Chapter 60.1 - With Friends Like These

With Friends Like These
Sora Muziku winced in the darkness, feeling tightening all round her body. Despite being an android, she felt a painful lack of air but could not manage a gasp.

And then... light. Sora blinked, realising her eyes were open even though she was almost certain they were closed a second ago. Her systems began to whirl loudly to analyse the sudden change in surrounding.

She was in a simple square room where the ceiling was one single bright slightly teal light that was not overbearing. There was no furniture, furnishing or decorations in the room, except for one big round table in the centre, surrounded by nine chairs. Sora was sitting on one. And three other seats were occupied.

"How are you doing, Sora?" asked Naluri Sihara with genuine concern, "Are you feeling okay?" She was sat opposite the table, a little to the right. Her helmet was on the table, revealing Naluri's short jet black hair more prominently. She was obviously tired, her eyes only half open and with visible bags under them.

"No, I feel... weird," Sora answered straight away, "I-" She stopped short once she noticed what was on the table to Naluri's left in front an empty chair. "Ilse?" The white right arm of Ilissia Reverie lay on the table, snapped at the shoulder, the rounded doll joint standing out.

There was a moment of silence as Sora paid more attention to those at the table and those who were not. To Ilse's left was Solace, who was breathing heavily, elbows on the table, hands clasped together by her face. Her eyes were closed, making no attempt to open them to greet Sora.

To Solace's left, to Sora's right, was another empty seat. On the table was a small woven straw basket with a modest number of biscuits, giving off a rather comforting scent of butter. Also in the basket was a folded piece of paper.

To Sora's left was a unused chair. Folded neatly on the table was a blue piece of clothing. On top were a big blue bow and a smaller red ribbon, immediately recognised as Cirno's.

One more seat away was the fourth vacant chair. On the table this time was a large red fake pin-on flower, Alice Elizabeth Raymour's trademark possession.

Three seats to Sora's left, two seats to Naluri's right, was Santiago. He was sat back in his chair with his arms folded and his mouth adopted the usual neutral expression on his face, his mask hiding any other potential sign of emotion. Without a doubt, he looked the most settled out the group, but whether he actually felt settled was hard to read.

Between Santiago and Naluri was the last empty seat. There was no special item on the table to fill the empty space.

"Help yourself to a biscuit," offered Naluri with a smile, motioning to the basket next to Sora. Naluri's attempt at goodwill was inadvertently making the atmosphere more unnerving but Sora appreciated it nonetheless.

Sora reached for the basket when she noticed her arm was white, wearing a long blue fingerless glove. In surprise, she looked at herself, seeing she had a light blue t-shirt, short darker blue skirt, white and blue striped long tights and simple sandals. Her hair was neck length with a blue and purple gradient colour. Like Ilse, her skin was bright white. After a moment of combined hesitation, suspicion and confusion, Sora took the piece of paper inside the basket and unfolded it, "Sorry, I don't think I'll be able to make the meeting," she read, "The Director says he needs me for something and I have a feeling I won't be back for a while. Anyway, help yourself. Lynette Bishop." Sora glanced over at the empty space at the table, deducing it was for Sasaki.

"Sora, what's the last thing you remember?" began Naluri as Sora took a biscuit.

"Iliad, the helicarrier," Sora pushed the basket into the middle of the table but no one else took a biscuit for themselves, "I was smashed into a cabinet by someone I couldn't see. Everything went black and then I suddenly ended up here. Did... something go wrong?"

"Quite the opposite," nodded Naluri, "Well, sort of. That was when you were forced to transmit your data to everyone you could outside the Iliad. KC was around to take your data. She offered to stand for you at this meeting, which is why you are currently in her body."

Sora remembered KC calling Alice by mobile recently but had no idea what she looked like, until now. "Why couldn't I use my own body?" She feared the answer.

"I understand you want answers," noted Naluri, "But then there would be a lot to explain. We have been promised that you will get your memories back soon."

"Memories? Did I break down?"

"Sora," interrupted Naluri, indicating more important matters, "Your current memories end on the 21st December 2013, Doomsday's First Anniversary. Today is 21st December 2014, Doomsday's Second Anniversary. A lot has happened since then." Sora gulped, waiting for Naluri to continue. "My memories also end on Doomsday's First Anniversary but a little after yours. It would be better for someone else to explain." While her tone of voice was steady, her urgency to clear Sora of her concerns were clear.

Santiago took the opportunity, "Our fight with The Anti-Humour Society ended on the First Anniversary, The Three Kingdoms are best of allies. And then the Second Anniversary happened. We now struggle against those known as The Digital Three, though strictly speaking, we really work for them."

"Why?" Sora put forward.

"Because that's what they're designed to do, make others work for them. How about we start with the most influencial, The AI Director."

"From Left 4 Dead?"

"The every same. He can initially control all humans infected with The Green Flu. But as we just discovered, if the Flu is allowed to develop, The Director loses his control."

"Just like in the games," noted Naluri, "The Director chooses the Infected, where to start them, their path finding and aggression but once human players become Infected, they're the ones that choose where to go and what to do. By all means, they could even help the Carriers if they wanted."

"But there is a noticeable difference," added Solace, "In the games, Green Flu was just a means to explain The Infected. You could never see it, catch it, cure it. But The Green Flu brought in by Doomsday is the real deal. We are now officially Infected. Assuming there's no cure, we will eventually become mindless killers, doomed to wander the streets or meet the dull end of a crowbar. Luckily, I guess, there is a grace period before full infection." Solace opened her left eye, which, to Sora's shock, was glowing bright orange, including the white. Santiago raised the right side of his mask, also showing an orange eye. "Give it a little time." She closed her eye again with a sigh, Santiago lowering his mask. "I feared something like this would happen."

Sora took a deep breath in disbelief. She remembered with great clarity the list of things Solace had given that could have been in The Arctic Prison. "Naluri? Are you...?"

"I'm immune so I'm not even a Carrier," Naluri answered with a weak smile, her normal red eyes noticeable, "I've been to a world based on Left 4 Dead. If I was a Carrier, I would have infected all my companions back in my world. So out of The Anti-Nine, that's the nine of us by the way," Naluri clarified, "Five of us are or were controlled by The Director, Santiago, Solace, Lynette, Alice and Sasaki," she said pointing to their respective places at the table. She gestured towards the empty ninth of the table for Sasaki.

"Sasaki? Even her?"

Naluri nodded, "She and Lynette are currently on a mission on The Director's orders. Alice barely survived a covert operation. She is still unconscious from the combined blood loss, hypothermia and heavy trauma. Solace almost drowned."

Solace bit her knuckle in acknowledgement, "Lucky you-know-who didn't come back to check up on me."

"Hmm..." Naluri acknowledged the Rokiahi reference, with a little unwillingness, "Are you following so far, Sora?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now the second member of The Digital Three, Yggdrasil."

"The World Tree?"

"Same concept but not the same entity. This one's an artificial intelligence built for his creativity rather than his wisdom, capable of destroying and creating digital worlds with his presence. He can control all non-digital non-humans, though unlike The Director, he has a choice on whether he wants to control someone or not. Out of the nine of us, two of us would fall under his command. Ilse and Cirno. Both were casualities of the same operation as Alice. Cirno was killed by the controlled Alice."

Sora felt her heart sink, "Is Alice aware of that?"

"Fully," Santiago replied, lowering his head, his hat's shadow covering his face, "Hence the trauma. We're all fully aware of what we're doing while under control."

"As horrific it was," Naluri continued, "Cirno is a Touhou fairy, meaning she will eventually respawn, lifting some of the weight. Ilse, however, is gone." Solace lowered her own head, touching her hands with her forehead. "Without the energy of the rest of her body, especially her torso, she is no longer alive."

"... Really?" questioned Sora, feeling something wasn't right.

"I have been told that's not an issue to be concerned about."

"That's rather insensitive."

"It is," agreed Naluri, "But I'll get to that in a moment. Do you understand what we've said so far?"

Sora nodded again, "Yes." She glanced over at Ilse's arm again. From Sora's point of view, they had not known each other for long but as the only non-biological beings in The Anti-Nine, there had between mutual understanding between the two.

"The third member of The Digital Three is Skynet."

This revelation made Sora's heart sink further, "... Terminator?" It was Naluri's time to nod now. "And she controls machines? Like me?"

"She can choose to control any machine, android, AI or digital being," clarified Solace, "And anyone Yggdrasil decides not to control."

Sora paused before finally taking a bite of the biscuit she had been holding, the gesture restoring some of her calm, "So... now what?"

Naluri leant forwards, elbows on the table, "Now we pick a side."

"... Do we have to?" queried Sora with annoyed displeasure.

"On Doomsday's First Anniversary," told Santiago, "The Anti-Nine had a lot of external help against The Anti-Humour Society. The Humour Society, The Three Kingdoms and a bigger scale split of Anti-Humour. But today, fourth parties are few and far between. If you do not join a side, you will be swept under the carpet with ease."

"I requested a premature audience with you, Sora, to discuss this topic" explained Naluri, "As it might be a while before we can restore operation to your original body."

"What happened to it?"

"The hard drive was crushed. Again, I've been told it's not of importance."

Sora scowled, "Who told you that?"

"Like I said, I'll get to it. But first we must discuss the plans of Yggdrasil and Skynet. The Director exists just to wreak havoc so there is no point joining his network."

"We can't seriously be considering siding with Skynet can we? The same one that caused Judgement Day?"

Naluri ignored Sora's questions, "Yggdrasil plans to stay put and hold his ground against The Director. He has no intentions of leaving this world."

The implication behind the last sentence grabbed Sora's attention, "You don't mean..."

"Skynet plans to get everyone back to their own worlds," confirmed Naluri, "Do you remember The Hand Canon?"

"Yes, Ritsu showed us it. Back on the First Anniversary."

"We almost have the resources to finish it. Once it is finished we can go back to the worlds we belong to."

Sora felt the proposition was too good to be true, "What's the catch?"

"Yggdrasil will oppose us with everything he has."

"I meant with Skynet. What does she want out of this?"

"She wants to go home too. While there are a few catches, they are not related to Skynet. Had it been Yggdrasil the same would have to happen. Almost."

"Enlighten me."

"You'll need to convince a friend of yours to join us. Rulia-" Sora shivered at the mention of the name and couldn't help feeling relieved "-is an integral part of the system. Without her cooperation, we can consider finishing the Hand Canon impossible."

"Where is she now?"

"To be honest, I don't know but I've been told she'll be in the area soon."

"Just a hunch but is Skynet the one telling you these things?" Sora asked with audible annoyance.

Naluri sighed, "I know you're suspicious of Skynet but she is our biggest hope at the moment."

"At the beginning of today's conflict," supported Santiago, "All three members of The Digital Three were working together to get The Hand Canon finished, an idea strongly supported by Skynet. It was Yggdrasil who eventually betrayed and derailed the plan. And thus we have The Digital Three now going their separate ways."

"A-Actually," interrupted Naluri hesitantly, nervously tapping her thumbs together, "I derailed it the first time."

"It wasn't your fault," Solace consoled, still with her hands by her forehead.

"What happened?" Sora pressed, feeling this was important.

"I chickened out of the original plan when it backfired," explained Naluri with discomfort, "The plan involved me as a sacrifice-" Sora frowned. "I was fine with it at first. As far as I was concerned, I had just died a moment earlier-"

"Hold up," exclaimed Sora, slightly impatiently, "Even if I do get my memories back later that will explain all this, could you back up a bit so I can understand the context." There was a pause.

"The DeLorean worked," spoke up Solace, "Naluri was sent back in time but stopped her past self going back in time. The future Naluri was erased from time but not before succumbing to fatal injuries. One year later, the past Naluri overwrote her memories to match those of her future self. The Naluri in front of you has no memories of what happened between Doomsday's First and Second Anniversaries."

"I... see..." Sora breathed, "That's... rather heavy..."

Naluri nodded, "But since that's what were my memories were, I thought I had been reincarnated."

"But you weren't. You're just in your old body, essentially."

Naluri nodded again, "And that's how it backfired. I realised I was the only Naluri. There weren't two of us like I thought. And it was my target who found out and told me. My best friend."

"Rokiahi?"

Nodding once more, Naluri continued, "I think that was what Yggdrasil's plan was. Had he had not redirected Rokiahi, she wouldn't have found out. And then I wouldn't have found out. And then I wouldn't have minded dying by her hand."

Sora blinked. The room had felt uneasy at first, given her memory loss, but it seemed like paradise to what had happened outside the four walls. "Did I know this? As in, before I was destroyed?"

"I don't know. But as you may recall, Rokiahi is the only replacement for me in The Hand Canon Project."

"... You were sacrificing yourself to trigger her worst fears?"

"I pretended I had deliberately plunged the world into war. If she killed me on purpose and then found out I died for multiuniversal stability, I was sure it would trigger a strong enough reaction to finish The Hand Canon."

"Whose idea was it?"

"It was my own. As expected, The Director didn't have much of an opinion but was more than willing to help me out. Skynet voiced her concerns but agreed to it. Yggdrasil was firmly opposed but he also decided to participate, to sabotage the operation as we can now see with hindsight."

"So why did you not go through with it?"

"For the same reason I thought it would work. She's my best friend. Even though I had painted myself as a war-mongering murderer, she still trusted me and offered me her rifle to shoot her instead."

"You didn't, did you?"

"... I didn't. The plan fell through, I was removed from the equation and The Digital Three tried again. In a build up to my intended execution, we made Rokiahi think she was betraying her companions. One of these companions, the loss that hit her the hardest, was Rulia."

"Rokiahi was going to kill Rulia?" Sora guessed.

"Right. She was physically forced to confront Rulia and attempt to execute her, with full mental awareness of what she was doing."

"So who presented that idea forward?"

"Yggdrasil."

"And that's why it didn't work?"

"Correct. Again, The Director blindly agreed. Skynet was the one who opposed it this time, because it involved opening Area 51, but she eventually agreed to help. The plan was essentially the opposite of the first where Rokiahi would be the dictator and Rulia would be the innocent. It started off simply, provoking Rulia against the 'Puppetmaster' Rokiahi, which Skynet actually did pretty well. The first step was for Rulia to destroy you."

Sora raised an eyebrow, "And I take it that it worked? Why did I need to be destroyed?"

"Well, that's also where Area 51 comes in. In Area 51 was The Red Marker."

"From Dead Space? You mean they needed the Marker to give her hallucinations of me?"

"That's what happened. The intention was that it would make Rulia more sorrowful and provoke a far stronger reaction of fear from Rokiahi. Now that's what didn't happen," Naluri leaned forward, "Something we didn't notice was that Yggdrasil controls Rulia."

Sora was shocked, "Sh-She's not human?"

Naluri blinked blankly before realising the implications of what she said, "No, no, she's human. Sorry, that's not what I meant."

"Then... Then why doesn't The Director control her?"

"I don't know if Skynet told you back in your original body but Rulia is the new Haruhi." It was Sora's turn to blink. "As of Doomsday's Second Anniversary, this is now a digital world."

Sora put her head in her hands in realisation, "And that's why The Digital Three are in power." She lifted her head to look at Naluri. "How does Rulia fit into this?"

"Haruhi and Sasaki succumbed to The Digital Three because the digital universe overwrote the real world, it was no longer their ideal environment. Rulia similarly could not resist digitalisation. But that's when her multiple personality trait kicked in."

Sora scratched her head, "Multiple personalities? Rulia?"

Naluri leaned back from the table, confused, "You... You didn't know?"

"Sora only found out after Doomsday's First Anniversary," input Solace.

"But..." Sora bit her lip for a moment, "So she's not from my canon?"

"She is."

"But wouldn't I have noticed she had multiple personality disorder?"

"What Rulia has isn't a disorder. It's a gift," Solace brushed her puffy hair back, "As part of her legacy, as part of her creative origins, she is extremely adaptable. She can choose, probably subconsciously, to change her personality. It would be somewhat hard to notice because a good personality will nearly always choose another good personality to succeed it. She is mentally evolving and the rest of us can't keep up. And 'multiple' is a bit of an understatement. Apparently, her states of mind are innumerable."

"So what advantage does that give Rulia in a digital world?"

"In a normal, physical world," began Solace, "Rulia's multiple personalities are not particularly evident as they are limited by her physical prowess." Thinking about it, Sora conjectured that multiple personalities might be the reason behind how Rulia managed to maintain very good health, despite having a rather questionable diet, satisfactory test results, despite being somewhat clueless and wide social circles, despite being someone who preferred to stay inside. Even though these traits were certainly possible for normal humans, Sora could not recall Rulia ever struggling to upkeep these assets. Perhaps it was just the correct personality kicking in when it was needed most. "But it did give her a phenomenal imagination, far superior than those of her narrow-minded human counterparts." Sora could not disagree, Rulia often gave Sora a run for her money when it came to creativity and in Rulia's case it was usually by accident. "When a normal human comes across a table, they might see it as something to sit at, to hold their coffee or computer or to destroy, if they're feeling particularly rebellious."

Sora got the hint, "You're saying every personality views the world in a different way."

"As far as Rulia is concerned," continued Solace, "While the table was designed to hold things, it is a symbol of work or of democracy. Once built, they tend to be item of furniture hardest to get outside the house, except maybe the bed. Or it could be an alternative to a snow sleigh, a spaceship or Mecha Godzilla in disguise. And that's where my imagination ends."

"That doesn't sound particularly threatening."

"And that's where the digital world comes in. It's not imagination any more. It's reality. While the rest of us struggle to contemplate the idea of being made of the same stuff as the mush of data around us, let alone edit it, to Rulia it's second nature. Try imagining what a virus with an imagination could do to a computer."

"But Rulia's not going to mess up the universe is she? Like turn gravity upside down, right?"

"I doubt it. She's too sensible for that and, besides, it's her acknowledgement of the laws of physics and mathematics that's been slowing her progress down. But this does mean she'll be able to create a new world of her own. Which would her on par with..."

"Haruhi," the conversation leaning towards Haruhi made Sora realise where this was going, "You want Rulia to finish The Hand Canon."

Naluri nodded, "And that is the issue behind this conflict. Do we stay or do we go?"

Sora looked down, putting the rest of the biscuit she was still holding in her mouth. She took her time to chew, deep in thought. After swallowing, she looked at Naluri, "I have a question."

Naluri's smile twitched at the sidestep, "Yes?"

"I can tell that Skynet is inside KC, dampening her systems. Why? It's making me, and I'm sure her as well, feel vulnerable."

"If Skynet didn't do that," spoke Santiago, "Solace and I would be trying to destroy you." Sora glanced at him rather sternly. "You'd be a Carrier of Green Flu," he quickly added, "While being mostly controlled by Skynet, you would count as Infected to the Director and other Infected. Carriers trigger Infected to go berserk so please hold out with Skynet for longer. Your old memories knew the details so it'd be best to wait til then."

"I imagine Yggdrasil's considered a Carrier if he's caught up in the ruckus? So Rulia's a Carrier too?"

"Actually, she's Infected."

"... But then wouldn't Yggdrasil count as Infected if he controls her?"

"Well, no," replied Naluri, "I didn't word it accurately. It's closer to influencing her thoughts rather than direct control. Yggdrasil has been trying to take proper control of an Infected, and Skynet's being aiming for a few herself, but The Director has been extremely protective of his holdings."

"So she's safe from The Director?"

"Sadly not. In fact she's probably The Director's number one target."

"Why?"

"Her influence over the digital world is cheating in The Director's eyes. She's not meant to be able to do that in a non-digital world."

"But Skynet isn't meant to have control of everything in a non-digital world," Sora protested.

"The Director was the third of The Digital Three to link to a digital world already under the control of Skynet and Yggdrasil. As far as The Director was concerned, they could always do that. If Rulia had been awake at the time and knew the world was digital before The Director joined, her cheating issue could have been avoided though it's wishful thinking. The digitalisation caught us all unaware."

Sora gritted her teeth, taking another biscuit from the basket and bit on it to calm her nerves, "Surely she's not the only one to have cheated? Anyone could change the world if they had the right powers, right?"

"The Convenience Theory isn't going anywhere any time soon," answered Solace.

"What about others with special powers that could break the rules?"

"If there were any," began Santiago, "They would probably be under The Digital Three's control." Naluri and Solace kept quiet, thinking hard about possible candidates.

There was around a thirty second silence when Skynet's voice spoke up, "Agent Smith," she said in a simple tone. Sora knew about her presence so there was no point in hiding.

Santiago rubbed his chin, "Don't tell me he's trying to take over as many people as he can..."

"Assuming Smith wasn't in control of anyone when the universe was digitalised," noted Solace, "The Director would count his 'new' powers as cheating."

"Skynet can't control Smith," added Naluri, "He's essentially an upgraded virus. Still shackled by his Matrix origins but definitely more resilient than most."

Sora realised that taking about Smith didn't make her feel any easier about Rulia being a target of The Director. In fact, it made her long to go back to her own world. Her world didn't have Barriers, an Anti-Humour Society or a zombie apocalypse. She'd have to part with the new friends she had met, including Black★Rock Shooter, The Black Squad and The Anti-Nine, never to see them again, but she felt confident it would be worth it. Feeling rather anxious, she wished she knew what she had been doing in the year between the two anniversaries of Doomsday. How was Rulia in that period? Did they ever meet their creator-? Sora frowned with that reminder, "How are the natives?"

"Infected," answered Naluri, "Tens of thousands of fatalities around the North Atlantic." She paused. "Don't make me go into detail."

"...And who's the offender?"

Naluri scratched her neck in thought, "It's hard to say. The Director doesn't care about casualties at all but he doesn't directly harm his own people with intent. Someone else has to throw the punch, so to speak. Yggdrasil doesn't want anyone to die but makes too many mistakes in an attempt to defend. But again, someone else has to take advantage of those mistakes. Which leaves Skynet."

"You know, for allies, you don't see eye to eye."

"I hate Skynet's methods but there is nothing I can do about it when we're working for the same goal."

"Does Yggdrasil know what's happening? And with what happened with Ilse?"

"Probably. He willingly hands over all his causalities over to Skynet for treatment since she's much more knowledgeable about that sort of stuff. They're also not safe with him, being attacked by The Director and all. I imagine he thought Skynet could recover Ilse."

"Can't she? This is a digital world, isn't it?"

There was silence round the room. Sora was unique. As the only being in the universe thrust into a digital world without a period to get used to it gave her a different train of thought to most others. This thought was one of them.

Naluri collapsed her face into her hands, "Wow," she murmured, closing her exhausted eyes, "Skynet, please tell me that's the reason for your complete ruthlessness."

"It is," confirmed Skynet, "However, The Director bars us from using my full abilities without repercussions."

"We should have seen that coming," noted Solace, tilting her head back.

"Well," considered Santiago, "Come to think of it, that would explain why she was concerned about Naluri's and Rokiahi's wellbeing. Neither of them are digital so can't be brought back by Skynet."

Sora ran a hand through her, or rather KC's, hair, "So now we've figured that out, could Skynet herself explain her own goals."

The light above turned very slightly yellow, giving the area a warm glow, "My intention," began Skynet, her female voice filling the room, "Is to send all newcomers back their own worlds with all natives and newcomers in the appropriate state. If they were alive on Doomsday, they will be alive when we finish."

"And what do you need us for?"

"At this point, nothing. There is no point in starting the process while Yggdrasil is in control of Rulia. We need to release his hold of her. The easiest way to do this is to destroy him."

"And The Unwritten Law?"

"Do not worry. When Yggdrasil is destroyed, it resets the digital world but he will return within a few days at the latest. This grace period should give us enough time to follow through with the rest of our plan. Also, with no game loaded, so to speak, the Director will be forced to reboot as well. This will give me time to extend my powers further, including the recreation of those who have lost their lives today, so he will not consider this cheating. In a similar vein, he will consider Rulia's godlike powers normal as well and cease to target her too. Sora, you will be key as we need you to convince Rulia that newcomers need to go home-" Sora lowered her head slightly in brief thought "- and you need to be our defence against anyone who wants to derail the operation."

"How?"

"With New Yamaha." The wall behind Naluri slowly turned transparent, light entering the room. Sora stood from her chair and made her way to the wall in amazement at what she saw. A futuristic city full of metal structures, many of them skyscrapers, all emitting colourful lights from their windows. Being high up in a skyscraper themselves, Sora could see far down to the streets themselves. There were lamp posts and traffic lights but there were no cars. Every tree in sight had no leaves and every horizontal surface was covered in white. The sky too was brilliant white with minor flickers here and there.

"Is that snow? It's been a long while since I last saw snow. Where are we?"

"New Yamaha," answered Santiago, coming up to the window to look around himself, "The Yamaha Kingdom opted to live in a single city after Doomsday's First Anniversary, creating the city in front of you."

"How would a city be a good defence?"

"This is Yamaha we're talking about," reminded Santiago, "As a Vocaloid, you should be able to make best use of the city."

"Hmm," responded Sora with concern, "If we have some spare time, I'd like to take a look around."

"Go ahead," prompted Naluri, placing her left hand on the window. There was a low hum before the window shattered into pieces, the glass plummeting towards the pavement below. Cold air rushed into the room.

Sora looked at Naluri, slightly unsure of the method of exit, "Thanks..." There was a long pause as Sora continued to stare at Naluri. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of what?"

"Finishing The Hand Canon. Or the process, to be more specific."

Naluri turned to the table with the objects of the missing members of The Anti-Nine on it. She sighed, "No, I'm not. But until we can think of a better method, I don't have a choice."

"Neither you or Rokiahi are going to come out of this in one piece, you know?"

Naluri took a deep breath, "... I know." Sora gave one last look at her Anti-Nine companion before jumping out the window. As the whirl of repair machinery began, Naluri looked at the glass-shattering ring she had on her left middle finger. The very ring the real Daughter of Liberty didn't have. A pane of glass scrolled up from the floor to replace the broken window, the whirling quietly fading away.

"Naluri," began Skynet, "The time is nearing."

"I know..." Naluri pulled her gaze away from the ring and walked bristly to the wall opposite the window, taking one of Lynette's biscuits as she passed the basket. A door with the same colour as the wall opened automatically as she approached, "I'll see you two later, hopefully."

"Likewise," replied Santiago, sitting back down at the table as Naluri left the room, leaving her helmet behind.

Sora activated KC's rocket boots for a smooth landing on the snow-covered tarmac. The whiteness surrounding her turned to water as she stepped foot on the pavement, revealing the tar walkway, stone kerb and painted yellow lines down the side of the road. "... Who lives here?"

"Only Yamaha," answered Skynet. Her voice appeared to come from a second floor security camera attached to the corner of the building Sora had jumped from. "The remnants of the Kingdom kept mostly to themselves, apart from a few who had someone else to be with. Such as yourself. Speaking of which..."

Sora had been looking around at the multitude of security cameras at every street corner when Skynet stated the cliffhanger, "... What?" She noticed an eerie pink glow showing weakly through the snow on the pavement. From the walkway Sora had already cleared of snow, she could see a pink light drawing a line from her feet further down the path. "You want me to follow this? You know I don't really trust you, being a murderer and everything." The snow the line was passing under was slowly melting, making the light clearer as the seconds ticked by.

"She desires to speak with you," Skynet stated, her neutral tone just making Sora agitated.

"Who?"

"I am not at liberty to say. We agreed on a hierarchy."

"A hierarchy? Who's higher than you? The Director?"

Skynet did not respond. Sora growled in annoyance at Skynet and her own curiosity as she began following the line. It did not go far as Sora could see the building it led to right after the first turn. Had the skyscrapers around it not been hiding the building from the skyline, it would have stuck out like a sore thumb. Unlike most of New Yamaha's buildings, which were tall and coloured white, grey or brick red for the most part, this one was wider than it was high and was rusty-grey. It had several hangar doors, all of them shut. As Sora approached the building, she noted that it had been given trees and parkland around it, the skyscrapers seemingly keeping their distance. "Is this a special building?" Sora asked, "Why did they give it so much space?"

"This is The War Factory," answered Skynet, "It was moved into New Yamaha during the city's construction, making it older than the city itself."

"I've heard of this place though I've never seen it. This is the headquarters of Gumi's Research Branch. So we're in Siberia? That would explain the snow."

"We are in the middle of The Sahara," corrected Skynet, "And you visited the Factory not long after when your First Anniversary memories ceased."

"Snow? In The Sahara?-" Sora froze as the heavy metal doors of the Factory slowly slid open with the mechanisms groaning loudly. The pink line continued into the building before turning a sharp right down a side-corridor. Sora peered inside as a precaution to find the interior shrouded in darkness, except for the pink line and the tiny red LED of a security camera staring at her from above. Deciding to continue the trail, Sora did not resume her conversation with Skynet, listening for anything beyond the quiet rubbery squeaks of her shoes on the cold grey floor. She could see double doors at the distant end of the corridor but unlike what she had expected, they were wooden. When she reached the doors, she took hold of both handles and listened for any clue of what might be on the other side. Unable to hear anything from beyond, Sora slowly swung the doors open to reveal-

"An office?" mumbled Sora. Series of wooden desks were arranged neatly in this large room, all facing the doors Sora had entered through. Each had several draws, built-in pen holders and an accompanying wooden chair. But none of them had paper or stationary and all the chairs were tucked in. "I realised this before but this isn't a Vocaloid building is it?"

"No, it is not," confirmed Skynet, "It too was brought into existence by Doomsday. Since then no one has come forward to claim it so Yamaha decided to keep the building. This makes The Arctic Prison and The War Factory the only buildings left by The Yamaha Kingdom."

"Crypton Studios?"

"Disassembled on the 22nd December 2013."

"The Sonic Barrier?"

"The Sonic Barrier is not a building," clarified Skynet.

"So it's still up?" Sora resumed walking down the line which cut straight through to the other side of the room, the desks providing a wide and empty passage to cross.

"Only around the world and it is inactive. All land Amps are out of commission."

"Why do we need a Sonic Barrier in space though? Are we expecting an incoming asteroid?

"To be honest," began Skynet, as Sora reached the other side of the room in front of out-of-place heavy duty metal doors, which the pink line went under, "We are not sure. What you just said was Miku's justification for keeping it. But what we are curious about was that Haruhi agreed."

"She did?" Sora put a hand on the door, "That's... unexpected. What about Sasaki? What were her thoughts?"

"We do not know about hers." The doors began to slide open, considerably faster than the front doors of The Factory. Sora stepped in, noting this room was smaller than the office and ceiling was same height as the corridor, lower than the office. The pink line approached the centre of the room before turning left. On that side of the room were five cylindrical pods around two metres high. The four on the sides were empty. The pink line ended at the foot of the middle pod, which was not empty. As Sora approached, she recognised the features of the object inside, the pink hair, the mostly black clothes and her trademark quaver music symbol on the collar tie.

"What is this?" challenged Sora, not sure how to react.

"This," answered Skynet, "is The Append Project," as Sora Muziku Append opened her eyes.

Naluri stepped into the clean operation theatre, the smell of disinfectant still fresh in the air. She walked up to the operating chair situated in the very centre of the room, illuminated by a single but strong floodlight above it, and looked at its occupant. "How's she doing?" asked Naluri, over a quiet sobbing sound also occuring in the room. Naluri touched Rokiahi's left cheek, running a finger over one of the three scars blighting her skin. The unconscious Rokiahi flinched slightly but did not make any noise or wake up.

"She has made a very quick recovery," answered Skynet, "Very usual for humans. Nevertheless, it was very dangerous. Rokiahi was far too cocky for her own good."

"Well, how did she know Rulia had become the new Haruhi?" defended Naluri, "But whatever. What did you do you to fix her up?" She summoned a long bag in her arms, similar to a sleeping bag, with a zip going from head to toe, but with no opening for the head. "It's going to be a tight fit," she mumbled to herself, kneeling and unzipping the bag.

"Titanium plate over the right side of the skull and right shoulder, the left side of her jaw has been fixed with stainless steel. No permanent brain damage."

"Permanent?" questionned Naluri as she straightened out the bag on the floor.

"Rulia did not strike her terribly hard." Skynet failed to answer Naluri's implicit question about temporary damage.

Naluri laughed sarcastically as she stood up, "I'll be sure to thank her for that." She looked over her shoulder, "What about Alice?" A second light switched on, illuminating another chair just a metre behind Naluri to Rokiahi's left. Alice Elizabeth Raymour was sat in it, also unconscious, but was the source of the crying, tears running down her agonised face.

"She is traumatised," stated Skynet bluntly, as Naluri walked to Alice, "She killed Cirno and passed out in a pool of her own blood. Interestingly, she passed out due to her phobia of blood rather than drowning, which allowed her to be extracted alive."

"I don't like your choice of words," growled Naluri, wiping Alice's face with a handkerchief, "What can we do for her?"

"She needs heavy counselling but we do not have the personnel so we need to keep her unconscious for her own safety. She will survive for now."

"... If you say so," Naluri took a last glance at Alice and sighed, making her way back to Rokiahi. There was a moment of silence as Naluri took off Rokiahi's beret and gloves. As she was unzipping Rokiahi's jacket, she glanced at the third chair to Rokiahi's right, "And what about her? She'll survive too, right?" A third light turned on, shining on a unconscious Kuroi Mato. Unlike the other two girls, she was cuffed to the chair, round her wrists, ankles and neck. Strapped over her mouth was an oxygen mask.

"Was that a rhetorical question?" inquired the quizzical Skynet.

Naluri looked back down at Rokiahi, "... Yes, it was."