Chapter 30 - Epilogue: Sora Muziku, Black★Rock Shooter, Solace

Sora: My Voice and My Music
Sora, Solace, Sasaki and Black left the group first, Sasaki teleporting them straight to the Arctic containment's front door, bypassing all of the facility's conventional security systems, including the underwater access needed to arrive there by normal means. They were now what looked like the inside of a metal aircraft hangar, one half being solid ground, the other half open to the water below. The wall on the other side of the water was shining a bright white, familiar yellow tape running along the ground. The White Noise broke instantly, obviously by Sasaki, as no one made any movement. There was a shriek as the Sonic Barrier behind the White Noise activated, the yellow tape marking its range. Through the transparent Sonic Noise, two large sonic speakers could be seen on the wall, though they were minute compared with ordinary Sonic Amps, with a huge sliding door in between. However, the Barrier emitted another cry as it immediately deactivated, the door sliding open. Sasaki and Haruhi, via their powers, possessed Vocaloid access codes even though they were changed very recently. The door opened up to reveal a corridor with White Noise covering both walls. Sasaki walked in first, the rest following.

"You know where Rulia is?" asked Black, calmly. Even though the Arctic territory's temperature had been restored, the inside was still very warm as there were no air circulation from outside.

"Yamaha has records on every prisoner," explained Sasaki, not turning back, "Images, speech, recorded activity and any other information they could find in Yamaha territory from the internet, literature or other media." There was no need to go into detail for Black but Sasaki was aware that Sora and Solace were curious. "However, as Miku said, in most cases, information was very limited. Even when there was enough information, prisoners were still not released, just in case the information was wrong. Yamaha really weren't prepared to take risks." She stopped and turned to the left. "Well, this it."

"It's... pretty close to the entrance," noted Solace, looking back towards the open door.

"This facility was being built on Doomsday as the prisoners were being brought in so we filled the inner cells first," disclosed Black, "This means Rulia was a very late prisoner."

The White Noise smashed open, the cells not protected by Sonic Noise. It revealed a room of sorts, all five remaining walls to covered by White Noise, though of course everyone's attention was fixed on the room's occupant. Floating in the wavy purple stasis field was a girl, looking exactly as the hologram depicted, with the same arm cannons and same threatening smile.

"Is... she dangerous?" questioned Black, eyes scanning the prisoner.

"She's safe," answered Sasaki surprisingly quickly. She scratched her head with confusion.

Sora noticed this reaction, "Is there something wrong?"

Sasaki looked at Sora with concern, "It seems like Rulia has multiple personalities. While I can control her, I can't read her future."

"A multiple personality disorder?"

"Well, it's not a disorder. She has full control over her personality changes."

"Would that make her more predictable?" inquired Black, raising an eyebrow.

"If the change was forced, I can predict the future based off the reason why the change was forced. If the person has the choice between several personalities then that's predictable too. But Rulia has access to infinite different personalities, something she can't fully control or comprehend herself, making her future very blurry. But noticeably, none of her personalities are evil." Sasaki could sense the same question in the hearts of the other three. "By the way, your futures aren't exactly crystal clear either, thanks to your interactions with people like Rulia who prevent a rock solid prediction." Sora and Solace made mental notes that Naluri was also in this group of people.

"So... Which canon is she from?" asked Sora, rather worriedly.

"She's from yours. Her memory fits exactly with yours. But not Solace's. Solace is from a different canon to you two." Solace just shrugged. While she was disappointed, it was clear Rulia meant far much more to Sora.

"I never knew she was like this," commented Sora, motioning at Rulia, "Was she like this before Doomsday?"

Sasaki nodded with a serious expression but answered the question Sora really had in mind, "As to why she never told you about it... That's not something I have a right to answer. It is something you should ask Rulia herself."

Sora sighed, "I understand."

"Well, you ready?" Sasaki shut down the stasis field, freeing Rulia from the state she had been since Doomsday. Her cannons flashed a glowing red as she fell to ground. However, she fell onto her feet rather awkwardly, her heavy cannons forcing her to topple forward onto the floor, the cannons forming back into arms. Sasaki did not even have to interfere.

Sora paced up to Rulia, "Rulia! Rulia! How are you feeling?"

Rulia lifted her head, revealing red to be her natural eye colour, "Sora?" Her face beamed, "Sora!" Rulia gave Sora a huge embrace, "It took all day to find you!"

"About that... It's actually a year later."

Rulia blinked, her face frozen in a state of shocked amazement, "... What?" To Rulia, it still seemed to be the first day of Doomsday.

"Why did you threaten Miku?" questioned Sora, with a troubled tone.

"... I didn't," replied Rulia, still clearly at a loss. She caught sight of Black, whom she thought was still the Enforcer of Law for Yamaha, "... Did I?" Sora looked over at Sasaki for an explanation.

"Before I clarify things," began Sasaki, "I'd like to take a look at Yamaha's next prisoner." She walked up to the cell next to Rulia's, one closer to the entrance, and shattered the White Noise. The five of them looked at the prisoner inside the stasis field.

"... Is that a chair?" asked Solace, unimpressed. Neither Black nor Sasaki were surprised at the occupant.

"It looks like a chair," agreed Rulia. The wooden four legged chair had luxurious red cushions on the back and seat.

"Is it a dangerous chair?" inquired Sora. Rulia was perplexed at the question, having missed all previous discussions of the topic.

"It's a native chair from France," answered Sasaki, rather casually, "Meiko thought it moved."

Black ran a hand down her face with disappointment, "Yamaha really didn't take any chances whatsoever. If anything did anything suspicious or unexpected and wasn't fast enough to escape was put in stasis. I remember bringing a piano down here after we found out it could bite."

Sora noticed what Sasaki was trying to put over, "Rulia's innocent. Isn't she?"

Sasaki nodded, "A change of form, even in boredom or out of necessity, was more than enough for Yamaha to justify imprisonment."

"Sasaaaaki..." groaned Rulia with baffled helplessness, pulling at Sasaki's arm, aware of who Sasaki was, "Can you explain things to me?"

"You and Sora have a lot of lost time to make up for," smiled Sasaki, "I'm sure she'll explain everything." Solace said nothing, just wanting to go home.

"So, Sora and Rulia," began Black, placing a hand her hip, "Where are you going to live now?"

"I'm hoping we could reside with our creator," answered Sora, Rulia nodding away behind her, "But only with his permission, of course." Sora's face fell, "If he doesn't want us then... well... I suppose we'll have to go somewhere else."

"You're both Fourth-Wallers?" Fourth-Wallers, a term originating from Doomsday, referred to newcomers who were actually aware of the real world in some way including knowledge of its existence, their creators or were generally aware of things beyond their own universe.

"Yep," called Rulia, raising a hand into the air, "We were with our creator back in our world."

"Your creator's actually looking for you," commented Sasaki, folding her arms, "He's more than happy to give you board. He's got plenty of room in his closet and under his bed."

"That's awesome!" exclaimed Sora with joy, her worries all taken care of. Black and Solace looked each other with raised eyebrows, not sure whether to be disturbed or to consider it a sarcastic comment. "Black, where are you going to go?"

Black looked up with a grin, "I want to travel for a while, to see a post-conflict world with my own eyes, so I guess hotels for a while. Maybe give my creator a visit in Japan." She looked at the silent Solace. "How about you, Solace?"

"Erm..." mumbled Solace, "I want to go home to Arcania City. I've missed it for over a year. I'm not a Fourth-Waller, I want to fix my own life before thinking about my creator." Black looked at Sasaki.

"My home from brought in by Doomsday and ended up in Gensokyo, like myself," Sasaki casually noted, aware she had been the most fortunate out of the four of them. She raised one of Black's concerns, "Black, you want to go to London?"

"Yes, please," nodded Black, "Sora? Could you honour me with your company?"

-

Black: Good Smile Company
Black pushed open the front doors of Crypton Studios, Sora and Rulia following behind her. The early morning was chilly, a feeling that Black had not felt in a year. They passed the dark entrance room to one of the doors to another room. Black paused before pushing the door open. It was the waiting room, also in darkness.

"... Is anyone awake?" asked Black, quietly, unable to see.

"We're all awake," answered Gold's voice, unhappily.

"How is everyone?"

"Oh, we were just talking about how nice it was being rolled over by The Anti-Humour Society." There was an obvious tone of sarcasm in Gold's voice. "Who did you get beaten by?"

Black did not respond immediately, allowing another voice behind her to speak up, "Aren't you going to switch the light on?" asked White, reaching in and switching the light on herself. The waiting room was filled with light, illuminating the entire Black Squad, sitting or laying on the couches in the room. "... Why are you guys sitting in the dark for?"

Strength sat up with a stretch, dragging her mechanical hands off the couch onto the floor, "This is our new home. Westminster is back in native hands. We were trying to sleep," she commented, rather annoyed.

"You haven't thought of... you know, living somewhere else?"

"Where? We have no homes in this world."

"In this world, there are things called cities," explained White, raising an eyebrow, "With things called houses. You know, to live in."

"You know what I mean," frowned Strength.

"Look, guys," argued White, "The Yamaha Kingdom doesn't exist anymore. Just go find some place to settle down. There's plenty of cities out there that need populating." The all female room went quiet. "Sorry, poor choice of words."

"Does this mean the Black Squad has been dissolved too, Black?" asked Geshumaru, sat at the far side of the room from the entrance. The dissolution of all three kingdoms was public knowledge. Some of the finer points behind the change were not.

"No, none of the major groups of the three kingdoms have been abolished," noted Black, "At least not formally. I... am stepping down as the leader as the Black Squad." Silence filled the room again.

Dead Master, next to Geshumaru, yawned, "You've changed a lot, Black. As much as some of us hate it, no one would ever consider anyone else as the Black Squad's true leader."

White put a hand on Black's shoulder with an amused expression. Black looked back, unamused, "... As I've been told. Now, I've never been the Black Squad's true leader. All my orders were straight from Miku. Whether you consider my resignation an abolishment of the Black Squad or not, it's your choice."

"Our presence hasn't exactly been one of a team," pointed out Great Black Sword, "We have rarely ever been deployed as a team or even a pair. We nearly always worked better on our own."

"If Haruhi's in charge, what use is there for Order now?" noted Ninja Zero Two, stretching her arms upwards.

"Aww," grinned White, leaning on Black, "Is the Black Squad having trouble deciding whether to disband or not?" Her jest caught everyone's attention. "The Scarlet Devil Mansion promoted themselves to Gensokyo's Order to rival you." She paused, her grin growing. "I would hate for my Humour Society to be considered better than your little crew."

"The Humour Society's not disbanded?" asked Sora. She and Rulia had been completely ignored, Rulia just blinking away cluelessly.

"Nope," smiled White, "We are a group. We are a team. But we are much more. We have cheated death and earned our freedom together. We are comrades. Even though we might not see each other for a good while, there is no reason to break our last bond, our sign of brotherhood. Oh yeah, I wanted to invite you into the Humour Society. The rest of the Anti-Nine agreed. Well, I still need to chase up Solace and Naluri. What do you say?"

"Err... Sure."

"What about the Black Squad? You going to rejoin them? Haha, well, you can't rejoin if it's disbanding," White sneered, "Are they disbanding?" Silence filled the room for a third time. With no protest against the Squad's continuation, it was clear the Black Squad would carry on operating. White just grinned.

Black, meanwhile, frowned, "Gold? Are you alright? You don't look so good."

Gold was sat rather pensively, her head down in thought, and looked rather jittery, "Who... did you have in mind for the Black Squad's leadership, Black?"

"... You. You're my second in command."

Gold sighed with depression, "Normally I wouldn't admit it but something you told me on Doomsday... I've been thinking about it. A lot."

"Your plasmids?"

Gold raised her right hand to look on the underside of her wrist. Plasmid use required a liquid injection by needle at the wrist. "Yeah... I remember how you mentioned that with power comes responsibility. It sounded so cliché but as time went on with no need for my new powers I began to worry about how plasmids could turn me into a splicer. I had nightmares."

Black sat down on the couch in front of Gold and leaned forward. "It's fine now, Gold," she comforted, "Haruhi or Sasaki can stop the negative effects of the plasmids."

Gold shook her head, "I want all the plasmids removed. I want to show myself that I can resist the temptation of power."

"If it's any comfort," added Sora, "If you didn't have your powers, Gensokyo would have taken over the HMS Thunder Child in the Atlantic."

"Coincidence. But I guess it had some use after all." Gold looked up at Black, "There is more than one reason you were the leader of the Black Squad. No one else could cope with the responsibility and you are the only one with the humility." Matagi scratched her cheek nervously. She, as with the rest of the Squad, knew Gold had a point. However, it was very awkward that Gold was the one to bring it up.

Black sighed with a smile, "Fine. I'll postpone my resignation for now." White couldn't help cracking a smile herself as she folded her arms. Black turned to Sora, "How about it? We'd be honoured to have you back on the team."

"Of course," nodded Sora, "But I'd like to, err..." She looked at Rulia. "Take some time off."

Black laughed, "That's everyone's first order. How about you, White? Would you like to reconsider the offer I made you all those months ago?"

White paused, her smile fading, "... I'll take your offer. As long I don't have to follow your orders."

"Even my first one?" replied Black, raising an eyebrow with amusement.

White sighed, her smile coming back, "Touché, Black, touché."

"Erm... Black," began Sora with concern, "I have a question." Black nodded, still with the look of happiness on her face. Sora guessed Black already knew what she was going to ask. "Well, umm, do you want your power back?" Since Black had given her default blue Black★Rock Shooter powers to Sora, Sora had yet to give them back.

Black stood up and walked back up to Sora, "I definitely want them back at some point." She did not extend a hand for Sora to hand them back. "Even though we are both members of the Black Squad, there is no need for Enforcers of Order. Due to my... 'connections' with these guys," Black thumbed over her shoulder at the rest of the Black Squad, "I'll probably being seeing these guys a lot. But for you, I'd like to forge a new connection. I'd like you to hold onto my powers." Black smiled as she raised her left fist at Sora, her pinkie extended, "Can you promise me that whatever happens, you'll keep our connection burning brightly for as long as possible."

Sora looked at Black. While her smile was a positive one, her face did show signs of regret. The Black Squad's newest recruit copied Black's hand pose, wrapping her left pinkie round Black's. "I promise." The two shook fingers, the pinkie swear complete.

-

Solace: Blue House
Solace found herself at the end of a street in Arcania City, by Haruhi's goodwill. She began walking slowly down the road, looking at the buildings around her. All the buildings were clean and pristine condition. Solace didn't want to imagine what the city looked like before Haruhi's restoration of the settlement. The sight was very nostalgic, the view exactly as she remembered a year ago with one exception. There were no people. The remaining residents of the city were likely still in Barton City, as it was still early morning, bathing the buildings with an orange tint. Reaching one particular house, she walked up the path through the front garden to the front door and took out a set of keys from her pocket. She had four keys and a single metallic fob, out of the five she had only used the fob over the past year. The fob was her key to her apartment in District 9, which she still owned. She took one of the traditional keys and unlocked the front door. Solace stepped inside and closed the door behind her, entering a large main room, covering the majority of the ground floor, that was the living room, dining room and kitchen combined.

She sighed with a relief, "It's good to be back." Turning ahead, she looked at the living section of the room, where the large screen television was situated in the corner. In front of it were beanbags in multiple colours. Out the five normal occupants of the house, Chamber was the only one without a personal room. He would spend his time in front of the television, playing games mostly, his professional job being a game reviewer. But Solace had seen what KC was like, an android made by Ælious. The Kacy in Solace's world was human and was only friends with her world's Ælious. If KC and Kacy had such huge differences between each other then what would the differences between the Chamber in this world and her world's Chamber? Suddenly, the door bell rang. Solace, perplexed, turned round and opened the door to see an unexpected visitor. Her mouth fell open with shock, "... Chamber?"

Outside the door was a familiar floating machine, "Solace..." greeted Chamber, "It's been a long time." This Chamber looked exactly the same as her off world's iteration with one major exception.

"Erm... Hello, Chamber," welcomed Solace, awkwardly, "Umm... Did you always have a green eye?" Her Chamber had a red eye.

"I originally had a red one but I had to have it replaced by a green one." Chamber, being externally made of mechanical parts, showed absolutely no physical expression, even less than Santiago. "Before Doomsday," he added as a disclaimer.

"I see... Umm... I don't know if you know this but we're not of the same canon."

Chamber paused, "... I thought not... I didn't think I'd find my canon's Solace here."

Solace blinked in confusion, "So why are you here?"

"Umm... Well, I have no permanent home." The tone of the conversation was getting more awkward by the second. "I found out that this is where your Chamber lived so I was wondering if... I could live here?"

"Ah. Err... Well, the house belongs to my canon's Ælious. I don't mind but I guess you'll also need Alice's permission. And Lash's, if he's from my canon." Solace realised she didn't think twice about accepting this new canon's Chamber into the household.

"Yeah, Lash Calle? He was the one who told me about your canon. He ought to be returning here soon from Barton City."

"Oh... I see..." The two stood in silence for a while.

"Are you two finished yet?" asked a voice behind Chamber. White leaned to the side to look at Solace, through Chamber's wings. Chamber did not turn round. With his cyborg systems, either he was already aware of White's presence or White had just appeared. "Okay, guys, just get in." She pushed Chamber into the house and into Solace who stumbled back into one of the beanbags. White closed the door behind her. "Yo, Solace," she waved with a grin, "I wanted to invite you into The Humour Society. The group's going to be around to symbolise our connections, our brotherhood that succeeded in ensuring our future. The rest of the Anti-Nine have joined up. Except Naluri but I want to give her some time off before I approach her."

"Err... Sure," answered Solace, not yet recovered mentally by White's appearance.

"Awesome," thumbed up White. She turned to Chamber. "So you're Chamber? Nice to meet you, I'm White Rock Shooter."

"Nice to meet you too, White."

"So," began White, "I hear you're from different canons."

"... Yeah," answered Solace, raising an eyebrow at the change of topic.

White sighed and sat down on a red beanbag. "So what are your concerns?"

"... Well, umm... to be honest..." admitted Solace, "I don't really have concerns that can fixed. I'm just worried about my world's Chamber. I hope he's okay. As well as Ælious and Kacy."

"I have similar concerns for the people in my world," added Chamber, "I'd say I'm worried about my world's Solace but I haven't seen her for several million years so I've been concerned about her for a while." Solace was rather surprised and curious about this revelation.

"Hahaha," laughed White, "Whatever." Her smile faded, "There is something I want to get off my shoulders and you two seem to be the best people to talk to about it... No doubt, Solace, you're figured out that Black and myself are from different canons."

"... Yes, I did," confirmed Solace.

"The Black★Rock Shooter I knew was different to this Black in many ways. All sorts of ways. For one, this Black knew absolutely nothing about me before Doomsday." White looked down with a sorrowful expression and began to murmur, "If she knew what I had done in my world, she would hate me to the core. After Doomsday, Black approached me with an offer to join the Black Squad. I was part of The Anti-Humour Society back then so it would have been strategically sound to accept the offer. But I refused. I was afraid. I was afraid that Black would find out what I was really like. But as days went past, I began to regret turning down the offer. I've already burnt bridges with one Black. That doesn't mean I have to burn bridges with another." White looked up at the two. "Just because you come from different universes doesn't mean you start from scratch. Get to know each other, cover some lost ground and try to appreciate each other. Just don't replace anyone over their counterparts in your own world. That is one line you shouldn't cross." She sighed, "Having accepted Black's repeated offer, as the newest member of the Black Squad, I did worry that Black would find out more about me." An expression of determination set on her face, "But now, I don't care. My past was in my creator's hands. The strings that bound me have now been cut. I made my decision to change and I hope Black will take that as a sign of acceptance. Or at least not consider me an enemy." She paused, "How do you two feel about your creators?"

"To be honest," answered Chamber, "I don't give my creator a second thought. I'm... very lazy." This was actually the same nature of Solace's Chamber. Solace felt a little more at ease.

"I..." began Solace, "I do have some bones to pick with my creator but my past is normal in comparison for a native. As a writer, I understand that someone has to suffer. I've decided to put my grudges aside and just try to settle down. By the way, shouldn't you mention what you just said to Alice too?"

"Ælious lives permanently in Barton City," pointed out White, "I don't think there'll be much of a problem." She paused again, "Well, at least give them some time to get to grips with it. So how are you going to settle down?"

Solace did not reply immediately as she had not thought that far, "Umm... Maybe go back to university."

"Really?" White sounded oddly surprised, "Which university do you go to? What year and subject?"

"Arcania University. First year English Literature student. Wait," Solace ran her hand down her face, "I would be a second year now." She had missed an entire year of her studies.

"What are the staff numbers of the university?"

"Several... hundred." Solace realised what point White was getting at. The seventy eight residents of Arcania City brought in by Doomsday couldn't hope to keeping the university running. Her education at Arcania University was over.

"You heard yourself that Haruhi won't be recreating anyone not brought in by Doomsday," reminded White, "What did you plan to do after university?"

Solace put her head in her hands, "I don't know. I never planned that far ahead."

"Not even what line of work you're going into?"

"Not even that. I want to be a writer, but I'm not good at it. I'm good at athletics, but I don't like it. My dream job would be to write for anime, but... does the industry even exist anymore?"

"You bring up a brilliant point, Solace," White leaned forward, "Doomsday practically made natives obsolete. For every native out there, there's a newcomer who's better at everything they do. The anime industry is our film industry. Music artists have feared the popularity of Vocaloids and now with their realised materialisation, are their professional careers over? All non-ceremonial native military forces have been disbanded for their safety, unable to hold a candle to the power of the newcomers. Native science and mathematics are backwards compared to the advancements of newcomer technology and minds. Would it be right for us to compete with our creators for jobs?"

"No, it wouldn't."

"Ilse had thoughts about moving in with her creator."

"Sora and Rulia were going to."

"Who's going to pay for them? Sora needs power. Rulia needs to eat... I think, if she's biological. And I'm sure they have hobbies of their own. Their creator can't pay for all that."

"Isn't Haruhi going to essentially expand North High?" asked Solace, "Basically to make money irrelevant."

"I believe that's what Haruhi has in mind but is right? It worked in wartime North High. Would it work on a peacetime Earth?"

"If the Anti-Doomsday occurs at any point soon," input Chamber, "Having a paradise maintained by Haruhi would break the natives."

"Anti-Doomsday?" repeated White, curiously.

"Well," explained Chamber, "Seeing how sudden and unexpected Doomsday was, I think it's perfectly possible for its reversal to also be sudden and unexpected. Without an economy, the structural integrity of native civilization would collapse on itself. With no military, there would be worldwide chaos, security non-existent."

"It's interesting how much faith we place in Haruhi now," laughed White, "Given how much we hated her on Doomsday. Well, I'm sorry for imposing such questions on you two. I just hope Haruhi and Sasaki will choose the best option."

"Sasaki told me that neither she nor Haruhi could predict the future well due to things out of their control," added Solace.

White's expression turned to one of concern, "There's things they can't control? Well, there's still Area 51 in the Hakurei Barrier I guess. But couldn't they assume it wouldn't open to predict a history?"

"I... guess." Solace also began to feel concerned. She had been hinting about Rulia, Naluri and Rokiahi but the way White spoke suggested to Solace that there were more beings that Sasaki and Haruhi couldn't monitor. Maybe they hadn't cut their strings just yet...

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