A week later, with no news from the Russians, Mia glanced up from her breakfast of pancakes layered with lobster, caviar, and truffles, finished with hollandaise sauce. "I shouldn't have ordered this."

"Just because it's expensive doesn't mean it's good." nodded Samuel, hard at work on his regular stack. "Going to come out twenty pounds heavier if we stay here another week."

"She remembered you by name." muttered Mia, relevantly. "…she reminds me a bit of Yuruko, admittedly."

"The way she's got one person she's always around?"

Mia laughed. "I - I was going to say how she speaks, but that too, yes."

"Think she's shyer, though. Luna, I mean." said Samuel.

"Aimee says she spends most of her time around Saya." muttered Mia. "She's still not sure if they're dating."

"Might be." nodded Samuel. "Probably best that she's - well. If she's not straight, probably for the best that she isn't. Lot of men would try to take advantage of someone like her."

Mia wiped her face as she finished. "Because of her shyness?"

"Right. I know how men get. Especially when they're young, most of them think of their girlfriend more like a therapist than a separate person."

Mia laughed. "Samuel, you're only 22."

"And mentoring Kate added a few on to it." he laughed. "Between her and Matoi, I'll be dragging around an oxygen tank when I'm 30."

"And you'll still be single."

"Would make sense in a workplace full of lesbians." he shrugged, relevantly, and Mia paused. 

"…can I ask you something?" (He nodded.) "I was talking with Matoi, and she thought that - most of the other men on campus don't like you."

"Right." he nodded.

"I was surprised you never mentioned it."

He laughed. "Never been any reason to bring it up. I don't know when it started, exactly - I remember getting called a pussy in my first year because I wouldn't rate Matoi's looks - but at some point, it just became something where… well. Same way that people get attached to movies from their childhood. They might grow out of it, but eventually, it's just something you're used to keeping up. Same reason I'll still watch The Fly."

"…you watched The Fly when you were a child?"

"When I was six."

Mia blinked. "That explains a lot."

He laughed. "Still. They get so caught up about other men telling them what they need to be that they don't realize…" He shrugged. "Schopenhauer had a quote about a great mind not being bothered by petty expressions -"

" - and ascribing them to the defective knowledge of the speaker, as it does every other insult." said Mia, relevantly. "Magnus, er, told me that."

"And look where that got him."

Mia laughed as someone knocked at the door.

"Israfel!" said Aimee's voice, relevantly.

Mia smiled and went over to open the door, then hugged & kissed her wife.

"Hey." chimed Aimee. "Just wanted to check in on you before I assign contracts. You feeling okay?"

Mia nodded. "Did she get my request?"

"Yeah." nodded Aimee. "Said she should be getting here soon, so. I'll check her before she comes in."

"Alright."

The two kissed.

"Love you."

"I love you too."

Aimee left, and after Samuel finished eating, Mia disintegrated their dishes. She checked her phone and sent a message to Serena, then frowned as it vibrated. 

"…that's new." she muttered, taking it. "Who is this?"

"My name is Konstantins Konstantinovs, with the Russian government. This is Swarm, correct?"

"It is."

"I have some important news to relay to you."

Mia nodded, setting it on speaker as he spoke. 

For years, much remained unknown about the 2022 St. Petersburg bombings perpetrated by Daigo Yashukure, and contemporary information was often an amalgamation of sources within the Russian government, rumors from those with their own reasons for embellishment, and the Royal Four's own testimonies.

This event began with the destruction of Shzya'zovat Academy, resulting in the death of thirty-two students, twenty professionals, and over a million civilians, marking the beginning of a sustained eco-terrorist campaign within Russia's former borders. Historical estimates placed the lives lost during this week, directly, or indirectly due to the lack of law enforcement, at nearly ten million. In the ensuing week, nearly half of Russia's power plants were sabotaged by various groups, and though many were speculated to have been working with Daigo, the extent to which these groups were linked, or were simply opportunists, remains unknown.

Only a dozen captured hosts have ever spoken of meeting Daigo, with one prominent group confessing that they had been offered 30 billion rubles, in exchange for stealing Revenants from storage facilities, and dropping them off at coordinates near the mouth of the Katun River. Had Swarm not disintegrated Russia's stock, it was likely that Daigo would have gained access to 'Otkrytiye', a Revenant with the ability to manipulate liquids, and prevented her use of Mizuchi.

But this all occured later.

With some difficulty in his voice, he relayed the government's progress in tracking Daigo. Due to their experience nine years prior, and, with Russia's other agencies preoccupied, Oleksandr's division had been assigned to track back the source of these bombings themselves. After their interrogation of another captured host, and subsequent relaying of their findings, their investigation never concluded - all but three were found as statues of stone in their homes. It remains unknown how Daigo knew their addresses, or whether he was even aware of the investigation. Though it was, at first, theorized that one of the three missing had been his contact within Russia's government, later analysis would reveal numerous reasons Daigo may have known Swarm's location, ranging from unsecured personal electronic devices to compromised officials. Even among those with direct involvement, whether a "mole" truly existed is still a matter of contention.

More than any fact, this lack of knowledge became what collected the 2022 bombings in to the public consciousness, and in the absence of governmental reassurance, several conspiracy theories (some later proven) would rise in the years after, written by those identifying as "Russia truthers". Fortunately, the geographical source of many of the more extreme claims ensured that, at most, only two or three hosts later attempted to assassinate Swarm.

(Later remarking upon it, she noted how close each had come to killing her, and quoted a member of her former squadron in insanity trumping preparation.)

With some hesitation, Mia asked if Oleksandr had been killed by Daigo, and was told that the government was currently unaware of his whereabouts. Whether he had fled fearing reprisal for his breaching classified information, was killed by another host, or, most unlikely, was Daigo's contact within his agency, was a matter none had the capacity to investigate. Whatever occured, she was warned that they would be evacuating Russia soon, and would call her again when new information rose. 

After hearing all of this, Mia leaned back, sinking in to her chair and seeming to become one with it.

"…this is China's fault." Her expression tightened. "If they hadn't been so *fucking* selfish - I could have fought Daigo instead, and this would have ended weeks ago. They couldn't even realize that the longer Daigo survives, the more people die, and..." She frowned, staring at her phone. "I should have told them what China did."

"You know it wouldn't make a difference whether they knew or not." said Samuel. "Would just make it worse once this is over."

"I know, but I feel as if there's… something I could have done. If I had demanded to fight Daigo, or if we had gone to their academy, or…" She sighed. "…I'm used to being able to solve everything with one Solar Beam."

"…well, technically, you know." said Samuel and she laughed. "Might take a few. Still. You made the right decision not going. Serena and Yuruko know that, too."

Mia slowly nodded as she sat up. "…I remember when Akira first told me, I thought about my first semester - when Urasaria's staff thought I was responsible for Magnus. I remember sitting on Marisa's doorstep and crying, because I didn't…" She sighed. "…everything has to involve me."

"You wish sometimes it didn't?"

"No. There's no one else who would have been able to kill Daigo. It's why Magnus chose me, and I've accepted that." (Samuel saw guilt glint her brow again.) "…I just wish I hadn't seen that footage."

"Going to be thinking about it for a while." nodded Samuel. "Few years from now, though, time'll rough the edges off of this. Always does."

"Is that something from those philosophers you read?" muttered Mia, smiling a little.

"No, that's something my father taught me. He could tell five years after Outcast activated that I was still angry about how it happened. It wasn't…" He frowned a bit. "…well. Wasn't the best thing he could've said, but he told me: 'If you're angry about something that happened a week ago, that's normal. If you're still angry about something that happened five years ago, that's on you.' I realized over time that everything would eventually be five years ago. I'm not saying it's wrong to feel emotional over it, either. Just don't want to see you guilty over making the right decision."

"I've seen you cry more times than I've seen Matoi." said Mia and he laughed. "I know, it's simply…" She sighed. "I don't know how anyone can track him now. Akira is right - I doubt he has anyone who knows where he is, he doesn't need to hide anywhere, and he can disguise himself."

"Going to need to predict where he'll be next. Focus on that. We have power over our minds, not outside events." He paused. "Now, that one's Aurelius."

Mia laughed. "I thought you said something about not liking him."

"Well, he…" Samuel leaned back and laughed. "It's just - him, especially, I get the feeling sometimes that all that philosophy was just about trying to make people happy with a situation they shouldn't've been. Doubt my dad really believes in what he told me, either. Just something he tells himself so he doesn't have to think about why we were so poor we could barely sleep in the summer." He paused, then said: "But Stoicism works for me, because my mansion has air-conditioning."

Mia laughed as she sat up, and someone knocked at the door.

"Diavolo!" said Serena's voice, relevantly.

"Doppio!" said Yuruko's voice, relevantly.

Mia smiled and went over to open the door, otaku couple sitting down with their breakfast. Putting her tablet away, Mia looked at Samuel for a second, then shook her head. "How did you sleep?"

"Was up pretty late last night." yawned Yuruko.

"Sure was." chimed Serena, tentacle patting Yuruko's shoulder.

Mia almost imperceptibly shuddered. Unbeknownst to her, Yuruko's exhaustion was from a new show & not Blackburn.

"Did you get any news?" said Yuruko as they started eating. 

"Er, not yet." Mia shook her head, then looked at Serena. "Aimee said she would be here soon."

"Coolio." said Serena, utterly clueless. "Um, she said she was just gonna bring her's, too, so."

"Did she want anything from Flashbulb?" said Yuruko and Mia shrugged.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"I suppose w-"

" - open up!" shouted a familiar voice at the door, and in the next instant -

- one Avalanche-punch bashed it down, and the four laughed as Naomi stepped inside holding five boxes.

"Hey." she chimed, setting them down. "Gotta head back in an hour, but I can stay a little while."

"Just you, right?" said Serena, going over to refill the entryway.

Naomi smiled. "Just me, yeah. No, uh - no boyfriend."

A pity she wasn't single, Samuel thought as she sat down. If the tightness in her tracksuit was any indication, her boyfriend was a lucky man.

Naomi had started dating again a month ago, and found to her flattery no shortage of suitors on-campus, most of them honorable as far as men went. The worst trouble she had so far was Avalanche coming out unexpectedly in bed.

"Uh, speaking of missing. Is Sylvia not…?" Naomi gestured vaguely and Mia nodded. 

"She's still at Urasaria - I thought it would be better to bring Yuruko instead."

Naomi nodded, a little quicker than usual. "Yeah. I-I'm sure you can do it, yeah, d-dealing with - yeah."

Serena knew she was nearly as worried over Daigo as Mia, but she couldn't control her emotions well enough to not show it. From what she'd heard, Naomi usually dragged her boyfriend along to see cheesy romances & the occasional Julia-recommended character study: but she was never work-shy, either. Who she'd inherited that from, Serena had no clue.

"Let's just not talk about it for an hour." winced Yuruko and Mia nodded.

"I agree. Who wants to go first?"

"Um, me." shrugged Serena, pulling a letter out of her box. "'Dear Miasma. Thank you for proving one otaku can reduce the crime rate through nothing but excessive violence. Additionally, I wouldn't have come out to my family if I didn't have you as a role model.'"

"Aww." chimed Naomi.

Serena glanced down at the rest of the letter, and Mia noticed her blink a few times.

"Is there more?" said Mia, and Serena quickly shook her head.

"No, um. Naomi." 

Naomi nodded, pulling a letter out, then smiling.

"'Dear Blank Slate,

I'm glad you got to the end of your second-year, and I hope you're working well with your new protege. I saw she got two-star a few days ago, but if you ever start worrying you're a crappy mentor, just compare yourself to me. So long as they've got a limb remaining, you're doing better than I did.

I bought this typewriter recently, which you can probably tell because it took me a year to type this. I got a job guarding one of those Hollywood types all real artists despise. He told me the other day he wanted to make a documentary about Urasaria students, but I managed to talk him out of it until you graduate. I'm having to hang around all these yuppie types, the kind of people who put their trash can in your lawn so their's isn't besmirched by that big jug of plastic, and since it's California, most of them have that unnatural skin tint usually reserved for taillights. I never realized Woody Allen's depictions were merciful. I guess that's why I told you that art's camera can lie, like that time we read Ozymandias and you thought it was going to be some boring poem about a desert.

All those hipsters writing boring stories and saying they're supposed to be boring sure could use that. That's why I've avoided every coffee shop since I moved here. Plus, knowing the guy down at the food truck might get deported the next day really cinches that last bit of flavor. I hope you're not still having to eat that crap from the cafeteria. Ever since Luna left, they started putting everything through the deflavorizing machine. I don't think I'll get that absence of taste from those boiled ribs out for another hundred years, or by the time poetry is good again.

P.S. Remember, when your boyfriend tells you he wants to exchange ideas, what he really wants is to exchange fluids.'"

Naomi laughed, then stopped as she found everyone staring at her. "…uh. It's from someone I know. Uh, Mia next?"

Mia pulled a letter out of her box, opened it, then frowned as she disintegrated it. "…it started by calling me 'Sexy Swarm'."

"Can save the world and some men will still only care about how you look." said Samuel. "There's a message there."

"Yes, that Matoi was right." muttered Mia and everyone but Naomi laughed. "Samuel."

Samuel pulled a letter out of his box, one brow raising as he read it. "You sure you want to hear this?"

"Yes." said Mia.

He shrugged. "'Boar, let's make this simple. I've attached my picture, my address, and the times my husband isn't home.'"

"What does she look like?" said Yuruko.

"Depleted." Samuel shrugged. "Some people'll do anything if they think it gives them a connection to someone famous."

"Are you about to talk about serial killers again?" said Mia & the four laughed.

"No, but -" - he laughed - " - I realized after that - you know, I've never heard of any random criminal having a fanclub. After a certain point, who the person is isn't as important as how much they can brag about knowing them. I'm sure there's more than a few people who've put President Swarm on their resume."

"I haven't received any calls yet." laughed Mia.

"You never know." he laughed. "Did you want to try again?"

Mia pulled one letter out, then a stack out.

"I recognize these from my fanclub." She sighed as she disintegrated them. 

"Bunch of men?" said Samuel and her head shook.

"No, women asking me to stomp on their necks."

"Like I was saying."

"Yeah, but you know what they say." chimed Naomi. "'Today they adore you, and tomorrow it's one of these.'" She mimed firing a gun and frowned as no one laughed. "…uh. It's from a film. Stardust Memories."

She remembered something Julia had said to her about good taste in art being a social barrier; but then again, Julia hadn't made any friends before Woody Allen either. The hardest work she did some days was making all her neuroses seem inevitable.

Mia shook her head. "Go ahead, Yuruko."

"Coolio." she said, pulling one out. "Genesis-domo, I have made a grave error in not depicting you properly! Please accept this humble offering as my apology!'"

She flashed the second page out - a drawing of herself holding a dozen guns covered in Japanese, captioned 'URASARIA'S #2 OTAKU'.

"Now you match." chimed Mia, relevantly.

"What's the text say?" said Serena, peeking over. Yuruko took her phone out, and the two frowned as her camera translated it. "…uh. Milk? Bullet? Mushroom?"

"Did they just use Google Translate for this?" frowned Yuruko. "Fucking weeaboos. Uh, Naomi."

Naomi frowned as she read over her's.

"Creepy?" said Yuruko and she nodded.

"...uh, yep." She crumpled it up, wondering why the hell her boyfriend had never written a poem about her. "Samuel."

Samuel nodded and started flipping through his letters.

"Jonathan, Joseph, Bruno, Annasui…" he muttered, relevantly. "Seems like most of these are from men." He tore one open and laughed after reading it. "I'm definitely not reading these out loud."

Mia had made a bet with Serena for this, and said while looking at Samuel: "How does it make you feel?"

"Makes me wonder what it's like to play for that team-"

" -FUCK!" shouted Serena, slamming the table as Mia laughed -

" - I - I thought he might have been -"

" - wait, did you have a fucking bet -" cackled Yuruko as Samuel laughed & Mia continued -

" - Serena thought you were gay, but - because I remembered how you acted around that one woman, and in Japan -"

" - you know -" - he laughed - " - I could still be bisexual, you do realize -"

" - are you?" laughed Yuruko -

- and Mia frowned as she remembered when they'd visited Samuel's mansion, and the muscular posters on his bedroom's walls. She thought it strange they hadn't been in his gym.

"…er. Are you?"

Samuel just pulled out another letter. Mia blinked across the table to Serena, unsure how to distribute the winnings now.

As Samuel read aloud, Naomi wondered why anyone would've thought him gay; her view of gay men was that they usually weighed a hundred pounds, depending when their last blood transfusion was. This wasn't caused by any real maliciousness; she'd simply never met anyone but lesbians, mostly.

"Serena." said Samuel.

Serena nodded, streams of fog opening a few of her's. A sense of guilt came over her as she flipped through them, then pulled another one out.

"'Miasma, proving that anime is real since 2019.'"

"Short and sweet." chimed Naomi.

"Mia." muttered Serena.

Mia pulled another letter out of her box, then sighed. "Finally. 'Dear President Swarm,

I know it sounds creepy, but I've been a big fan of your's even since your first year, and seeing you grow from orange to purple has been awesome to watch - and you even got married, too! I'm sure you're busy, so I'll keep my one request short. If you're ever in town, let me know so I can feel your boots smash my skull in to bits of bo-"

 - she slammed the table - " - ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING -"

- the four burst in to laughter as she continued - " - it - it would be better if they all weren't so fucking violent -"

" - they're more violent than Serena -" cackled Yuruko, relevantly -

" - is - is that just a lesbian thing?" cackled Naomi, and Mia sighed.

"It's - it's not even because I'm…" She closed her eyes, laughing between her cheeks. "…it's because I'm tall. I think it's because I'm tall. Aimee or Matoi never received letters like this."

"Is that your theory?" said Samuel.

"I know how lesbians are." She laughed, gesturing to Serena pulling a letter out of her box. "Go ahead."

"'Serena Kunst - or Miasma.'" she said, reading. "I hope that you're…" She trailed off, and held it a little closer so the others couldn't see. She knew what the blue & white & pink flag draped around her was, and spoke with some difficulty. "…u-um. Sorry. Just… something personal."

Mia nodded a little. "…alright. We'll go on to someone else."

Yuruko nodded and took a letter out of her box, and Serena felt anxious as she started to read.

Serena had been transgender since she was fourteen, probably earlier, and had been cisgender for only a year. Mia was her best friend, and Yuruko was her girlfriend; she took no view that she couldn't be friends with someone who wasn't transgender - but she had felt vaguely lonely the past year. Yuruko's voice dropped out of her ears as she looked back to her lap and saw the flag curled around her. The caption was thanking her for being a trans Urasaria student.

She wondered how old the sender was. When Serena was a child, she had few role models & fewer she related to, and she had wasted years thinking her dysphoria would go away. Her eyes rose towards Mia, and she felt, like she had in her first year, how little she had common with her or Yuruko. 

"U-Um." She stood up, clutching the letter. "I - I need to step out for a s-second." She stepped outside, bracing herself against the hall's wall as she closed the door. 

Urasaria's #1 otaku drawing was hanging in her & Yuruko's room, along with art from women she'd pushed away feeling anything in common with. She remembered them as communities full of bitterness & jealousy, and after Kamon had relegated that she had no idea what it was like to be a trans woman, nor did she want to. 

She closed her eyes and started shaking.

"Serena?" said Mia's voice at the door. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine."

She felt Mia come closer as the door closed. "…was it something personal?"

"…y-y-yeah. I-I-It w-was a-and -"

- she clutched Mia tight as she started sobbing, and Mia hugged her back as Serena showed her the letter - " - j-just - just look a-at it."

"…is that the transgender flag?"

"-y-y-yes. I-I-I know w-what it is t-too a-and…" She sniffled. "I just wish t-they would stop sending me this type of stuff. I-I really don't like them sending me s-stuff like this. Half of those fucking letters know that I'm - say that I-I'm trans, a-and I-I can't even r-read t-them to…I-I can't even read them out. I-I can't even read them out even if I w-wanted to."

"…Serena." said Mia, placing her hand on Serena's shoulder. "Why does it bother you when they say you're transgender?"

"B-Becauss I'm not trans anymore. I'm not."

"Serena, you're... I understand how other trans people have treated you, but it's meant to be positive, isn't it?" said Mia. "They look up to you. There's plenty of lesbians that don't like me, or any of us. It doesn't mean that I'm not still a lesbian, Serena. Even if-"

-Serena's head shook. "N-No. That's different -"

" - I'm not saying - you are female, Se-"

"- i-it's different. I-I know I a-am, it's just - it's still fucking hard seeing you and Yuruko and everybody e-else a-and you g-get to, y-you get to have being a woman in common a-and I-I don't. Y-You got to-"

" - Serena, I… Just because I grew up as a woman doesn't mean that - it doesn't mean that I have a lot in common with most women. You and Yuruko have more in common than I do with her. Matoi, she … lived in Japan until she was a teenager." She rubbed Serena's shoulder. "And Aimee's family hates her, but my parents were always supportive."

"Y-You still got to grow up as a woman. I-I'll never get to have that."

"Would you have still attended Urasaria if you did? I understand how you're feeling, but…"

"…n-no. I-I guess not."

"And I wouldn't have been able to meet my best friend." Mia smiled. "You wouldn't have been able to meet Yuruko. You might've been a completely different person - woman. I'm not … I'm not going to tell you that - I don't know what it's like to want to live as a woman, because I've never thought anything different. But I know that you are a woman. And you were a woman the day I met you. I'm sure that we had different experiences growing up, but I've had different experiences than Aimee, or Matoi, or Yuruko, or Marisa. I'm not… I'm not sure that there's a universal experience like you're expecting, Serena. Between women. Even with…"

Mia paused. "…when I made my first appearance with the European presidents. Do you remember that?"

"…y-yeah." Serena sniffled.

"France's president. She came from a very rich family. I felt like I was speaking to an alien whenever she would talk about having servants or going to a private school, or… buying her Revenant from a professional agency. She even tried to relate to me about it, but - but it was just impossible. I have more in common with Samuel than I do with her, even if she is a woman, because Samuel's family was just as poor as mine growing up. I can talk to him about when we first realized we were poor, or how it affects the way you see money, or… There's not some universal experience every woman shares, Serena. Even here."

"…I-I just wish I d-didn't have to waste so m-much time. With therapy, a-and hormones a-and saving up money and e-everything, a-and…"

"There's always going to be - I wish that I had learned to stick up for myself sooner. I wish that I had realized I was a lesbian sooner, or that I... I don't know what to say to help, Serena, but I'm always here for you, and I know Yuruko is as well. And Samuel. I'm sure he would be accepting if you ever wanted to tell him."

"…I-I guess. I-I guess I would be a lot different if I was cis."

"Maybe you wouldn't watch so many Japanese cartoons."

Serena laughed. "M-Maybe."

"But it's not about whether you… there's a lot of women I don't have anything in common with. And a lot of awful women that I don't *want* to have anything in common with."

"Um, you are a traitor to your sex." chimed Serena, and Mia paused before laughing.

"It took me a second to remember."

"…yeah. I remember that, um… I was scared they were gonna find out I was trans back then."

She remembered and paused. Why hadn't she decided to come out publicly? She risked her life every day, but she had no worry of being unemployed, no fear of intolerance.

"…um. Maybe it's better I didn't grow up like that, either. I shouldn't say that. I-I'm sorry."

Mia headed her off. "You still had to endure a lot, Serena. It doesn't make you any less of a woman."

"...yeah." Serena smiled. "Um. I just need time to think about this, I guess."

"Will you be alright?"

"I think so."

The two hugged before they stepped back inside.

◆◆◆

A week later, Mia met with a high-ranking Russian official alone. He let his parentage show in the way he put his words together.

"Our preparations are nearly finished for evacuation. We've shut down non-essential businesses, stockpiled all of our food, and will be disposing of our nuclear munitions shortly. We have some evacuation Revenants, but it will still take much time, and…"

"Japan has a transporter." said Mia.

He nodded. "We've put in a request for his services temporarily, yes. China offered their's, as well. It should… only take a few days, hopefully. When Absolute Hot occurs, what will be the extent of its destruction?"

"…I don't know. I assume it'll be the size of Moscow's Ring, at least."

"We'll place our citizens as close to our eastern boundary as possible, then."

Mia frowned. "They're not leaving the country?"

"Every other country refused us - a full evacuation would spread 140 million refugees across our neighbors, with no employment, no useful currency for however long Daigo remains. They're aware that we currently have no leverage, and -"

" - the entire fucking world could end, and -"

" - it anger me as much as it does you - I simply choose not to show it. From the time I was born, history has always been able to be summed as 'and then, things became worse.'" He tried to smile a little. "If it were up to me, I would remind the Ukraine that we still have thirty students and dozens more professionals than they do, but those above me think differently. The Revenant Trade Commission, at least, has allowed us to rebuild afterwards using our creation Revenants. If… necessary, I would ask for your squadron's assistance in that."

Mia sat back. In some ways, it didn't surprise her that a existential threat couldn't dissolve nations' economic interests; that was fiction, not reality. "…yes. When will you begin evacuating?"

"As soon as our meeting is over. This is the last time any Russian will be seeing you, Swarm. We cannot spare any more of our hosts searching for Daigo."

Mia nodded, and after thinking for a while, said: "I have a request, then."