"What do you mean, Shiraha's schizophrenia manifested as a woman, and now that's not even the end of it? Now he's attached to this secondary personality, attached beyond belief?!"
Einstein's head was buzzing.
Anti-Entropy was indeed tolerant. Being based in the Americas for so long, they were quite liberal in many respects.
But wasn't this a bit too liberal for Shiraha?
No one answered. This sort of thing was a little too avant-garde for the three giants of Anti-Entropy, all three of them being thoroughly standard heterosexuals.
In the living room, Welt Yang removed his glasses and slowly polished the lenses with the hem of his shirt. He opened his mouth several times, then closed it again.
"It's not exactly a secondary personality either..." Tesla chose her words carefully. "Mei's original words were 'Shiraha seems to have his freedom restricted by his fierce ghost friend.' But you know how kids exaggerate."
"She's nine." Einstein's voice had calmed. "Nine is old enough to express herself clearly."
Tesla opened her mouth, then shut it again.
"Let's focus on the Siegfried matter first. Shiraha's still young. Maybe he'll understand better when he's older."
Welt put his glasses back on, his voice as gentle as ever, just a bit more helpless this time.
Tesla sighed and looked down at the message Mei had sent last night on her phone screen:
"Doctor, Shiraha's fierce ghost friend bit him again today. His cheek was all red, but he was still smiling."
She flipped the phone face-down on the table and leaned back against the chair.
Honestly... what is all of this even supposed to be?
Early 2007
Shiraha's life had gradually settled into a rhythm. School. The Realm. Home. Dinner. Training. Sleep.
On the third-to-last day of winter break, Shiraha pushed open the window and, with practiced ease, stretched out his hand toward the lonely signpost across the road.
"Bang."
The sound was very soft, like a child playing make-believe.
But on the metal pole of the signpost, a small dent visibly caved inward. A few seconds later, that indentation slowly bulged back out just a little, not fully restored. His progress wasn't fast, but it was noticeable.
Eden-nee's stories are almost all told. Mobius occasionally checks in on me, but she clearly doesn't have any truly malicious intent. The identity of 'Disciple of Origin' carries quite a bit of weight in the Realm.
He paused, then continued his mental narration. Next time, I can try switching to a different sister.
Eden's combat ability wasn't particularly astonishing. Among the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, she was clearly in the lower tier. But Eden-nee was kind, she'd tell Shiraha all sorts of useful information.
And at Shiraha's age, that kind of information was far more useful than combat techniques.
At this moment, Elysia-nee was still sound asleep. Without her anchor nearby, the blanket that had been draped over her was slowly sinking down, though the rather amusing part was: the blanket was slowly pushing Nee-chan upward instead.
He quietly slipped out of the room. The Raiden house during the holidays was relatively quiet. Aside from Uncle Ryoma, who was already up early reading the newspaper or flipping through some documents, there were rarely any outsiders in the house.
"Long time no see, little boy~"
Today, there was an extra presence in the living room, a young woman with fiery red hair and amber-orange eyes, Himeko. A smile spread across her youthful face.
As if sensing something, Shiraha glanced back toward the inside of the house. Elysia-nee was drowsily rubbing her eyes, propping her upper body up with one hand, looking around in a daze.
"Long time no see, Himeko-nee. Mei-nee and I have been waiting for you for a long time."
He bounded down the stairs. A child's body was always brimming with energy, no matter how many things weighed on his mind, he couldn't help but bounce a little when he ran.
"Waiting for me?"
Himeko blinked. Are we that close?
Still, the little boy was pretty cute and handsome. She crouched down to his level. "Your big sister's been pretty busy too, you know. ME Corp's research into Honkai is quite deep. After a whole month, I've only barely managed to fit into the lab atmosphere."
Research deep?
Shiraha paused, Right Himeko's a complete rookie. Everything probably looks "deep" to her.
He first called out a cheerful "Good morning, Uncle Ryoma!" before turning back to Himeko.
"Dr. Einstein said she found an older sister for Mei-nee and me," Shiraha explained, his voice crisp and bright. "So we've been really looking forward to Himeko-nee coming over."
Himeko: ....
Well then. Professor Ein really knows how to pile things onto me, doesn't she? Researching Honkai, saving the world... where exactly am I supposed to find time to look after children?
Her thoughts drifted, but the smile on her face blossomed warmly. "Then these next few days... how about your big sister looks after you?"
Shiraha paused and glanced at Uncle Ryoma. "Is Uncle Ryoma going out for work?"
Ryoma Raiden nodded. "Mm. During this time, you and Mei need to behave at home. Don't go running around and don't let Mei drag you off running around either."
Ryoma Raiden and Siegfried were fairly well-acquainted. He was planning to step in as well.
The collapse of Schicksal's iron grip, every one of Anti-Entropy's old guard was waiting for it.
Including every Executive. Some out of personal desire, some out of righteous cause. Some simply wanted Schicksal's dominance to fall. Others hoped Anti-Entropy would take its place.
"Oh." Shiraha nodded. He looked at Himeko, she smiled. He looked back at Uncle Ryoma again.
"I'll be good. I wish Uncle Ryoma a smooth journey!"
Even Ryoma Raiden's perpetually stern face squeezed out a faint smile. If only Mei were this obedient.
Shiraha didn't know the details, but Uncle Ryoma was clearly in a hurry today. He didn't even wait for Mei to wake up before rushing out of the house.
Shiraha watched him leave.
"Don't worry too much, little guy. Your Uncle Ryoma might even bring you back an older sister and a younger sister this time."
Himeko sat off to the side, one arm draped over the back of the sofa, her long legs crossed, not a trace of ladylike decorum. She'd had at least a little bit of a student-like air back at school.
Shiraha was just about to respond when he froze. "An older sister and a younger sister?"
"I mean, out of all of Anti-Entropy, top to bottom, your place is probably the most suitable for raising kids, isn't it?"
Shiraha opened his mouth, then shut it again.
Ah. He had a feeling he now knew why Anti-Entropy would end up too slow to provide backup this time.
Himeko, a newcomer who'd only joined two months ago, actually knew about something... that was supposed to be this confidential.
A secret only succeeds when kept secret. Besides, Anti-Entropy had never had much of a foothold in Shenzhou to begin with. Did they really think they could outpace Schicksal's locals?
"You're not happy?"
Himeko looked puzzled. Weren't kids this age supposed to love having more friends?
"You're not happy?"
Elysia had emerged at some unknown point and echoed the words. This time she didn't even approach Shiraha.
Sigh. Men. Sigh. Little men.
"I'm happy."
Shiraha nodded. No telling which one of them he was answering.
When it came to the matter of Kiana, there was nothing Shiraha could change. After all, Siegfried's flight, even if you replayed it a hundred times, the point of divergence was always on Schicksal's side. Anti-Entropy, as an organization, was mostly useless most of the time.
"Happy?"
Elysia repeated the word. She leaned in close, resting her chin on Shiraha's shoulder, her warm breath brushing past the shell of his ear, her voice drifting and plaintive.
"I'm genuinely very happy. Just thinking about how this world can't function without me, I'm so happy I can't stand it."
As for Siegfried and Kiana?
Let them wander the snowfields first. In the original story, Schicksal and Anti-Entropy searched for ages and still didn't find them until 2009. That's when K-423 finally got a name, Kiana.
Of course, Otto mentioned Siegfried's defection in his notes too, footnoted as 2009. But that was likely written in hindsight.
Because Theresa had also been involved in Siegfried's defection. And by 2009, the Far East Branch was already established, she'd have been stuck over there, unable to make it back.