A.N. Praise me! Double Chaps today! Thank LostSoldier1 for giving me the motivation to finish the latest advance chapter. (Also the joke is funnier, you will see)
Helheim smelled like burnt ozone and sterilized steel. A hum pulsed through the floor, a quiet rhythm that echoed in the back of my skull.
I rested my palm against the glass of the observation window. Beyond it, rows of suspended components, machines, weapons, and even biological samples glowed faintly blue, fragments of failed experiments, catalogued and forgotten.
So this was where the next act would begin.
"Cocolia," I muttered under my breath. "You really couldn't save yourself, could you?"
Cocolia had been pushed out of Anti Entropy, it had eventually come to light through investigation of the former ME corp headquarters and through various actions taken by Cocolia, that the eruption had been intentional.
Tesla and Einstein had attempted to have her arrested, to stand trial. The radical faction was quick to pin all blame to Cocolia, saying that Cocolia's actions were completely independent.
Welt, at Tesla and Einstein's insistence, had finally grown enough of a backbone to kick Cocolia out of Anti Entropy, however, Cocolia had managed to run away before Tesla and Einstein could have their revenge.
Her body was found several months later. Presumably killed by the World Serpent.
That meant that she would no longer be present for the "Story", I would have to handle it myself.
This next act would require quite a bit of setup, most of it, almost fully complete.
Only a few things remained.
There was another problem caused by the butterfly effect. Welt Yang hadn't been trapped in the Sea of Quanta. Apparently, Einstein was studying Imaginary Energy instead of the research into the Sea of Quanta she had been doing in the original timeline.
The Eye of the Deep.
Almost fully repaired by Schicksal in secret, I had only known the general location, it had taken quite some effort to find.
It was a way of removing Welt from the equation during the upcoming events, and it was also needed to set up Bronya as the next Herrscher of reason.
The World Serpent always tried to manipulate others, like Cocolia, but this time they would get a taste of their own medicine.
The preparations on the Eye of the Deep were almost complete. But first, I was here to check up on the other preparations.
A technician brushed past me, mumbling a greeting. I didn't bother acknowledging him. My attention was on the reports scrolling across the terminal, updates from the Oceania Branch. Or rather, what was left of it.
The artificial Herrscher project there had been quietly terminated, officially for "resource reallocation." In truth, it was because the World Serpent, even with Cocolia's absence, had been gunning for all the Herrscher gems all the more heavily.
The Artificial Herrscher experiment with the Gem of Desire was a complete waste of resources. It was no longer needed for Otto to find the method for awakening a Herrscher with humanity, the 3rd eruption had created one all on its own. In addition, I had confirmed with Otto exactly how to awaken Sirin from within Kiana, and then get Kiana back.
While an extra Herrscher fighting for humanity sounded nice, it had an extremely high chance of failure. One couldn't become a Herrscher without invoking extreme negative emotions, and that would undoubtedly lead to a Herrscher that hated Schicksal, just like in the original.
In addition, Wendy, if she became a Herrscher fighting for humanity, would undoubtedly join the "St. Freya" side in the upcoming conflict, pushing the scales a little too much.
The Gem of Desire was currently locked up where World Serpent couldn't get their grubby little mittens on it, at the newly established Schicksal Lunar Outpost.
In fact, Wendy was one of the few Valkyries assigned to the Lunar Outpost, just in case the Will of Honkai still had plans for her.
Of the four Herrscher Gems, three were safely under Schicksal's control.
The Gem of Desire, locked away at the Lunar Outpost.
The Gem of Serenity, reclaimed after the Moon Shadow incident, also now sitting at the Lunar Outpost.
The Gem of Haste, here, in Helheim.
Of course, the Gem of Conquest was still embedded into Mei.
Besides the Eye of the Deep, there were three other pieces that needed to be in place for the awakening of Sirin.
All of them were theoretically complete.
Pulling up the incident report on the Moon Shadow incident, and Dr. Magi.
He had been brilliant, that was beyond a doubt, but brilliance without restraint was just recklessness dressed up as genius. Magi had sacrificed dozens of Valkyries for his experiments on the Gem of Serenity, killing almost all of them in the process.
Finally, Otto had enough of his wastefulness. He approved Dr. Magi's own daughter's request to participate in the next round of experiments.
His daughter had trusted him more than he trusted himself. When he saw her name on the transfer list he exploded.
He had been furious, desperate, half-mad from guilt. Convincing him to defect hadn't been difficult. I merely had to give his anger a direction, pointing all the blame at Otto. Anti-Entropy's conservative faction had been attempting to recruit me due to Siegfried and my Path Energy, trying to get me to defect or leave Schicksal for quite some time. I kept telling them I would consider it.
They were eager for any scientist who could give them leverage over both Schicksal and the radicals. Magi took the Gem of Serenity with him when he fled, and I made sure Tesla and Einstein believed I had arranged his defection, which I actually had, just with Otto's knowledge and approval. The story earned me considerable goodwill among Anti-Entropy's leadership.
In truth, Magi hadn't lasted long under their protection. World Serpent wanted the Gem to trigger another artificial eruption, while the radicals, desperate for relevance after Cocolia had nearly driven them into the ground, attempted to capture him. They succeeded, with World Serpent's help.
Otto and I had ensured that through it all, Magi remained useful. Schicksal had undercover operatives in both the conservative and radical factions, waiting for one thing: the completion of the HSN-B46 serum.
And he delivered.
After the serum was finished, Otto dispatched Fu Hua and Kiana to recover the sample and the Gem of Serenity. The events of Moon Shadow played out much as expected: Sirin awakened after World Serpent tampered with the Gem, only to be defeated by Fu Hua. The Gem and sample was secured.
Dr. Magi, just like in the original, succumbed to Honkai corruption during the incident. A fate he entirely deserved.
When everything was said and done, the HSN-B46 serum was acquired, and used to create the Spear of Destiny.
Only two more pieces remained.
I closed the report, the screen dimming to black. The faint hum of Helheim's power grid filled the silence, each pulse of the conduits like a slow heartbeat. Continuing only a short distance down the hall, I turned and entered an unmarked door.
Entering the spacious lab, Dr Nagamitsu was already waiting beside the pedestal. Vermilion Knight Eclipse lay at its center, suspended within the stasis field. It had been tailored for Himeko, without her knowledge of its existence of course. Otto Apocalypse was sitting in a chair, with another sitting besides it.
Otto waved me over, and I walked over and sat in the chair next to Otto.
"Version 3.2," Nagamitsu said, her voice carrying a mixture of pride and exhaustion. "It has been significantly altered from the original base design of the Key of Blankness. While it was fully functional, it was never very practical in terms of usability. All subsystems are finally working, and final tests are all showing positive.
A holographic screen was suspended in the air around the battlesuit, with labels for specific subsystems and critical parts.
Nagamitsu continued her showcase of the Vermilion Knight battlesuit, showing slide after slide of information about its performance characteristics and capabilities. It was extremely boring, for the most part.
After the presentation was over, Otto turned to me and said "With this and project HC42, everything is in place. All the threads we've been weaving are beginning to converge."
The final piece.
"I have yet to see the result of HC42." I said.
Otto smiled, "The lab is next door to this one, of course, the Vermilion Knight Eclipse will be moved to a more central location before the plan is executed."
Following Otto up and through the door, walking down the hallway, and into a large room with an opaque tank sitting at its center.
Moving over to the controls, Otto pressed a button, and the tank glass suddenly became transparent, revealing a rather familiar face suspended within.
They had long flowing red hair and orange eyes, with purple lines running across their face and down their arms and body. Across their back, an artificial stigmata consisting of a sword flanked on both sides by wings.
"Of course, the clone is non-sentient, however, that matters little, it is still biologically active. For now." Otto spoke up.
Yes, floating in the tank was a clone of Murata Himeko, eroded to all hell and almost dead.
"We cannot afford to make another Vermilion Knight Eclipse. However, the Lunar Outpost has had several sets of battlesuit suit up equipment. Once you retrieve her, you can use your Path Energy to restore her condition, and equip the battlesuit on the Clone, before returning the body."
After that, Himeko would have to stay on Lunar Outpost, away from Theresa and the others, especially Kiana.
Until Kiana became the Herrscher of Flamescion, and Kolosten, she would have to believe that Murata Himeko was dead.
After that, well, I had a few plans up my sleeve for helping Kiana embrace Finality as soon as possible. Of course, I wouldn't exactly be around to see how they played out, but according to Su, they improved the success rate of most possible futures.
I could also use Himeko to leave a message for Kiana and the others after I left.
But for now, Himeko had to 'die' for Kiana's growth, as the future Herrscher of Finality, she needed to realize just how serious the Honkai really was.
Like the song says.
If I have never known the sore of farewell and pain of sacrifices
What else should I engrave on my mind?
I turned to Otto, no doubt he had been keeping close watch, but I told him anyway, "The Eye of the Deep is fully restored, only final checks are left. World Serpent has not interfered, no doubt they hope we will release Kevin from the Sea of Quanta accidentally."
"We do not have a guarantee from them for cooperation in exchange from the 'Beacon'." Otto noted.
This was seemingly a sore point with Otto, World Serpent had managed to continuously evade his search efforts, and even his attempts at contact.
"It is not strictly necessary for now. You are still Kevin's greatest obstacle, he will confront you eventually. In addition, it's not like we are planning on releasing Kevin right away, I bet there will be plenty of situations in which you encounter operatives of the World Serpent." I was of course referring to Arc City.
"Are you sure that Welt Yang will so easily fall into your trap?" Otto asked.
"I have built up a good reputation with Tesla and Einstein. After all, I helped Dr. Magi defect, in addition, I also stopped the research and production of clones of Welt Joyce. This was extremely important to them."
"How will you ensure that Welt Yang goes to the Eye of the Deep on his own?"
"I plan on pinning it all on you, saying that you have a defense system based on the power of corruption, so they can't bring mechas. The pioneer, Su, warned you that Kevin was extremely dangerous, and has a plan that will cause the death of 99.98% of the global population in order to defeat the Honkai, but you continue to proceed with experiments. The strongest MANTIS warrior of the previous era. Who else would they send?" I noted.