David strolled into the Operating Room the next morning, seeing Lisa was up bright and early to watch over the team before they were even awake yet. The false sun hadn't even risen yet, luckily, with the only person awake being Gumi.

Though, to Lisa, Gumi almost never slept. It seemed as if it wasn't entirely necessary for a V.C.D. unit to sleep to still function, so Gumi only did it when she needed to.

"Hey," David said, holding a styrofoam cup of coffee, "figured you'd want one of these, seeing as you're sitting here all day."

Lisa accepted the cup from David, and nodded.

"I've been thinking of getting up to get it myself," she said, "but I'm glad you can still read my mind."

"Ha," David chuckled, and sipped his coffee, "so, how's everyone doing?"

"Just fine," Lisa said. "Better than I expected, even. I was a little worried about Griff in the beginning before I gave him his psych eval, but he seems to be handling himself fine at the moment. I guess I underestimated him."

David looked at the monitor which monitored Griff's vitals. Everything looked normal from heart rate to stress levels.

"How did his evaluation go?"

"Everyone was cleared, obviously," Lisa said, "and as much as I wanted to tell Griff he shouldn't go, he still passed. An agreement is an agreement."

David nodded. "I read through the reports that Gumi gave us. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed with him. I just wonder if I'm doing the right thing letting him stay here."

"But what choice did you have?" Lisa asked. "I mean, sure, you have guardianship over him, but you couldn't blow your cover."

"Guardian in name only, I feel like," David shook his head. "I left him to his own devices most of the time. Once his folks passed, I tried the best I could, but I guess my line of work made that hard."

Lisa nodded.

"How about the others?" David asked, changing the subject.

"They're doing fine," Lisa said. "Once everyone's up, they'll be starting phase 2 of their operation."

"Good," David said. "I'll be heading back up shortly. We still need to keep an eye on Akira until we can figure out a good plan for her."

"Have the higher-ups given us an order about her?"

"Nothing yet, but they're worried about her involvement more because of her father. Of all the people for Griff to associate with-."

David stopped himself. Now wasn't the time to get upset about the situation.

"Just keep me posted. If anything changes, let me know."

Lisa nodded, and David headed back out.

----------------------------------------

"It seems Kallen has gone against our orders to hang back," Director 8 said, "and it seems he also took two experimental drones with him into the Interspace construct."

Director 1 let out a loud, frustrated sigh as the rest of Duodecim's Chair of Directors waited silently.

"Despite our best efforts," Director 7 said, "it seems he's gone ahead and taken matters into his own hands."

"And I wonder who's to blame for that!" Director 11 slighted. "You were the one who funded him and also granted that he be allowed to take those drones!"

"I granted Kallen funding for his efforts to take V.C.D.-01 back into our hands."

"And were you not the one who also approved his use of the Mark-II's, 7?"

"I granted him use for training exercises as per his request. Nothing more."

Director 3 decided to cut into the argument. The bickering was starting to annoy him.

"I believe we should all remain calm as professionals here, directors. This is not representative of our company is it?"

No one answered, but 3 took this silence to continue.

"Kallen has just proven to us that our scanner system works, for both organics and synthetics. Granted, we lost the V.C.D. unit, but it did allow for us to figure out what was going wrong initially. I say we take this opportunity to see what Kallen does with his time there. Does no one else see the benefit his recklessness has granted us?"

"What are you getting at, 3?" Director 4 asked.

"We have full control of the A.I. on Interspace. Let Kallen do what he wants, and when we need to step in, we will step in, but for now, I'd suggest we sit back and enjoy the show."

The meeting fell silent as the directors took 3's words into consideration.

"You raise a valid point, Director 3," Director 1 said. "I will have a team of agents keep an eye over the two Mark-II's following behind Kallen. Beyond that, we will have to wait and see what will happen."

"There is one last matter to attend to," Director 6 added, "and that's the concern of where V.C.D.-01 went when it ran into our scanner system. We believe it was able to remove its R.F.I.D. trackers, so we're back to square one in our recovery efforts."

"Unfortunate," Director 7 said, "but I'm confident we'll eventually recover all of the V.C.D. units. It just so happens we might need to pursue a different angle to find them. We have one, after all."

"True," Director 8 said, "but I'd argue that you have done enough damage here, Director 7. Kallen was employed under your leadership, and it was you who granted his funding and the drones that he left with. From here on, I would like to ask that my agents take over for this."

"I'm also in favor of this," Director 2 said, "Director 7 has made questionable decisions backing Kallen. I would argue that you allowed this out of pride, but that is purely speculation on my end."

"As am I," Director 1 said, adding to 8's point. "I'm sure you believed Kallen to be a beneficial agent in his past, but his recent actions have proven to be far more destructive than helpful to the company. Had you admitted your faults, we would be more lenient, but it seems you didn't want to admit failure. I rule now, in favor of Director 8's team to take over."

The rest of the board voted, nine in favor, three against. The three were directors 5, 7, and 12.

"Then it's settled. Director 8, your team will move to monitor the situation behind Kallen."

1 leaned in close to get his message across to Director 7.

"Ensure that your other agents are not as problematic, 7, or this will lead to consequences. Am I clear?"

Director 7 tried to keep his composure the best he could, but he was sweating profusely on the other end.

"I understand, sir. The agents that were working under Kallen will be reassigned to a new post. However, there is one lead they were following before Kallen disappeared on them. Would it be wise to have them abandon that?"

"If there's enough actual reason to," Director 5 said, "I would say we allow them to continue their search. Agents Navarro and Stanley have proven they are simply following orders."

"Fine, agreed," Director 1 said, "so long as they don't bring more damage. And if they do, it will be your responsibility, 7."

"Thank you, Director 1," 7 said. "I'll ensure they do not make Kallen's same mistake."

The call ended, and the Directors moved immediately to send their orders out. With Kallen having gone rogue, things were moving much quicker than they intended. In the world of security, it only made sense that things would change direction at a moment's notice. The only way to survive was to be able to improvise, and the directors knew this.

One way or another, they'd take control of the situation.

----------------------------------------

"I understand the concern and that it comes from the Admiral himself," Antrikanas said to the holographic figure on his desk, "but we've had this conversation a fair number of times. You know as well as I do that even with humans here, there's no way they would show their faces here."

"And are you doubting the Lord Admiral's concerns, Strelok?" The hologram said, scowling.

"No, not at all," Strelok said. "I have made it my duty to ensure that our future is secured, and I would hate to see it undone with the public finding out that the stories are true."

"As a messenger of the Lord Admiral," the hologram said, "I would advise you to take his warning into consideration."

"Of course, Anno," Strelok said. "I'm as loyal to the cause as the rest of you. I guess I'm still in denial."

"Denial, good sir?"

Strelok looked out his window and then glanced back at the hologram. The purple colored figure clad in his scout's armor looked at him as well, waiting for a response.

"If humans are here, then it will threaten everything I've worked for in this city."

"But you knew of the foreigners, didn't you?" Anno asked.

"I did, but they seemed to have little interest in our city. If they're coming in now, that changes things."

Strelok looked over the photo that featured the human girl being walked into a Ranger's dropship by another person wearing gray armor and a helmet. The gear he was wearing was far different from anything he'd seen before. It lacked anything that glowed. It looked like it came from another world. It had to have been built by someone from another world. It was the only explanation that made sense.

"The fact they're aiding the Rangers at all is even more concerning," Antrikanas said. "How did they manage to even bounce back? I thought they were destroyed."

"It would seem even the biggest of bugs still need time to be fixed," Anno said. "The Lord Admiral has a plan, but it will take time."

"Well," Strelok said, "I've already given orders to the C.S.F., and they will be vigilant."

Antrikanas grabbed a decanter of glowing blue liquid, and poured it into a small glass.

"One last thing," Strelok continued, taking a sip of the liquid, "but if you have any more information, I'd ask you to pass it to me as well."

"Of course," Anno said. "I pray for your success, brother."

As do I, Antrikanas thought as Anno disconnected, and may the Lord Admiral be merciful to these outsiders.

"Annnd we are clear," Gumi said, letting out a gleeful giggle as she entered a command on her device. "The C.S.F. won't be able to flag us at their checkpoints, so long as we don't cause a stir."

I looked out over the city as the morning gloom hung over it. It was weird to see clouds up in the sky, but there they were. The clouds were somewhat jagged at their edges, fitting together with other clouds like puzzle pieces. Each line fit into another to connect them. The only reason I could tell was because one cloud was greyer than the other.

I wondered while we waited at the top of the hotel's roof if Other-Earth would have a change in weather. Most of the days I had been here seemed to have clear skies, but not today. I wondered if that would stay that way. It would certainly be a welcome change. Especially since I kinda liked rainy days a lot.

A massive carrier ship loomed overhead, with escort craft flying around it like bees keeping a mobile nest safe. It was headed directly ahead of us. Its descent was helped by its front gravity wells that pushed back against the momentum.

As it landed, Meiko shook my shoulder.

"Watch out, daydreamer," she said. "We're about to get serious. I know it's a nice view, but remember why we're here."

I shook my head and stood up. "Sorry, figured I'd take it in while I'm still trying to wake up."

"It certainly is a nice view, too," Miku said. "If only we could take a stroll this morning."

"Let's wait until after we do our mission before we do any relaxing, okay?" Luka said.

"Luka's right," Gumi said. "And I'd recommend keeping your faces covered for the time being. We look nothing like the people here. That also goes for the gadgets, too. If we show those off, someone's going to start paying attention to us."

"Yes, ma'am," Meiko said, sarcastically. "How about something we don't know?"

"Okay, how's this?" Gumi said, and my user interface lit up. My map pointed out a location of a large building that sat a few kilometers away from us.

"I've figured out from here that this is a Connection Service Administration archival facility. Open to the public, but we might need to break into it."

"Any particular reason that's of interest?" Miku asked. "If it's open to the public, why not just waltz in there and take our time?"

"Because there's specific archives that only C.S.A. members can gain access to. Several references to 'foreigners' keep popping up on the C.S.F. 's security comms, and I want to know who they're talking about. Besides, I wouldn't have us break in if it were public info; I could just as easily nab that from here."

"So, how do we get access to it?" Miku asked. "And do all of us need to be going in there?"

"Yes to your second question," Gumi said. "As for how we'll get in, we can sneak in once they close up tonight. We just need to get over there. We can spend our time today learning about Connection as a whole while we wait for it."

"So," Miku said, turning to Luka, "can we relax a little bit?"

Luka's head rolled, almost as if she was rolling her eyes.

"Yes," Gumi stood up, "I'd say we have some time to 'relax.' But I wouldn't mind seeing how Connection acts as a civilization up close. It'd be perfect for my research."

At the mention of it, my stomach growled. Everyone turned and looked at me.

"And it looks like someone here could use something to eat."

"I remember you said something about a 'virtual meal' a while back. Will it keep me awake?"

"Should," Gumi said. "Mostly assuming that whoever was here before us probably spent days or even months before needing to return home, they probably needed to eat something."

I nodded. Gumi clearly had been doing her homework on this place, but it was all theory. But she definitely had been thinking about this for a good long while, so I trusted her on it. Besides, I was too hungry to disagree.

"Then we better get going," Gumi said, "make sure you're all disguised and keep your hands off your guns. Understood?"

We all agreed, and made our way down from the hotel back on to the main street.

The plaza down below bustled as the residents of Connection moved from place to place within the plaza. The plaza itself had two floors; with one that stayed at street level, and another below the ground. The two floors ran in parallel, with bright blue lights and dancing holograms that advertised products. It was much more impressive up close seeing how people were dazzled by something like this.

It wasn't all that different from home, though. I remembered when I had gone to the mall and shopping centers that technology like this was starting to enter into the public. Electronic billboards that caught your attention weren't anything new, but this felt less like advertising, and was more like entertainment.

Around us were plenty of C.S.F. officers, though they wore white and blue uniforms and had less in the way of armor. They looked lighter than the ones we had seen last night. Their weapons were much smaller and lighter. It seemed as if they had a small collapsible baton and a handgun that held a very cubic shape to it.

I wondered then, if Duodecim had been deploying security like this for a while too, and also thought how I had managed to go so long not knowing that they existed. I guess that was the luxury of growing up in such an isolated situation; you didn't really see much of the outside world. You had your home and that was it.

Things were different now, however. As much as I wanted to look over the dazzling lights, we had bigger priorities to attend to.

We walked forward through the shopping plaza towards a big box that had a glowing screen on it. It showcased a wide array of food products on it. When I walked up to it, it showed a video of myself eating that product instead, though it featured me with glowing skin, and my eyes were white dots.

I stepped back a little bit, and it changed to be Gumi instead, but it didn't have her with glowing skin, but instead with a grey metallic body, with the blue veins running throughout his body.

"Fascinating," Gumi said, "I guess this place is reading off the Watcher's biometric data that was fed into them."

"How do you know it's the Watchers?" I asked, walkin back over to the vending machine.

"Well, it was how I managed to figure out how to get past most of the C.S.F.'s security gates. The Watchers already have a way to spoof that data and make it look legitimate."

I picked a random beverage and food item and let it dispense, watching as my clone performed a dance whilst holding both items in his hands. It was uncanny, and kind of embarrassing to watch.

"That seems so unlike you," Miku said. "They've got your likeness all wrong."

I nodded and grabbed the items, and walked away as soon as I could, following behind the rest towards the archive building. I inspected the foodstuff that I had just gotten my hands on, and noticed the package was just a cube, with "EAT" written at the top of it. It wasn't the most original packaging I'd ever seen, but I wasn't going to argue with it right now. I opened it up, and saw a stack of glowing cubes inside. I grabbed one, and pulled my mask aside just enough to eat one.

"Bottoms up," I said. "Unless one of you guys wants to taste test it first."

"You should be fine," Gumi assured me. "It should be edible for the most part."

Thanks, Gumi, you're wonderful at making a guy feel like he's making a good decision.

I popped the cube into my mouth, and felt like it was mostly flavorless. Mostly because it still had this weird, gummy texture to it. It reminded me of something like a gummy bear or something. Then it started to taste like that as I chewed on it.

"How's it taste?" Miku asked as she watched me eat.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Not sure," I said. "It tasted almost like nothing until I thought about it."

I popped another in, and thought about eggs while I ate it. Suddenly, I could taste the flavor of scrambled eggs.

"That's so weird," I said.

"What is it?" Gumi stopped. "Is it actually good?"

I explained what was going on.

"Huh," Gumi said,"that is strange, but it certainly makes things easier for you."

"It does," I said, putting another into my mouth. This time, thinking of it tasting like a delicious stack of pancakes.

"I think I just found out what heaven is," I said, letting out a pleased chuckle. "This might be the best thing I've found in a while."

"And what on Earth did you imagine it tasted like this time?" Miku teased, almost as if it implied something else.

"It just- tasted like really good pancakes!" I argued, flustered.

"Jeez," Miku doted, "it seems like you're a little defensive there, mister."

I groaned.

"It's fine," Miku said, giggling. "I'll trust you this time."

As much as her teasing left me feeling embarrassed, I couldn't help but crack a smile. Miku liked to tease, and she knew she could get away with it. It's part of the reason why I liked her.

I offered one to Miku, "you want to give one a try?"

"Sure," Miku said, pulling her mask to the side and popping the cube into her mouth. Shortly after, she let out a satisfied moan. I glared at her.

"And… what exactly did you taste?" I asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she teased, nudging me with her elbow.

"Hey, you two lovebirds!" Meiko yelled. "Stop flirting and get over here or you're being left behind!"

"Whoops," Miku shrugged. "I'll tell you later, come on!"

We walked over, quickly, to catch up with everyone.

"Stay in front of us," Meiko ordered, "I would hate for you two to duck behind somewhere to make out."

"Sorry," I shrugged.

"I'm not!" Miku said. "He's fun to tease."

I rolled my eyes, but kept my smile. "You could probably keep this up all day, couldn't you?"

"Probably," Miku said. "It's fun."

I finished eating and kept the drink saved in case I felt thirsty enough for it, and continued onward until we got close enough to the archive building. I felt full of energy and ready to take on the day after this.

Once we had arrived near the archive building, the atmosphere felt like it had changed. Instead of a bustling city life, it felt more contained and proper. Less chaotic and more organized. The people that came and went felt as if they did so out of obligation. Feeling less carefree and more following a line.

Since we weren't in the shopping district, though, that was always going to be a given, but it felt like this particular section of the city was dedicated to more business, less recreation. Aerial vehicles flew overhead, while vehicles came to pick up or drop off people. It seemed as if no one here actually drove anything themselves. Occasionally someone would park a vehicle that was driven by them, but it was rare. Was it just expensive to own a vehicle or was it just easier to have someone do it for you?

We passed by two more C.S.F. units that carried batons. I tried not to keep my eyes on them as they walked along their patrol, but they were a little intimidating.

Gumi sent me a warning over the radio. "I wouldn't recommend staring at them too long. The last thing you need is for them to start questioning you."

I turned my attention away from the two security officers. They seemed preoccupied with something else, but it wouldn't hurt to keep from bringing any attention to us if we could help it.

"We're getting close," Gumi announced. "Once I can take a look at the exterior, we can focus on doing some other research while we're over here."

We walked towards the archival building. It sat at a corner of a three way street. Standing about twelve stories high, and was connected by walkways that led into other buildings. It looked like this was the place, and seeing it up close, it looked like it had a lot sitting inside of it.

More C.S.F. vans drove by, almost as if it was a convoy. I turned over to Gumi, who must have also seen it.

"Should we be worried?" Miku asked. "Usually if you start seeing police around, it means something's going on."

"Nothing on the C.S.F.'s communications as far as I can tell," Gumi said. "But they seem to be sending a bunch around. Maybe it's just our imagination."

"I wouldn't shake that," Meiko said, "leave nothing to chance."

It was starting to take a strange turn. Gumi tuned to the C.S.F.'s private channel, and shared the broadcast with us.

"Detected bad sector in district seven," a feminine voice said. "Foreigner activity within archive building. All C.S.F. units be advised."

"Within?" Miku cocked her head. "Are they talking about us?"

"I'm not sure," Gumi said. "If they're talking about us, we need to get out of here as soon as we can."

"What about the archive?" Luka asked. "Shouldn't we get that as soon as possible?"

"I'm wondering, if there's someone inside, there's a possibility someone is after the same thing."

"Then we can't risk losing it," Meiko said. "We'll sneak in if we have to."

"Problem is they might be waiting for us. If they already know we're here, we don't really have much of a choice. We'll be walking into an ambush."

"Guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Meiko said.

The C.S.F. started sending out a broadcast to the area we were standing in. The area's lights turned red, with warning signs plastered about.

"The Connection Service Administration is advising all residents to vacate the premises immediately. Please contact your nearest Connection Security Force Safety Representative if you require help in vacating. Once again, the Connection Service Administration is placing this area on lockdown."

"Guess we don't have a choice," Gumi said. "If they're after us, we might as well make it hard for 'em."

We ran towards the archive building, doing our best to sneak in. Whatever it was that was going on, we needed to be careful. Something wasn't right, that much was clear, but I was wondering what was really going on here.

We'd find out. We just had to watch our footing getting there.

We snuck around to an entrance on the side. Two sentries were posted, their weapons trained as the archive facility was secured at all points by the security teams. They seemed to have surrounded the facility, securing every possible entrance to prevent whatever it was that was holed up in there. And keep prying eyes from going in as well.

"They keep referencing a 'foreign entity,'" Gumi said, listening into the radio chatter. "There's no description of it, but it apparently tripped their alarm once we got here. I guess we picked the right day to come skulking."

"Any idea if they mean us?" I asked.

"No, it seems to be just one. And it seems to already be inside. If it were us, they wouldn't hesitate to surround the facility we're trying to enter."

Luka took a good look at the two sentries, and came up with a plan.

"Hey, Griff," Luka said, "you still have that drink?"

"Sure," I said, "was planning on finishing it a little later."

"We can get you another later. I have an idea."

She held her hand out to me, and I gave her the drink.

"Nothing like a little noise," Luka said, throwing the drink towards the sentries, "to cause a little bit of a stir."

One of the sentries walked over to where the drink had landed. Luka ran over behind the wall, and took cover behind it.

"Meiko," Luka motioned, "you take the other one when I give the signal."

Meiko crouched behind the wall we sat behind.

"I'll be happy if we can do this without an alert," said Gumi.

Luka knocked against the wall she was sitting behind, and got the other officer's attention. He walked over to it, and Luka grabbed him immediately, throwing him to the ground and slamming her fist into his face.

"That should keep him out for a while," Luka said, shaking her hand.

"Guess I'm up," Meiko said, and ran over to the officer. He didn't have time to react as she tackled him right into the floor. Followed by taking his gun out of his hands and bashed him with it.

"You guys are quick," I commented.

"You kind of have to be," Miku added.

Gumi cut off our conversation. "Let's not waste time, if we don't get after whatever's broken in there, we might not find anything at all."

I nodded, and we moved into the archive building.

Once we were inside, we had to keep quiet. The C.S.F. were rushing through the halls of the facility trying to find the intruder. Their focus seemed trained on an area lower in the facility.

The C.S.F. had already swarmed the lobby and occupied the facility. We may have gotten in but there was so much ground left to cover.

Luka and Meiko hugged against the wall. Gumi held her hand to her ear and listened in.

"Sounds like… They're trying to corner the drone. Hmm, wonder why."

Meiko looked over at Gumi for a quick second.

Gumi sprang up immediately after, sharing the chatter between all of us.

"We just got hit at rear garage two!" One of the C.S.F. screamed. "It's three intruders. They're rushing through. Need backup!"

"Three intruders?" Meiko asked. "What's going on here? Are they part of Unity's Hand or something? Duodecim?"

"Not sure," Gumi said, "but they just showed up. Started drawing attention from the C.S.F., I say we use that to our advantage."

Meiko shook her head. "Sounds like a coincidence. I don't like this. Could be a trap."

"Could also be an opportunity," Gumi shot back, "and we're already in here. No turning back."

We moved ahead into the facility, keeping quiet, though with how the security officers were rushing around, I don't think they would take time to notice us.

We moved further into the offices section. It was empty. Almost as if no one was home to begin with. The work stations were all neat and orderly and none were left on. They were all powered off. If people were still in here with an evacuation order. I'd imagine that it would at least look a little chaotic if everyone had been told to leave.

Did anyone work here? Or was it all for show?

It didn't matter. I could think about it later. For now, we moved through the offices and headed towards a nearby elevator.

"We need to head to the lower floors, so, might as well take the quickest way down," Gumi said, tapping the button.

The elevator didn't open.

"Well," Meiko said, "guess we have another option."

Meiko gripped her fingers into the slit in the elevator door, and pulled them apart. She let out a loud grunt.

As the door opened, the sounds of gunfire rang through the elevator shaft. I took a peek down below and noticed the facility stretched further down than just the three stories it seemed to occupy.

The combat seemed to be happening on one floor, but whoever it was, they were moving quick.

"Seems like we've only got one option," Gumi said. "Get your MAG-gloves ready."

I extended my fingers, and attached it to the wall of the elevator shaft.

"Getting some fond memories doing this," Miku said. "Kind of glad I'm with friends this time."

I looked over at Miku as she climbed in.

"Hey," Gumi said, following in after her, "you had me to keep an eye on you."

"True," Miku said, "it's just kind of nice to have someone here with you physically, y'know?"

I cracked a smile underneath my mask. We kept climbing down while the fighting continued.

Once we reached the bottom, the fighting had ceased. It seemed to have been following us all the way down. But once we made it to the very bottom of the elevator shaft, things seemed to have quieted down.

"Count ourselves lucky," Luka said, "we managed to miss out on all the fun here."

"Dunno if I'd call that 'lucky,'" Meiko said. "I wanted to kick some ass."

Meiko grabbed the elevator doors, and pried them open once again. We climbed inside, and were greeted by a grim, but familiar sight.

"C.S.F. officers," Meiko said, "someone took 'em out."

I crouched down to check the body of one of them. Their remains were starting to decay, with blue strips floating off of them. There were a series of bullet holes in them. The ones who attacked were fast and efficient.

"Looks way too familiar," I said. "Like I've seen this before."

"Because it is," Meiko said. "Found one here, looks like you all might want to check this out."

We all moved to look over her findings. The C.S.F. officer she found had a giant wound in their chest. It looked like a knife wound.

"Feel familiar?"

I nodded.

"Looks like our friend from the Duodecim base came back. Maybe we'll finally find out who it is."

"Might wanna change into our suits if we're going to see action," Gumi suggested. "It was easier to get in wearing our attire, but since we're so far down here, we should actually get our combat attire ready."

We followed her advice, and changed. Though we didn't have our guns, we made use of the ones left behind by the deceased officers.

"Hey, I think I found something!" Miku said.

I looked over at Miku who was pointing towards an open door. We stood up and carefully made our way inside.

"Might be an ambush," Meiko said.

"Or what we're looking for," Gumi added. "Come on, we're running out of time."

We moved inside, and noticed immediately what was waiting for us.

Lying right by a console was another body. It was ripped open, and had a large sharp glowing blade inside of it's cranium. It wasn't a C.S.F. member.

"You know what that is?" Gumi asked.

Meiko looked at her, and nodded. "Yep. That's a Duodecim drone, no doubting it. An Infiltrator unit in fact."

"An Infiltrator?" I asked. "Jeez, what a mess."

"Yeah," Meiko said. "And it looked like it was trying to access the terminal here."

Gumi laid her hands on the terminal, but Meiko grabbed her.

"Nuh-uh-uh," Meiko said. "Hold on."

"What are you doing, Meiko?" Luka asked. "This is what we came for, isn't it?"

Meiko grabbed at something that sat next to the terminal. It looked like the same storage device we recovered from the old ransacked facility.

"Yeah, I know, but it looked like someone already did the work for us, didn't they, Gumi?"

Gumi stepped back a little bit.

Meiko tucked the device away, and approached Gumi.

"Something wasn't adding up to me, and now I know why."

"What are you talking about, Meiko?" I asked.

"I just want to know, Gumi. Earlier you mentioned that there was a drone in here. Just how did you know that?"

"I mean, I was just making an educated guess-"

"Educated? Or was it because you knew?"

"What are you accusing Gumi of, Meiko?" Luka stepped in.

"I'm just wondering, Gumi, did you happen to know something about all of this and you're not telling us? And if so, why aren't you?"

Gumi didn't answer.

"Please tell us, Gumi," Luka pleaded. "If you're hiding something, we need to know."

"Okay," Gumi said, defeated, "it looks like you were all going to find out eventually."

I clenched my teeth. Whatever Gumi was hiding, it must have been big.

Meiko continued. "It was the same with the Stargazer Base message. Something about the base we gave to the Rangers. Someone was in contact with you, but I want to know for how long."

"Okay," Gumi nodded. "Looks like you had this on your mind for a while."

"Things just didn't add up. So, who are they?"

"I wouldn't bother pressuring her, Miss Sakine," a voice spoke from above us. We all looked up, and trained our guns towards it.

"Trust me," the voice said. It sounded Russian. "I mean no harm to your group."

He landed from the floor above us, and two others were behind him. They were all wearing light armor and their faces were covered by helmets.

"And just who are you?" Meiko asked, keeping herself in front of us.

"The same person who's been in contact with Miss Megpoid, as you might have guessed."

"I wouldn't know," Meiko shot back. "But if you're not giving me a name, I might start to have concerns."

"Dimitri," he answered, and took off his helmet. He looked to be about David's age, with black hair, and his face was human. He wasn't from Interspace.

"Looks like we have plenty to go over," Meiko said.

"I would advise against that," Dimitri said. "More C.S.F. are going to be on the way soon."

"How do we know we can trust you?" I said. "You just showed up, what are you playing at?"

"Because Duodecim needs to be stopped at any cost," Dimitri said.

"And the box you gave us?" Meiko said.

"Information that is vital for your investigation."

I looked over at Gumi, and back at Dimitri.

"Let me ask you something," I said.

Dimitri looked over at me. "There isn't much time, but go ahead."

"I just want to know; was that you in the Dudoecim base we stormed?"

"Yes," he answered, and pulled out another blade from a holster in his chest. It was a large machete. It looked like one from Earth, given that it didn't have a glow to it.

"And were you the one who gave us that data?"

"Correct."

"Final question. Are you the reason Gumi found the underground base back on Earth?"

A brief pause.

"Yes. Which is why we're giving you this. We believe all of you are capable of taking on Duodecim."

"And I knew you wouldn't take this well if I told you all up front," Gumi added. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Look, we can talk about this after we get out of here," Luka said. "If the C.S.F. are on their way, we need to find a way out of here."

"Not to worry," Dimitri said, signaling his two subordinates, "we have a way out. You go on ahead."

"What about you three?" asked Miku.

"We'll find our way out," Dimitri replied. "Not to worry, we'll be in touch, but right now you all need to find a safe place to go. There's plenty of blindspots in Connection's security, I trust Gumi can find them."

"Any way out of here for us?"

Almost on cue, Dimitri's two subordinates opened a hatch in the room.

"We've got a route for you. If you trust us, that is."

"We don't really have much of a choice," Meiko said. "If this is a setup for an ambush, we're gunning for you."

"Then you've nothing to worry about," Dimitri assured us. "Just get out of here safely."

I looked at Dimitri as he put his helmet back on.

"We'll meet again," he said.

As we entered into the hatch, the three of them would disappear almost into thin air. Though it was more likely they had turned invisible. Once all of us were inside, the hatch closed.

"Looks like we made some new friends," Miku said. "They seem nice!"

Meiko shook her head. "Right now we're in a tunnel heading to a place that might be an ambush from the security forces. Might as well start hoping they're on our side."

"Don't worry," Gumi said, moving ahead of the rest of us, "they are."

"And when we get back, we're going to have a nice long chat, Gumi," Meiko said.

"Let's get out of here first," Luka said. "The C.S.F. are going to send more reinforcements. Best to lay low for a while until things cool off. I'll take Dimitri's advice and see about those 'blindspots' he mentioned."

"Will do," Gumi said.

----------------------------------------

Dimitri and his team stood at the top of a building's roof and watched as a new team of C.S.F. moved to investigate the raided archive building. He looked over at his two subordinates working under him.

"Sven, Krescher," Dimitri said, looking over at them, "is everything in order?"

"Reading it now," Sven said, "looks like we've got your friends making their way back to a safe spot."

The drive that Dimitri had given them was reading their position.

"You think they trust us?" Krescher asked.

"If they don't, that data we gave them isn't going to do much," Sven said.

Dimitri watched as the C.S.F. made their patrols. They looked like ants from where he was.

Dimitri stood up.

"I think they'll trust us," Dimitri said, confidently. "We did what we had to do."

"Question is, are they going to trust each other after this?" Sven looked down at the city next to Dimitri.

"Not our concern. Our job is done.."

"Sure hope you're right, boss," Krescher said. "Command is telling us to pull out. It's in their hands now."

Dimitri stood up. "Then our work is done."

"You still worried about Duodecim taking over this city?" Sven asked.

"They're already in the city. Depends on if they'll try to go further."

"The Dome got overtaken by them," Sven warned. "Shouldn't we do something about that?"

"No," Dimitri said, "unless otherwise instructed. We pull back and await orders."

Krescher threw up his hands. "Alright. You're the boss."

The three slinked away off the top of the building and headed north towards the forest. Dimitri looked back for a second,

----------------------------------------

We managed to escape from the commotion by retreating underground. The area we were in now was crowded, full of wires that ran through the underground. Seemingly stretching throughout the entire city. From the looks of it, energy pulsated throughout every ten seconds or so, keeping the city alive.

It was a tight squeeze, sure, but it also seemed as if no one had followed us down here. For the most part, we were safe. At least, as safe as we could feel. There was still the matter of Gumi to attend to, and I could tell the air was as tense as this place was claustrophobic.

"So," Meiko said, standing herself against the wall. "When were you intending to tell us about your friends?"

"It was on my list," Gumi said, "look, we got the data we were looking for. We know Duodecim is here. Mission accomplished, right?"

"Mission not accomplished," Luka shot back, her voice direct and frustrated. "You were doing this behind us! Why are you working with these people? And why didn't you tell us!?"

"Well, that's the thing," Gumi said. "It wasn't ever one incident that got me in contact with them."

Meiko cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Gumi relaxed a little, "the thing is, I got into contact with these people a little before you ever showed up, Meiko."

Miku and I looked at each other, exchanging glances.

"Could you perhaps elaborate on that?" Miku asked.

Gumi looked at the two of us. Overhead, an airship flew by with a searchlight overhead.

"We've got plenty of time to spare," Miku said. "Until all of this settles down, we might be here a while."

"Well, okay," Gumi said. "Do you guys know how we escaped?"

Miku and I sat down.

"No," Miku said. "I was asleep through most of it. I still don't really know what happened, or how I ended up where I was, do you?"

"I do," Gumi said. "It might be good to tell you what happened, then."

Gumi sat down, along with Meiko and Luka, and began to explain just what exactly happened that caused her to side with a third party, and how each of them were able to escape all in one night.