"Ha! I really am something."
Learning that Black Shores, like Jinzhou, was an organization her past self had founded, and one with this kind of global reach, the female Rover planted both hands on her hips and allowed herself a small moment of pride.
At the same time, a thought tugged at her. If both Black Shores and Jinzhou were hers, were there other forces she'd built scattered across Solaris-3? What on earth had her past self been doing?
And with all that power behind her...
Why had she lost her memories in the first place?
It's like some heiress who doesn't want to inherit billions, so she runs away from home to experience life on her own terms. He grinned. Just kidding. But seriously, you're incredible.
"You have always been the most remarkable person I know," Shorekeeper agreed softly.
"Ahem. Keep going. Don't stop."
Warmth and a giddy kind of pride bubbled up inside her, and she knew it was precisely because the praise came from these two that it landed so squarely.
In any case, Shorekeeper made it clear: if they wished to join Black Shores, no tests were required. No evaluations, no trials. For the two of them, joining was less an application and more a homecoming.
I want Black Shores to be your home. I will make it your home. So...
A memory surfaced, the secret those two had already forgotten.
Shorekeeper's small hands tightened at her sides. She chose not to speak it.
The same conclusion the electronic ghost still residing at Startorch Academy had reached. Shorekeeper, too, refused to give voice to that secret. If they'd forgotten, then let it stay forgotten.
Sometimes, forgetting was its own kind of mercy.
"Shorekeeper? Hey, Shorekeeper, are you okay?"
"Hm? I'm sorry. It's nothing."
The butterfly girl had frozen in place, and both Rovers were waving a hand in front of her face with matching concern. Shorekeeper blinked back to the present and shook her head, then addressed them both.
"I understand what you need. This is the highest administrative access to Black Shores, the authority you once entrusted to my keeping. I can return it to you now. Every resource will be at your disposal."
She raised a hand toward their Pangu Terminals.
Two luminous butterflies emerged, each alighting on a Terminal. Both devices flickered in rapid succession, then chimed.
[Highest clearance detected. Identity confirmed. Welcome back, Chief Administrator. You have been reconnected to the Tethys System. All functions are now available. How may I assist you?]
Their eyes went wide in unison.
The Terminals had already been remarkably useful tools. Now they'd undergone a transformation. The most advanced supercomputer on all of Solaris-3 had linked directly into their devices. Centuries of accumulated data, accessible with a thought.
And beyond data: the entirety of Black Shores' personnel, materiel, and funding, all of it theirs to command. The two Rovers stared at each other, the same stunned realization dawning on both faces. The billion-heir analogy wasn't a joke anymore.
"Well then," he said, "we won't hold back."
"Deploy all available resources. Support Jinzhou against the Threnodian."
[Directive received. Executing. Directive transmitted to all Black Shores member terminals. Currently available: 59 Consultants, 323 Bloom Bearers, support personnel...]
The flat, emotionless voice of the Tethys System streamed from their Terminals, already carrying out the orders of its two Chief Administrators with ruthless efficiency.
"So, can they make it in time?"
A fair question. He'd said the Threnodian could awaken as soon as tomorrow. Black Shores sounded impressive, but could they physically reach Jinzhou in a single day?
"Yes." Shorekeeper smiled and nodded. "With me here, it can be done."
As the Second Instance, her Authority over space was formidable. It dwarfed even a certain Fractsidus Overseer currently working a sewing machine in prison to level up his tailoring skill. No line-of-sight requirement. No distance cap. Give Shorekeeper the coordinates, and she could teleport an army to any corner of Solaris-3.
That was the real purpose behind the information anchor points Black Shores had planted worldwide. They weren't only for collecting Lament data. They were coordinate markers, set in advance so that in a crisis, Shorekeeper could deploy spatial support instantly.
True teleportation points.
"That's incredible," the female Rover breathed.
Now she understood completely why her partner had sought Shorekeeper out. An organization her past self had built, packed with cutting-edge technology, elite personnel, and terrifying efficiency. With Black Shores backing Jinzhou, their odds had skyrocketed.
Thousands of miles away, on the remote archipelago where Black Shores was headquartered, every member on base had gone rigid.
"Holy... look at who issued this support directive!"
"Tethys System, Shorekeeper, and the Black Shores Leader?!"
"We actually have a Leader?!"
"And Shorekeeper... even she's surfaced!"
Across the sci-fi sprawl of structures built on black volcanic rock, countless members gaped at the messages lighting up their Terminals. Their shock was understandable.
Every mission they'd ever received came through the Tethys System, a supercomputer so advanced it felt like technology from another era entirely, intelligently assigning each member the tasks best suited to their abilities. Shorekeeper, despite spending her days trailing after two Rovers, was an equally enigmatic figure. Most members had heard the name. Almost none had seen her face.
And the Leader of Black Shores...
That was the stuff of legend. All anyone knew was that the Leader had supposedly set out to save the world alone, centuries ago.
Now all three names, representing the absolute highest authority within the organization, had appeared on the same mission order. Everyone understood instantly that something catastrophic was unfolding.
"The Threnodian in Jinzhou is awakening?! Move! Everyone, assemble!"
"Threnodian of War, Ovathrax. Let me pull up its file and see what we can prep... wait, the Tethys System already compiled a supply list. Someone help me carry this."
"Bring my latest autonomous combat units too!"
"Jinzhou City Hall has transmitted a situational briefing."
The reality of a Threnodian awakening sent ice down every spine, and then the base erupted into motion. More than a few members' eyes blazed red with intensity.
The Leader, Shorekeeper, the Tethys System. Those three names commanded genuine reverence. But even without the directive, the moment any of them learned a Threnodian crisis threatened Jinzhou, they would have gone regardless.
Black Shores had never conscripted anyone. Every person who joined and passed the trials did so willingly, driven by the conviction to stand against the Lament. The organization gave them unity and purpose, but even without it, they would have fought.
Then, from somewhere deep in the base...
A deafening crash.
"Well now, something this fun? You can't leave me out."
A figure in red and white sauntered from the wreckage.
"Camellya?! Weren't you in the medical pod?"
"I discharged myself. Feeling great."
"Great, my ass! You just finished Overclocking! Do you have a death wish?!"
"Someone grab her and shove her back in!"
"Look, if I absolutely have to die, I'd rather it be on a battlefield fighting a Threnodian than turning into fertilizer..."
Every eye in the vicinity twitched at the sight of Camellya climbing out of the medical bay in a hospital gown. She was stunningly beautiful, and sometimes more terrifying than any Tacet Discord alive.
Two days ago, she'd returned from an emergency mission dispatched by the Tethys System and nearly given the entire base a heart attack. She'd left in perfect health. She came back drenched in blood, deep into Overclocking.
They'd shoved her into a medical pod immediately.
The story came out later. A protection mission gone sideways when she'd run into a Fractsidus Overseer. A fight broke out. And as always, the more she fought, the more she lost herself in the thrill, until she'd gone full Overclocking.
"I didn't lose, mind you," she'd said between coughs of blood, a tinge of regret in her voice. "That woman could control Tacet Discords directly. Tricky opponent. But I still put my sword through her chest. Shame it didn't finish her off."
"For the love of... will you please rest?! And how many times have you been in the emergency room this month alone? Can you stop trying so hard to die?!"
The medic assigned to Camellya was on the verge of a breakdown. This battle-obsessed Camellia treated the emergency ward like her living room, showing up every other day, and each time the staff burned through ungodly amounts of effort dragging her back from the brink.
"If anyone in this world can keep that woman in line..."
"I will personally carry a Blake Bloom to their doorstep and beg them to join Black Shores. Please, someone, come handle her."
"This might sound weird, but how is she even alive? Those injuries should have killed anyone."
"Some flowers are awfully tenacious," Camellya had replied from the operating table, still smiling, still chatting. "So tenacious that dying is harder than living, even when you'd welcome it."
The surgeons had stared at her in silence, grateful for the hundredth time that this woman was on their side. With her potential and her personality, it wasn't hard to imagine Fractsidus recruiting her as an Overseer instead.
After a grueling surgery, they'd sealed the maniac inside the medical pod to recover on her own. And now, the instant the mission alert hit, Camellya had kicked the pod door clean off its hinges.
"A Threnodian in Jinzhou? Delightful. I wouldn't miss this for anything. And..." A slow, knowing smile curved her lips. "The Black Shores Leader? Well, well. So that's how it is. What a wonderful surprise, my darling Seed of Fate."
Behind her, the medical staff screamed in unison: "GET BACK HERE!!"