeling well before… Are you alright now?

**Susannah:** Hmm?

**Susannah:** Oh, right… About that… I think I’m fine now.

**Susannah:** Maybe because I’ve adapted to the Sea of Quanta? Alvitr says that adaptability is one of my best strengths!

**Seele:** …Ugh.

**Seele:** Perhaps it’s because of the environmental change. There are proper architecture and living facilities here, it’s clear that it has been inhabited before… We are probably in a relatively stable bubble universe now.

**Susannah:** But I was so shocked by that portal just now. I thought that white light was going to disintegrate me into atoms…

**Susannah:** Seele, are you alright? Ah, and the other Seele too…

Suddenly, the two realised that the third person wasn’t around.

**Susannah:** Eh? Where did the… other Seele go?

**Susannah:** Wait…

**Susannah:** Just to be sure, she was together with us before, right? I… didn’t hallucinate that, right?

**Seele:** Calm down, Susannah. If nothing goes wrong, she will always be with me.

**Susannah:** Oh, right, that’s the norm, isn’t it? Then… shall we try calling for her?

**Seele:** Mhm, I think we should.

As usual, Seele began to visualise the room in her head. She could almost see the girl, inseparable from her, turning around quickly, deliberately greeting her in a nonchalant manner.

**Seele:** …Seele?!

The girl did not appear.

The room did not either.

Even that familiar heartbeat could not be felt.

When Seele opened her eyes, she only saw the white, foreign world…

And Susannah’s confused expression.

**Susannah:** It seems like… nothing happened?

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** What…

**Susannah:** …?

**Susannah:** Seele… Could it be that, she’s now…

**Seele:** Yeah, I…

**Seele:** I can’t feel her at all…

**Seele:** This has… never happened before…

Even when they were separated on the moon, Seele could still feel her other self within her body.

Like a thread that always connected their pulses together. Even if they could not hear each other, they could still feel one another’s heartbeats.

But right now, Seele could not feel the other’s presence at all…

That thread had broken.

A series of frightening thoughts clenched at the girl’s heart, every ripple felt like unprecedented loneliness.

Even though her battlesuit had given her warmth, the girl still trembled from the freezing cold.

**Susannah:** Seele, Seele! Are you alright? You don’t look so good, is something wrong?

**Seele:** I… I…

**Seele:** I…

Seele was shocked to realise that she could not speak. She only clenched her fists tighter and tighter…

**Susannah:** …Seele!

A pair of warm hands firmly held the panicked girl’s shoulders.

Seele felt a warmth rush in her heart, and the trembles were dispelled by this touch.

**Seele:** …Huh?

**Susannah:** Don’t worry, Seele. No matter what…

**Susannah:** We all entered the portal, right?

**Seele:** …Yeah.

**Susannah:** Then, theoretically speaking, we should all appear in the same place.

**Susannah:** The other Seele isn’t here, maybe because… Well… It’s the Sea of Quanta, after all! The space is all messed up, so maybe she was thrown to the other side of the village?

**Susannah:** Or maybe she arrived first, realised some sort of danger, and went ahead to protect us! That’s right, that’s possible!

**Susannah:** Anyway, as a Schicksal Valkyrie, I think we need to get moving!

**Susannah:** Let’s find the other Seele!

**Seele:** Susannah…

Although she knew that Susannah’s words were contradictory and illogical, Seele felt calmer. She slowly relaxed her fists.

**Seele:** Yeah, you’re right… Let’s look for Seele.

**Susannah:** Yeah, that’s the spirit! She must be just as alarmed that she can’t find us. Although I didn’t have the opportunity to spend more time with her… I can tell that she really, really cares about you.

**Seele:** …

**Susannah:** …?

**Seele:** Thank you, Susannah.

**Susannah:** Heheh, don’t stand on the ceremony. True partners will help each other in times of need!

**Susannah:** Wow… It really is filled with snow everywhere.

**Seele:** Perhaps it snows all year round in this bubble universe. The roofs of those houses are more slanted, and their walls are thicker too.

**Susannah:** You’re right… As expected of you, you’re so acute in your observation.

**Seele:** No, it’s just that such houses are commonly seen in Siberia.

**Susannah:** Hmf…

**Susannah:** Mmf…

**Susannah:** Ugh… It’s not working, this door isn’t budging at all.

**Susannah:** Let’s find another way, Seele.

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** Susannah, don’t you feel that this door doesn’t match its surrounding scenery?

The two of them looked up at the huge door, observing it carefully.

**Susannah:** Yeah, you’re right. There seems to be a black smudge on the door too. It looks like… a flower?

**Seele:** It doesn’t look like there’s a lock or latch on this door… Why can’t we open it?

**Susannah:** Well… Maybe the door can’t be opened because of that flower?

The moment she said that, Susannah laughed at herself.

**Susannah:** Hahaha, what am I saying… This supposition is too absurd, even in a bubble universe.

**???:** Ah, you have such sharp intuition, young lady.

**Seele:** Huh? A voice…

**Susannah:** W-Who’s talking? Someone from this bubble universe? Come out now! Don’t scare me!

**???:** But, I’m right here.

Susannah scanned her surroundings carefully, but still did not see anyone.

**Susannah:** A g-ghost? Spirit? Invisible human?

**???:** And after I said you were sharp, too. I’m behind this door.

**Susannah:** Phew… What, are you hiding beyond the door, waiting to scare anyone who approaches by speaking suddenly?

**Voice Behind the Door:** Hey! I’m not idle enough to do something so meaningless!

**Susannah:** Then why are you hiding behind this door?

**Voice Behind the Door:** I’m waiting for someone to open this wretched door, duh… I can’t do it from my side.

**Seele:** But it seems like we can’t open it from our side either.

**Voice Behind the Door:** That’s because you’re not doing it right. I heard you, you said there’s a black smudge on the door. That’s something that can disrupt space in this bubble universe.

**Voice Behind the Door:** But fortunately, there’s a crystal that can remove this matter in the peripheral village, it’s known as Lightsalt. Can you go and get a few? You should be able to open the door with them.

**Seele:** Wait… you said “in this bubble universe”, right?

**Voice Behind the Door:** What’s wrong with that? I’m somewhat of a drifter in the Sea of Quanta, it isn’t strange for me to know about bubble universes.

**Susannah:** A drifter… in the Sea of Quanta?

**Susannah:** (Th-That sounds so cool!)

**Seele:** …

**Seele:** May I know your name?

**Voice Behind the Door:** Ah?

**Voice Behind the Door:** Mm… Although it’s alright for you to know, I’ll tell you after you guys open this door!

**Voice Behind the Door:** Think about it. Even if I tell you my name now, you still won’t know how I look like. That’s pretty weird, no?

**Susannah:** Hmm…

**Susannah:** (Sounds like… someone very fussy!)

**Seele:** (But we need to get as many answers as possible while we have the chance.)

**Seele:** Sorry, lady behind the door! We’d love to help, but we have urgent matters at hand…

**Susannah:** Right, we haven’t found our companion yet, surely she hasn’t gotten very far!

**Voice Behind the Door:** …Companion? Very well, I can help you out.

**Voice Behind the Door:** When did you get separated from your companion?

**Seele:** About ten to twenty minutes ago… That was when we entered this bubble universe, so it’s hard to tell the exact time.

**Voice Behind the Door:** Then the possibility of her going through this door can be ruled out first, because I’ve been behind it for over an hour and it hasn’t opened once.

**Voice Behind the Door:** And this gate is the only exit of the border village. In other words, your companion is still somewhere in the village.

**Susannah:** I see… That’s an important piece of info, Seele!

**Seele:** Thank you so much for your help!

**Susannah:** Then let’s go find her!

**Voice Behind the Door:** Wait. Since you’re going to the village, why don’t you collect some Lightsalts for me on the way?

**Voice Behind the Door:** When you want to leave after finding your companion, you still need to open this door. Besides, the info I provided was very helpful, wasn’t it?

**Seele:** You’re right, but the problem is we don’t know where the Lightsalts are, nor what they look like.

**Voice Behind the Door:** Easy. Once you get to the village, watch out for my hint.

**Susannah:** Hint?

**Voice Behind the Door:** You’ll know when you see it. Well, it’s about time, your companion must be getting anxious.

**Seele:** Okay… We’re off!

**Susannah:** Seele, look over there!

**Seele:** That… should be the hint that lady was referring to.

**Susannah:** Let’s check it out!

**Susannah:** Is this… some kind of writing?

Susannah touched the glowing symbols on the wall…

**???:** La~♪

**Susannah:** Waaah! Another invisible person?!

**Voice Behind the Door:** Dummy, it’s still me.

**Seele:** It’s the lady behind the door.

**Voice Behind the Door:** Correct, this is how I provide guidance.

**Voice Behind the Door:** This is the ability to control notes. I can project sound into the distance as text, or determine your general position through the delay of echoes.

**Susannah:** Oh, like a ba…

**Voice Behind the Door:** I’m not like a bat!

**Susannah:** You said it first, that proves you think so too…

**Voice Behind the Door:** Ahem, anyway, you only need to follow the texts converted from the music notes to find Lightsalts. As for the amount… five chunks should do.

**Seele:** Understood.

**Voice Behind the Door:** But be warned that Lightsalts are reputedly kept in vaults complete with traps by the locals due to their special function.

**Voice Behind the Door:** On the other hand… Lightsalts attract monsters from the Sea of Quanta.

**Susannah:** Monsters and traps? No big deal, we’re experts in those fields!

**Voice Behind the Door:** Great, I’ll be looking forward to hearing good news from you.

**Susannah:** This border village is pretty big… but I don’t see anyone here.

**Seele:** It seems to have been abandoned some time ago.

**Seele:** …I don’t think Seele’s here.

**Susannah:** N-No problem! Let’s go deeper!

**Seele:** This should be the Lightsalt, right?

**Susannah:** It’s glowing alright. But why salt?

**Susannah:** Whatever. We just need to collect four more~

**Susannah:** That went smoothly. This Lightsalt is ours.

**Seele:** Yeah.

Seele reached out her hands to grab the Lightsalt…

**Seele:** Ah!

**Susannah:** What? Is there a trap we missed?

**Seele:** N-No…

Seele looked at her hands with a confused look.

**Seele:** When I touched this Lightsalt…. It felt soft.

**Susannah:** Hmm?

Susannah felt the lump of crystal before her.

**Susannah:** It’s not soft, it’s hard.

**Seele:** That sensation only lasted for a second… Must be my imagination.

**Susannah:** Maybe it’s because your hand was numbed by the cold?

**Seele:** Maybe you’re right…

**Seele:** …

**Susannah:** Monsters… really appeared!

**Seele:** This place is…

**Susannah:** Seele, what’s wrong?

**Seele:** Remember the fissures I told you about?

**Seele:** After I saw that fissure for the second time in Cioara’s Home, I was suddenly pulled into a… dreamlike setting.

**Seele:** It looks exactly like this place. Same streets, same snow… only the sky was darker.

**Susannah:** Are you saying… when you were in Cioara’s Home, you already saw inside this bubble universe?

**Seele:** I’m as confused as you are… but this might explain one thing.

**Susannah:** What?

**Seele:** We probably didn’t come to this bubble universe by coincidence.

**Seele:** Hare, or some other individual, wanted us to come from the very start… at least, they wanted me to come.

**Seele:** The fissures may be her way of hinting me, to make me aware of this bubble universe…

**Susannah:** Make you aware of this bubble universe… so she can guide you here?

**Seele:** I don’t understand the technical aspects. Hare’s ability is associated with both the mind and space, so she may be able to combine them…

**Seele:** No, I shouldn’t guess too much.

**Susannah:** Hmm… but now that we know Hare guided us here on purpose, we need to be way more careful.

**Seele:** Yes, especially when we know nothing about her real purpose.

**Susannah:** We’ve found all five Lightsalts, but…

**Seele:** …We still didn’t find Seele.

**Susannah:** …

**Seele:** Don’t worry, Susannah. Thanks to your encouragement, I won’t feel down so easily again!

**Susannah:** Glad to hear that!

**Susannah:** But what should we do next?

**Seele:** I want to gather intelligence and learn more about this bubble universe.

**Susannah:** Huh? You’re gonna stop looking for the other Seele?

**Seele:** We’ve looked all over this border village, she… isn’t here.

**Seele:** But we’ve confirmed that I didn’t enter this bubble universe by coincidence, but by someone’s design.

**Seele:** That same person probably separated Seele from us. However… if that person is Hare, why would she do such a thing?

**Seele:** All in all, we can’t solve a puzzle without knowing the goal of our opponent. And this world must reflect me or our opponent in some way.

**Seele:** Learning about this world is the first step to learning about the backstage, which is equal to finding Seele.

**Susannah:** Makes sense… and doesn’t overturn our earlier guess. The other Seele should be somewhere in this bubble universe, we just can’t reach each other yet!

**Seele:** Yeah!

**Seele:** Let’s go open that door.

**Susannah:** Excuse me, lady behind the door… ah, should we call you Drifter? We brought you five Lightsalts~

**Voice Behind the Door:** A job well done. You kept your word and make a trustworthy duo.

**Susannah:** Haha, that’s because you’re talking to Schicksal… Ahem, travelers who’ve got both brains and brawn!

**Seele:** Lady behind the door, how do we open the door using Lightsalts?

**Voice Behind the Door:** Easy. There’s a pedestal in front of the door, right? That’s a basic condenser.

**Voice Behind the Door:** Just place the Lightsalts in it, adjust the condenser’s angle, aim the light at the black interfering subtance on the door, and the door will open.

**Susannah:** Condenser… Oh, she means that thing.

**Seele:** Let’s do what we’re told.

**Susannah:** The door really opened!

**Seele:** Let’s go in.

**Susannah:** Thank you so much, Drif… Where did she go?

**Seele:** Did she go ahead? We might find her if we keep going.

**Susannah:** Huh? What’s that?!

**Seele:** Susannah, slow down, be careful of the cliff…

**Seele:** Th-That’s…

**Susannah:** Mindblowing…

**Seele:** This is the bubble universe we’re in…

**Voice Behind the Door:** Haha, you two are amazed as well?

**Voice Behind the Door:** We’re not so different, are we?

**Susannah:** This voice is…

*[CG plays wherein the woman behind the door is revealed to be none other than the ever-familiar Shigure Kira:*

***Shigure Kira:** Hi, I’ve been waiting for you.*

***Shigure Kira:** Welcome to Salt Snow Holy City.*]

Transcription provided by PXLPancakes