“We have confirmation that a third breakthrough had reportedly occurred at the Jin Family Manor. Jin Tianyou, who is the Acting Guild Master, hasn’t made any public statements regarding the breakthrough. While there are no reported injuries so far, skepticism regarding spatial security in Ordo is continuing to grow. Over the past twenty-hour hours, we’re seeing the conversation shift from the Big Four to redirection facilities and their protocols. There has been immense external and internal pressure for the Encampment to answer growing questions—”


    I turned off the TV.


    “What the fuck—!”


    ***


    “Believe it or not, Jin Tianyou did us a favor.” Rector held his steaming cup of coffee he’d gotten from the cafeteria, tapping his fingers on the cardboard sleeve. “He completely shifted the conversation off of Angels, and the internationals have to rethink their entire premise going forward. They’ll be doing that a lot in the next forty-eight hours, I think.”


    We, the entire team, nodded and hummed and muttered a few words of relief and encouragement.


    I said, “Until the internationals go through the traffic cams and see me driving to the estate.”


    Rector flattened his lips and sipped his coffee to bite down the surely scathing remark he had, but the coffee scalded his tongue instead and he winced. “Small victories, Alex. Small victories, but we have something else to settle. Right, Morgan?”


    Morgan, who was levitating between Leo and Aiden, tilted his head and let his nappy purple hair dangle. “Which something? Is it that haughty mage, the haughty Deathweaver, or is it perhaps the newcomer who''s been sitting there since we came into the room?”


    We all turned toward the stranger sitting at the lounge. He had a plate of Chinese-style breakfast crepes, and he’d been wolfing them down during our nice conversation. Looks like he’d been shopping because he was sporting new clothes. Instead of a Demonic Cult t-shirt, it was some anime.


    Rei looked up, gulped his last bite, and waved. “Hi.”


    Morgan flatly replied, "Hello there."


    Rector cleared his throat. “This is, uh, the newest and certainly temporary member of your team.”


    “Seriously?”


    “Really?”


    “Wow.”


    “Huh?”


    “Hold on.” Morgan floated forward and stared Rector down. “I thought we agreed to send Rei to Sophos for further investigation. Who changed their mind? You? Her?”


    “Her. Sophos suddenly had cold-feet and said we should ‘keep him for now.’ So in the meantime, I’m adopting yet another Japanese child—” (Chie awkwardly smiled.) “—which is… Which is not how I imagined my life would turn out.”


    Morgan looked pensive. “We’re devoting our full attention into the Glory situation. I don’t have much faith in his abilities—”


    “You can trust me!” Rei shot from his seat and stood proudly in front of us, hand over heart, completely oblivious to the dash of hot sauce splattered across his bottom-lip. “I may be a D-Rank Slayer but I swear to be a wonderful and long-lasting—” (“Temporary,” reminded Rector.) “—addition to the team! As an honorable and righteous kensei!”


    Leo chuckled and crossed her arms. “Guess I’m not the only swordsman anymore.”


    Morgan pressed, “Yes, every Japanese child dreams of defeating Yomiya Yasuyuki in a duel, but I’ve seen your poor excuse of a katana. That can’t cut through grass let alone flesh.”


    “I—!” Rei stopped himself and frowned. “...I’m certain it can cut through grass!”


    “Rector,” Morgan appealed to our boss directly. “Again, I haven’t seen nor heard solid evidence that he can positively contribute to a battle.”


    Rector sipped his coffee. His tongue wasn’t burnt this time around. “Which is why he’ll have a support position with Sage. He has a sixth sense for Alternates. Unrefined and imprecise, but unprecedented.”


    Despite his “demotion,” the promise of contribution gave way to stars inside the kid’s eyes. A bright glow surrounded his head, and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling due to excitement. “As I said, I swear to be a valuable—” (“And temporary,” Rector reminded again.) “—member of the team!”


    Even Chie, a sweet and inoffensive girl, didn’t look particularly thrilled about her new partner. “It’s, uh, it’s good to be working with you, Rei.”


    Rei bowed like a little puppy. “I’ll be in your care, Chie-senpai!” (“Just Chie.”) “Whatever you want, I’ll fulfill my duties to the best of my abilities as your diligent—” (“And temporary,” Rector.) ”—kouhai!”


    I playfully nudged Leo. “Looks like I’m not the youngest member of the team anymore.”


    “Aw, shut up.” She nudged me back.


    “Now, uhm…” Rei looked around at everyone, tense all of the sudden. “Where might the bathroom be?”


    Rector pointed at the door. “Down the hall, first right, you should see a sign.”


    “Thank you, Rector-sama!” (“Just Rector.”) “I’ll be right back!”


    And he zoomed out the room.


    When the door was shut, the isolation bubble whirred back to life and enveloped us. We all took a breather from that little bundle of energy.


    “Rector…” Aiden began, staring at Rei’s empty plate on the table, “...what’s the deal with him? I thought you and Morgan checked him out?”


    Rector leaned against his messy desk, sighed, and carefully placed his coffee down amongst the clutter. “Truthfully, I want you to monitor him. As you saw, he’s more honest and genuine than your average pastor.”


    “What about your, uh—there’s no good way to say it—the interrogation,” Leo asked. “Did any inconsistencies show up?”


    Morgan shook his head. “It’s a negative in the loosest sense. Rei gave vague answers at most, such as describing his childhood or how he managed to evade the Manor’s security barrier. He doesn’t lie, but he does hide. Not out of malice mind you, but take my word with a grain of salt. My specialty is reading books, not people.”


    “I agree with Morgan,” said Rector, “which is more reason why we should keep a close eye on him. It’s a miracle that Rei wasn’t discovered sooner. A boy with powers like that is, well… Regardless, we’ll keep custody of him until that damned vixen finally frees up her schedule.”


    Least I wasn’t the only enigma in the team. I hadn’t worked this job for a full month but I was already out-weirded by a partly-delusional eighteen-year-old kensei.


    Morgan, having received our new revised orders, nodded. “We have to resolve the kidnapping of the angelic elf and monitor the least strangest Japanese boy. Very well. Is that everything, or should we nag Sophos during our operations?”


    “That’s my job, but yes. Those are your orders. As soon as you’re ready, you know where to go. And Conqueror?”


    I knew this was coming from the moment I walked into the office. “Yessir?”


    Rector had a kind yet threatening smile. “Be on your best behavior. He’ll be here shortly.”


    ***


    When I imagined a highly-professional and efficient base of operations for the Silverhonor case, it wasn’t a cluttered workshop. It was filled with a dozen different magitech constructs, a dozen more unfinished and gutted projects that I couldn’t divine, and a single corner infested with wires and other gadgets. That corner was, as I quickly discovered, where Morgan had set up the Alternate tracker.


    “I’m sorry for the mess!” Chie began moving some of her tools off of the main island in the middle. “I was working all night rebuilding my [Yokais].”Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Leo discreetly elbowed my side as she helped Chie. Right, that comment was aimed at me and my judging eyes. Chie did sacrifice several [Yokais] during our fight with Seraph. I should tone down my bitterness before the man of the hour arrived.


    Morgan and Rei filtered to the corner while Aiden checked out some of the WIPs. I imagine our newest recruit didn’t have anything in the works yet, which made his position in the backline more necessary. Hell, if he had anything in the pipeline, he probably wouldn’t get his sigs until a month from now given everything here.


    Just what sort of inventions was Chie throwing herself into?


    Chie grabbed a heavy-looking box and struggled to lift it off the table, but I came along and took the weight off her hands.


    “Th-Thank you,” she said as she went for a lighter box.


    We moved the boxes. “I’ve seen way messier, don’t worry.”


    Chie had a small smile. “You don’t have to act nice all the time. I know my workshop’s a mess, but with all the work that piled up, it’s erm… It’s gotten hectic.”


    “Regardless of how hectic it is…” Leo plopped down junk beside us and leaned an elbow on the only clear spot of the table. “We don’t want you to overwork yourself, sweetheart.”


    “Hmph.” Chie’s cheeks inflated, and she turned away from her kind unnie. “I can rest later. I have to do my part so no one else gets hurt.”


    Leo bit her lip, then suddenly yelped as an elbow was jabbed into her side. My elbow. She should’ve remembered that Chie was there when Rector got incapped. No wonder she felt obligated to work herself to the bone.


    To avoid retribution, I quickly said, “Don’t worry, you won’t have to pull all-nighters for long. Unless…” I spotted various posters and bits of merchandise from video-games and animes. “You go back to playing JRPGs and reading manga until the crack of dawn.”


    “I don’t do that anymore!” Chie exclaimed while hugging one of her half-finished [Yokais]. “Who told you that? Aiden?” (“What? What did I do?”) “Last time I stayed up was…” She stopped herself, and her eyes fell to the floor. “...Erm, never mind, but I promised Rector that I’ll have a proper sleep schedule.”


    “Your lips to God’s ears,” Morgan said in the back. (“What does that mean?” Rei asked.) “If all goes well, there’ll be no more casualties and we can bring the elven princess back home, and today hopefully won’t be so miserable.”


    “I doubt it; the forecast’s calling for a downpour,” said a new, powerful voice that chilled my blood to a frost.


    Standing at the door was a tall man in his thirties, dressed like royalty in a battlefield. Half of his outfit was built for warfare, and the other half was designed for a gala. A fine-looking suit strapped together by rough leather and dark plates, belts snuggly fitted around his waist and thighs, pouches over buttons. Around his right shoulder, a furred crimson cape swayed at the knee and he held it, making sure it wouldn’t be caught by Chie’s contraptions.


    I noticed his “gloves,” which looked like someone had wound reddish-black yarn around his hands. Simple in appearance but far from it. They weren’t gloves, but rather an SS-Rank weapon crafted by the Phenomena Society: [Netherstring Gauntlets].


    Guild Master Archknell surveyed the workshop with his cherry-black eyes, first noting Rei who was a new face. Then, his attention snapped onto the whistleblower of System Articles.


    He stepped toward the main table with his heavy boots, every step sounding like the crack of a whip. He let go of his cape and tilted his head slightly, allowing his black-fading-red hair to dangle like a sword.


    Calmly, his tone low and dense with implications, he said, “It’s finally good to meet the ‘incomprehensible black wolf’ in-person. It doesn’t look like you’re a powerless corpo anymore.”


    I cracked a small yet terribly anxious smile. “Right… I never thought I’d meet you under these circumstances.”


    Archknell licked his lips and looked at the two kids in the corner. “These circumstances would’ve never been arranged if Angels and Wisdom hadn’t shit the bed.”


    Morgan floated toward the group with Rei skittering behind him. “I’m assuming the elf—“ (“Lyressa.”) “—hasn’t established contact yet?”


    He snarled, “What do you think? And who’s the boy behind you?”


    Rei yelped and turned rigid. “Amamizu Rei, Archknell-sama! I am their newest recruit and a proud swordmaster!"


    Archknell’s bitterness visibly transformed into confusion, then disgust, then more confusion.


    Morgan clarified, “He can sense our pesky breachers. He won’t have a role in direct action.” (“Whatever it takes to rescue Silverhonor-san!”)


    Archknell rubbed his eyes, clearly too stressed to begin thinking about our new arrangement. “What kind of team—? Never mind. Let’s stop the pleasantries and finally discuss our next actions. Is everyone on the same page?”


    We nodded. Rei and I had been caught up while we were waiting for Archknell. Yesterday morning, Silverhonor skipped work without leaving a message, which was uncharacteristic especially when Glory Guild try-outs had been postponed. With Silverhonor possessing a dual-role in the corpo and systemic ladder, her presence was extremely necessary and she was too responsible to leave her colleagues hanging. Archknell had [PM]ed her but no response, which was even more uncharacteristic. Having been notified by Rector about the ongoing crisis, he investigated and visited her last-known location via a GPS-tracker on her phone: her apartment.


    He only found her phone.


    Fast-forward to the present. Archknell was keeping her disappearance a secret—not because of us obviously, he wasn’t a fan of Angels—but because the news would bring so much trouble to everyone. Currently, the excuse was a sudden illness but it wouldn’t last long in this news cycle let alone within the guild.


    So who kidnapped the elf? Everyone had considered the Malie Bureau were the culprits considering their history, but the theory was likely false. Archknell didn’t find evidence of a struggle in her apartment, and these assholes would have contacted us already. That led to the likeliest conclusion: an Alternate. However, both the tracker and Rei didn’t sense anything funny but that was our best lead.


    Archknell knew the bare minimum: that the breakthroughs were connected, and the breachers were…


    “...doppelgangers believing in a false history,” Morgan said. “That’s speculation, but the previous two breachers support the hypothesis.”


    “Two.” Archknell glanced at Chie and Aiden standing together. “During your try-outs.” Then at me. “And at the Jins.”


    Morgan nodded. “Correct. At Angels, we encountered a doppelganger resembling Seraph. For the Jins, the deceased mother of Jin Tianyou and wife of the other one. In both cases, they believed ‘someone important to them had died.’ This is the false history, because in our Worldline, they—their loved ones—are still alive. I’m not suggesting Silverhonor’s doppelganger will be the same, because…”


    “Her amnesia,” Archknell said for the class.


    “Yes, so what I’m saying is: while we have precedence, Silverhonor throws all our theories out the proverbial window.” Rei whispered something into Morgan’s ear, causing him to sigh. “Right, I forgot that not everyone here is aware of her backstory. Archknell, would you summarize for us? Just so everyone is aware of the relevant details?"


    Archknell’s heavy eyes flickered onto Rei and made him jump, but that was as far as he went for admonishment. He leaned against one of the side-tables, pulling his shoulder-cape in front of him. “Two years ago, I led an expedition team into the Infinity Dungeon, aiming to penetrate Level 76 and hopefully go deeper. On Level 53, though, we encountered a never-before-seen Crystal Forest. A Stage like that isn’t in the known rotations for 53. It’s not unheard of to discover a new Stage in a rotation, but it’s exceedingly rare. So I reported the Stage to the Dungeoneers and they advised me to focus on exploration. I did. After about thirty hours of navigation, we came across a massive hollow husk of a tree. Inside was a single crystal embedded in the pale wood: a cocoon housing a sleeping elf."


    “That was Silverhonor-san?” Rei asked, hiding behind (the smaller) Morgan.


    Archknell managed to hold a small, nostalgic smile. “That’s right. We freed and stabilized her condition as best as we could. In her haze, she started asking questions in English. ‘Where am I?’ ‘Who are you?’ ‘What’s going on?’”


    “Wait,” Chie butted in, “she was asking questions in English?”


    “I didn’t mishear. None of my subordinates did. Silverhonor knows English upon waking up. Outworlders like her, whose Worldline shouldn’t resemble ours, logically don’t have English as their native language. Because she does know English, that leaves a lot of troubling explanations.”


    “Explanations that she can’t answer,” I said.


    “Explanations that the malies want.” Archknell gripped the table hard, and I feared he’d snap a chunk off. “I knew they’d be waiting to snatch her as soon as we broke topside. I’m not na?ve. If I allow them to a single quarter, they’ll do unspeakable things to Lyressa. Thus, I called in favors and used my authority to protect her.”


    Chie''s lips trembled. Discreetly, Aiden took her hand and squeezed it tightly. I decided to look elsewhere.


    Despite the dark implications, Morgan spoke casually, “But they still questioned her, correct?”


    “Under my supervision. Everything was: the interrogations, meetings, medical, and so on. Lyressa was officially diagnosed with amnesia, being completely unable to remember her past, and I became her legal caretaker.” (His eyes swept toward Chie and Aiden.) “That’s how she became Ordo’s favorite elf. For the past two years, Lyressa has been an honored member of Glory Guild and she’ll stay that way.”


    Leo politely raised a hand. “Has Lyressa regained some of her memories? Maybe a faint vision or a dream?”


    Archknell crossed his arms and stayed silent for a few moments, thinking. Although we just received an answer, he was keeping his cards close to his chest. He said, “Nothing substantial. Her dreams consist of blurry colors and distant voices, that’s all.”


    I thought out loud, “So if a breacher had attached itself to her, we have no idea what we’re getting.”


    Morgan chirped, “That’s what I said earlier, yes—”


    Rei, who’d been flicking his eyes between the dirt on the floor and our special guest, turned his head upward. His stare widened as if he was looking through the ceiling and into the dark clouds. “Does… Does anyone hear that?”


    We didn''t. We only heard ourselves and the whine of electricity coursing through the room. None of us were on the same frequency as him.


    Wordlessly, Morgan tugged Rei’s sleeve as if telling him to keep talking.


    “It’s…” Rei looked around the room to try and pinpoint its direction, I think. “She’s crying.”


    Archknell stepped forward. “Whose voice is it, boy? Is it Lyressa’s—?!” A blue screen interrupted him mid-way through his excitement. He almost brushed it aside before he caught its contents.


    He tapped it.


    “It’s Mongrel. A demesne appeared in one of our training fields.”