A.N power stones. Now.
"Bronya! Bronya! Hey!"
"Stop touching the Bronya."
Bronya sighed, the events so far in Ark City had been… Chaotic.
The cyborg girl, Ningyo. The Grey Serpent, who had supposedly died, only to hack into the Hyperion.
And most of all, finding Liliya and Rozaliya again.
They had met by chance, living in hiding—but not doing a very good job of it. Their personalities were much the same as she remembered, lively and loud, yet beneath it all she could sense something heavy, a sadness that hadn't been there before. And their appearance…
They both had traits found only in Honkai Beasts. According to them, Sin Mal had brought them to… someone, who performed some unknown surgery on them. Liliya and Rozaliya had been dying to the Honkai, after all, almost everyone at the Orphanage had Honkai sickness, and was slowly dying because of it while Matushka attempted to find a cure.
Cocolia…
She had never properly said goodbye, after she joined St. Freya Academy.
News of Matushka's crimes had spread quickly, responsible for the deaths in Nagazora, branded a traitor by Anti Entropy, and later found dead at the hands of an unknown assailant.
Later, after allying with Anti Entropy, Bronya had asked Tesla whether they were truly uninvolved in Matushka's death. Tesla had only shrugged and said she wished she had been the one, but someone else got there first.
Her relationship with Matushka was… complicated. To say the least.
Cocolia had been the one to trap Seele in the Sea of Quanta, but even that had been done out of desperation, a misguided attempt to save the other children at the orphanage.
After Cocolia's death, the orphanage had fallen into chaos. According to Liliya, a mysterious group took control soon after, claiming to have worked with Matushka in the past. One by one, people disappeared, some left, others never returned. Eventually, only Liliya, Rozaliya, and Isabella remained.
Then Sin Mal came back.
She promised to cure their Honkai sickness and brought them to the masked doctor. All three underwent the procedure, but Isabella didn't survive.
Afterward, Sin took the twins to a small apartment in Ark City. She left them money every month and gave them missions, sometimes to eliminate Honkai beasts, sometimes to target specific people. Liliya and Rozaliya believed they were protecting others, helping Sin Mal.
Liliya and Rozaliya claimed that they spent much of their time eliminating Honkai Beasts, sometimes Sin Mal gave them specific targets to eliminate, and various small tasks. They claimed since they were so strong now, it was their duty to protect those who could not protect themselves.
Liliya and Rozaliya had been overjoyed to see her again, and in their excitement, they contacted Sin Mal.
Sin arrived soon after, furious. Without a word, she attacked.
Between strikes, she shouted accusations: that Bronya was the reason for Matushka's death, that she had abandoned the orphanage and forced Sin to bear the burden alone.
Bronya hadn't known what to say. The truth was, when she first heard of Matushka's death, she hadn't rushed back to the orphanage. She'd been sad, of course she had, but she was with her friends then, and they'd helped her move forward. She'd tried to bury the pain, and now Sin Mal's words ripped it open again.
The fight didn't last long. Sin Mal's strikes slowed, her voice trembling with something that almost sounded like fear.
"If you still care about them," she said, "take Liliya and Rozaliya far away from here."
Then she turned and vanished into the streets.
Liliya and Rozaliya returned to the Hyperion with Bronya. Not long after, the ship came under attack by World Serpent forces.
Sin Mal's armor had borne the same emblem as the enemy mechs that breached the Hyperion, a connection Bronya couldn't ignore.
During the battle, Grey Serpent, thought long dead, hacked into the Hyperion's systems. Bronya fought to regain control through the neural interface, but Grey Serpent used it against her, dragging her into a web of illusions, reliving her own past, and even fragments of Sin Mal's memories after Cocolia's death.
Only a fragment of Fu Hua's consciousness, hidden deep in Bronya's mind, managed to pull her back.
What she had experienced had been deeply disturbing.
"Bronya! Hey! Snap out of it!"
Rozaliya, trying to get her attention, swatted the top of Bronya's head with her tail.
"You have injured the Bronya," Bronya said flatly.
"No way! I didn't even hit you that hard!" Rozaliya grabbed her shoulders and peered at the spot in exaggerated panic.
"The Bronya was joking. She was simply… thinking deeply."
Liliya sighed. "It isn't good to spend too long thinking too deeply."
Rozaliya brightened instantly. "Then let's think about something fun! Like our idol debut! You can join us, Bronya! Though… we might need a new name!"
Bronya carefully rubbed Rozaliya's head, carefully avoiding the small horn protruding near the crown.
"Hey! What are you doing? Don't mess up my hair! I spent ages making it look just right. You can't be an idol if your looks don't match!"
Rozaliya giggled, leaning into the touch.
"I would like my head rubbed too." Liliya stated.
Rozaliya bounced on her heels. "Hey, Bronya! We should play something! You were staring off into space, and I've found that's the perfect time for hide-and-seek! This airship is huge! Too bad Sin didn't come with us, we could have had four players." Her voice trailed off. "Next time we find her, we have to bring her along!"
Bronya listened to their chatter, smiling faintly. For now, she indulged them.
They played a few rounds of hide-and-seek in the sprawling corridors of the Hyperion, laughter echoing down the decks, a rare moment of lightness in the shadow of everything else.
Just as Bronya was about to tag Rozaliya, Theresa's voice came over the intercom. "Report to the meeting room immediately."
Bronya said a quick goodbye, gently guiding Liliya and Rozaliya back to a safe area, before taking the elevator up to the bridge deck and the command conference room.
Upon entering, she found Einstein and Tesla arguing, with Theresa and Mei sitting in chairs to one side.
"There's no way this is a trap," Tesla said firmly. "It contains information only Lee could have known."
"Then why is it reaching us now?" Einstein countered. "Lee supposedly left the login and Eye of the Deep files in case she died or was incapacitated. It's been five months since Welt, Siegfried, and Lee's assault."
"And you really think Schicksal would hand us Level 1 access to the Sea of Quanta database?" Tesla asked, raising an eyebrow. "Everything's there, the assault report, repair updates. Too important to be an trap."
"It's too convenient that they are preparing for another test, right when we received the information." Einstein countered.
Tesla argued back, "The test is in a few days, plus, you know as well as I do that all the data and schematics are genuine."
"I agree that the data is genuine Previous Era records about experiments conducted at the Eye of the Deep." Einstein agreed.
Tesla scoffed. "That corruption defense system? What a joke. Only someone like Lee would fall for it."
"Which means," Einstein continued, "They planted false information before, to lure Welt, Siegfried, and Lee straight into Durandal's ambush. And now… they could be trying the same thing again."
"The real question is: can we afford to ignore it?" Theresa said, leaning forward. "The World Serpent is real, and the intelligence on Kevin, his plans, looks genuine."
Bronya finally spoke, her voice calm but edged with curiosity. "Wait, information from Lee? She hasn't responded to any messages for months."
Theresa winced, and Tesla and Einstein looked up.
Tesla nodded. "Lee finally tried to betray Schicksal, but it was a trap. Welt and Siegfried got trapped in the Sea of Quanta. Lee herself was ambushed by Durandal, the strongest Schicksal Valkyrie. After that, she was stripped of her S-rank status, and we hadn't heard a word… until today."
Einstein continued, his tone measured. "We received a message from Lee. It was scheduled before she was fully ready to betray Schicksal, back when she was still investigating the Eye of the Deep. The message contains several records and a backdoor login to the Schicksal intranet. Using that login, we were able to access up-to-date files on the Eye of the Deep, confirming that Lee was… 'disposed of.' Welt and Siegfried were trapped in the Sea of Quanta once the six-minute window closed. Apparently, before she was subdued by Durandal, Lee managed to cause significant damage to the portal, likely why it hasn't been activated until now."
Tesla added, her voice steady, "The Eye of the Deep is nearly repaired, and another test is scheduled in just a few days. There are also recordings of strange gravity waves Schicksal couldn't interpret. We decoded them as a message from Welt: both he and Siegfried are still alive in the Sea of Quanta."
"The Sea of Quanta." Bronya felt real hope for rescuing Seele for the first time in quite some time, "The Eye of the Deep contains a method for entering and exiting the Sea of Quanta?"
"Yes, but the device is highly unstable, and it presents an opportunity for Kevin to escape from the Sea of Quanta." Einstein explained.
"Bronya's sister, Seele, was accidentally sent to the Sea of Quanta by Matushka, before her death. She was working on retrieving Seele before she was killed." Bronya said.
Tesla's eyes softened, "When we capture the Eye of the Deep, we can help you find your sister as well."
"If we capture the Eye of the Deep." Einstein spoke up, "The data might be a trap to lure us."
Theresa finally spoke up, "If it's a trap or not, I don't think we can afford to risk it. Based on the information, and from my own investigations Kevin Kaslana needs to be stopped. I think that Lee's information can be trusted."
Tesla shook her head. "I'm not doubting Lee's credibility. But remember, she was lured into a trap before. Even updated information could be another setup. We need to be cautious."
Theresa's jaw tightened. "Even if it's the same trap? We still have to show up to stop him. And now that we know the corruption defense system isn't real, we can bring an entire Titan Legion. There's no way Schicksal can stop that!"
Mei glanced between them. "This all sounds risky. What about finding Kiana? This could take time we might not have."
Einstein tapped the table thoughtfully. "Why don't we take a moment, discuss the options, and hold a vote afterward?"
Sitting quietly in the corner, Bronya was approached by Mei.
"Hello, Bronya," Mei said gently.
"Hello, Mei," Bronya replied. "Even if this delays finding Kiana, it is worth it. Kevin Kaslana cannot be allowed to return to the real world. And we could use the help of Siegfried and Welt."
Mei sighed, staring into Bronya's eyes. "I know Seele is important to you. But we're this close to finding Kiana. Are you sure this is the right choice?"
"We don't know that, this is a sure thing."
Mei hesitated. "Einstein doesn't think so."
"Tesla doesn't agree." Bronya pointed out.
Mei finally nodded. "I'll talk to them about it."