Sai stepped down the ramp absentmindedly before his eyes drifted to the gold and red armored figure as he stepped down the ramp of his own craft. As expected, the guide didn't even glance his way. Blocking out the inconvenience apparently. As he tried to assess this, he felt something brush his right arm. Looking in surprise, he saw Narine with a permanent marker looking up at him with embarrassed surprise. He looked where she was pulling her hand back from and saw there were tally marks. Eight in total including a diagonal slash to denote the five. "What the hell have you been doing?"

She stammered a bit before getting annoyed with him, "What have YOU been doing? I was doing this the entire trip and when I asked Tai what was going on he just said you were 'away', whatever that means."

Sai felt his hand rising to his face before he said curiously, "So you decided to start seeing how often you could mark me until I came back." Narine grumbled and looked away. As he watched the rest of the group move on ahead, he shifted gears, "I needed information. I have theories about our leader in this mission and the only place I can find answers is... deep..." Narine Tried to read his robotic face before she narrowed her eyes, "You had Tak'Nasi's memories. I have Shawn's. Trauma included. And just like him, I've been ignoring it for as long as it isn't in the way..."

She looked him over with mild concern before she looked at the scarlet armored man and nodded, "So you have been trying to figure him out this entire time."

Sai nodded, "He knows more than he should... and he is acting on it. To what end, I don't know."

Narine spoke under her breath, "According to... I guess Valk Zwei now... he founded a group called @-layer." Sai chuckled. Narine nodded, "Yeah it sounds stupid and is probably a pun based on ateliers but-"

Sai cut her off, "No... it actually just gives me more conviction in my theories but still no explanation as to why..." She pulled out the marker again and with annoyed eyes put another mark on Sai's arm. He groaned in annoyance, "Don't turn your game into a punishment just because..." She readied the marker again and he sighed, "Fine, my point is that Shawn is someone who would choose a stupid name like that and his greatest nemesis started doing the same thing."

Narine paused for a moment and asked, "Shawn? As in the guy Anisa is trying to save?" Sai nodded slowly but this just caused Narine to put her brainpower to the problem as well. "According to Anisa, the deal says he can't come back without the Phoenixian Crystal... and that memories of him will come back when he returns... so..."

Sai hadn't considered that and all it did was raise more questions. Was this really Equinox? But if it was, why would he be helping to return Shawn to the world? Was this Shawn? But if it was, why wouldn't he tell everyone it was him? Why make us do all this extra work?

Some of that mystery would be resolved as the group turned the corner and buildings began to come into view. Atop one of them stood a figure in full purple armor with a flowing lavender scarf. Their visor was a shining gold and their voice was impossible to recognize, "Chain Breaker... the war you dread is upon you... but worry not. For I will keep my promise." Everyone froze, unsure of how to process the person. As if taking advantage of this, the figure warned, "As you continue, you step into the shadow of the coming storm. Trust only in the nobility of your spirit."

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The figure vanished as quickly as it arrived, seemingly carried away on a cloud. Sai could feel a familiar tension in the air...

The war?

Sai felt a weight upon his heart. If their guide is who the figure was speaking to then... But what was worse was that if their goal was the ideal of the One Day War then it was off to a rocky start. Still, the possibility was a concern. 'Tai, I am handing the body off to you. Use the telemetry and projections to track that purple figure and to analyze their energy and biometrics. I have to look into something'

'You can't delve the mines right now! We were just warned about-'

Tai's voice faded into silence as Sai dove once more into the depths of the mind and heart. He needed to get answers and he knew where to find them. As he arrived, he expected the cavern once more, but instead he found himself on a train. The figure was not buried under armor... or hiding behind it. It was Shawn's scarred and well worn visage, his poorly maintained mantle of his status within the Cosmic Patrol. A badge tarnished by anxious polishing and his attire disheveled. Sai sat down across from him as Shawn took a swig off a whiskey bottle. "What's up, Puppet?"

Sai brought his hand to his brow, "Alright... this is new..."

Shawn nodded, "Yep, but that's not a surprise. You got so caught up in who you aren't that you needed that... extra... But are you sure that this is where you should be? If that red guy has parted ways with Emperor Visto then it seems likely that we are facing Professor Treasure and his sort. Is now a time to soul search?" His blind right eye felt like it was piercing through Sai. Something akin to an eternity passed between the two. Eventually, Shawn continued, "You are more concerned about our little instigator than you are about the usual known factors, aren't you?"

Sai responded carefully, "I know you are still hiding things from me. I need to know if I'm going to save us from what comes next."

Shawn stared out the window of the train for awhile and he eventually pulled out a deck of cards. He began to deal out the cards and said, "Well, if we are going to do this, we had better do it properly. I'm sure you are familiar with this. I know you used a similar method to understand Gavin better. So if you want to get straight answers, why not?" Sai refused to look at the hand dealt him and Shawn sighed, "Puppet, you can't ignore the hand you are dealt. If you try to play it blind, you are going to be missing out on one of the most important parts of life." Sai glared Shawn down who seemed resolute. Sai tried to get up to leave, but as he stepped out of the booth and tried to leave, the door opened to the other side of the same train car. Shawn sighed, "I told you, you can't play this game blind. So come sit down and play until the final card."

Sai continued to walk down the same endless road.