Fantasy Stellar ARMOR Satellizer (Ranix Aurus & Admiral19)

[Admiral19]

It was absolutely insane how casual Seiichiro was about this whole thing. Kanae didn't know Mochizuki's aunt at all, much less that she used to work with OLYMPUS...but then again, it wasn't as if she ever went out of her way to ask, or talk to Mochizuki at all, for that matter.

She thought for a bit. On one hand, it'd be good if they had someone else who used to work for OLYMPUS on their side. But on the other, who's to say Shiori would even be on their side? It took Mr. Mikawa almost getting stabbed through with a spear for him to believe any of what Kanae's been going through with the ARMOR system...surely she wouldn't believe that her nephew was injected with something that turned him into a snarling, crablike monster that Kanae had to fight off in a suit of candy-red armor with a lion motif!

"I think we should," Kanae eventually said, "if only to try and ease her worries. If she believes us, fine, if she doesn't...well, we'll figure that out when we get there."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Seiichiro looked at the others. They simply nodded at him, suggesting that they were down for it if Kanae agreed. "Well, that's that. Hey, yeah, we'll bring your nephew. Where should we go? Your house? Oh, Mochizuki Industries' lab? Yeah, I know that one. Can you get us a reservation beforehand? I don't want to be publicly seen coming there- no, no, nothing criminal! What do you mean 'as expected'? What do you actually think of me??"

They chatted for a bit longer before he finally hanged up.

"Alright, we should get going now. You guys get whatever you need first, I'll wait in the van. Also, get this poor lad some clothes!"

"What about... him?" Mikawa pointed at Shouji on the floor. "We bringing him along?"

 

[Admiral19]

"You can do whatever the hell you want," Kanae said, "either way, I'm gonna continue to be mad at him."

The hoops Seiichiro had to jump through in order to get them there...It made Kanae just a little worried. She's pretty sure she's never heard anything as suspect as "Nothing criminal!".

Kanae started to move upstairs. "Imma get Mochizuki some clothes. Get the van revving!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Whatever we want..."

Mikawa stared at Shouji. They couldn't just leave a suspicious person alone in Kanae's house, could they? It would be best to take him along. So he took the TV remote and lifted it up in his hand.

"EEEWAITWAITWAI-"

Then gave Shouji a nice bonk in the head, knocking him out once again for easier transport.

---

Mochizuki Industries laboratory was located at the northern part of the city, right beyond the city limit. It was a complex of unassuming blocky structures, built for functions instead of forms. The front entrance was heavily guarded. Seiichiro however had been granted a special access right through the side gate, allowing the van to enter without much hubbub. Mikawa parked it in their brightly-lit underground lot.

As expected of a research laboratory, the interior was mostly painted in white, with colored lines to show a sense of directions through the nearly-identical corridors lining the place.

Seiichiro was leading the group with confidence even though he wasn't even part of Mochizuki Industries. On the other hand, Mochizuki himself seemed a bit confused as he trailed behind.

"What's wrong? Isn't this your family's business?" Akira questioned him.

"Well, yes, but this is the first time I've ever come here. I usually only go to the main office building downtown," Mochizuki replied as he looked around with a mixture of wonder and unease.

"Meeting room 303- oh, here."

Seiichiro pressed on the futuristic touch screen display on the wall, causing the door to slide open with a satisfying swing. The inside was a modestly-sized hall with a round table, some egg chairs, and a huge display monitor with various equipments to hold a presentation. At the far end of the table sat a woman wearing white lab coat and... track suit?

"Aunt!" Mochizuki called out timidly.

"You brat! You've caused trouble again, haven't you?!" Shiori Mochizuki berated him immediately. It wasn't the first time his nephew had landed in a pinch, especially involving women. That said, she finally noticed Kanae and Hotaru within the group.

"...Girlfriend?" She pointed a pen at Hotaru, which the latter immediately responded with a glare.

"Err... I guess not. My bad. Girlfriend?" Shiori turned her pen to Kanae. This time both Akira and Hotaru glared as well.

 

[Admiral19]

"Look, we can discuss relationships later." Kanae took a seat at the table. "Ms. Shiori. We can tell you what happened to your nephew, but it's gonna sound like it doesn't make a goddamn ounce of sense. Just...please, bear with us."

With that, Kanae started from the beginning; the ARMOR system, the medallions, the first monster she had to fight, the other ARMOR wielders, and Hotaru's transformation, all leading into what Mochizuki went through and who caused it to happen. She didn't know how much of this Shiori would believe, but there was literally no point in lying, especially considering the massive sinkhole that showed up downtown.

"You worked for OLYMPUS before, right? We thought you could give us some insight. We, uh, actually have the guy who gave Mochizuki that serum, if you wanna ask him questions..." At that, Kanae nodded to Shouji's unconscious body near the corner, which she had dragged in for the purpose of one last attempt at interrogation.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Shiori Mochizuki had been listening to the entire story with... various expressions. Mostly confusion. She kept throwing glances at Seiichiro and the rest, as if asking whether Kanae was talking her ass out or not. Naturally, everyone responded with solemn gazes. It was all true. She might not want it to be, but truth didn't care about what she wanted.

"Wow, wow, what happened to OLYMPUS since the last time I came over? Senior, so that's what you've been doing these past three years?!?" She said while adjusting her glasses.

"Wait, no! Not me! I'm only in charge of the ARMOR system! Also, OLYMPUS had been like this even before you joined. You just don't know. None of us knew, to be fair..." Seiichiro replied, pensive. His colleagues, the brightest minds of this nation... blindsided by the evil corporation.

"Right, so... miss Saitou," Shiori walked over to Kanae, looking at her from top to bottom. "You can do this... transformation, thing? With that medallion thing? How does that work? Why is it only you? What's the difference between you and Senior and the rest? I'm curious. May I take a sample of your blood? Your DNA? Maybe a piece of your skin, I-"

"HAHAHAHA she's just kidding, just kidding!" Seiichiro quickly pulled her aside, afraid that Kanae would be scared off by her sudden outburst. "Sorry, Shiori can be a bit, uh, excited, when it's involving something that she hasn't seen yet."

"Says you, Senior," she harrumphed. "But we still need to perform tests to understand why my nephew can turn into a monster. A crab, you say? And this girl here grows tendrils from her back? Hmm... Senior, our lab has a complete set of analysis tools here. How about you take care of that part, since that's more of your specialty. As for me... miss Saitou, what if you transform for me? I'd like to see how this ARMOR system work with my own eyes."

While Seiichiro brought Hotaru and Mochizuki next room to take some biopsy, Akira rubbed his chin as he crouched over Shouji's limp body. "I'm not sure if we'll be able to interrogate him. He's been really defiant from the start. Should we try... torturing him?" He looked at Kanae, wondering if she had some idea in mind.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae completely expected disbelief, or at the very least, doubt; without definite proof, how could anyone be sure? That being said, uh...she would prefer not to be extensively tested on, so she was glad Seiichiro stopped Shiori before she got out of hand.

"Suit, up!"

The red and gold armor Kanae put on was much better proof, anyway. "Here it is, then. I know about as much as you do about how the medallions choose people...it's gotta be something about the body, though, otherwise how would it be steadily enhancing my body?"

She gave a concerned look to Akira at his suggestion. "We are not gonna torture him! He's an ass, but we can't hurt him that bad—"

The door swung open. Kanae figured that it'd be some employee or something, until she actually saw the person; off-white hair set in a low ponytail, gray shirt beneath a black and white letterman jacket...this wasn't an employee.

Which means they probably didn't get in here legally, unless they were friends with an employee.

"Now, I know how this looks," they started as they walked in, which is never a good sign, "but I'm here to ask something. Have any of you seen—"

They stopped in their tracks upon seeing Kanae's armor, and their eyes widened upon seeing the person in the corner.

"Leo..." Their eyes narrowed, voice apprehensive as they glared at Kanae. "What happened to Shouji?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Hey, that's just one suggestion," Akira shrugged. Shiori on the other hand was more interested with Kanae's lion-themed ARMOR. She went around once, twice, as she meticulously inspected the suit with glittering eyes.

"Hoho, this is marvelous! I can see a bit of Senior Amamiya's design in this, but only for the underlying part. This decoration... the design seemed slightly different, Is it made from the proprietary material from back then? Hmm-"

Her ramblings were cut short when the door slid open, and the stranger walked into the room. Akira and Mikawa weren't paying much attention, but Shiori immediately turned serious.

"Who are you? I'm calling security," She reached into her coat's pocket, preparing to push the emergency button that had been prepared for every personnels in the lab.

Akira and Mikawa, however, was more concerned about their last question. Shouji? This... guy?

"His name is Shouji?" Mikawa mumbled. Akira instinctively stepped forward to shield Kanae from them. He had quickly drawn the line- this person knew Shouji, so they must be an enemy as well!

 

[Admiral19]

"Hold on!" The stranger raised their arms defensively. "Before you do anything, let me talk. First of all, my name's Rui Shiraishi. Second of all, Shouji..." Their face turned into a grimace. "Shouji has nothing to do with me. Third of all, I've come bearing a message from our Kaiserin."

Kanae tensed up. Kaiserin...Aoi mentioned that name before! Even if Shouji had nothing to do with this Rui person, they're still working for the Kaiserin that the Taurus wielder mentioned! Then again...Shouji wasn't willing to give them any answers, so this might be all they have.

"If we let you give this message, you've gotta tell us what we need to know."

Rui shook their head. "I can't tell you everything. But..." They looked over at Shouji. "I can tell you one thing about Shouji. The Kaiserin won't care; he's served his purpose as far as she's concerned."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"The Kaiserin... is she a German?" Shiori mumbled. That was a bold title to call someone. Either they were a hardcore LARP group, or...

"She won't care?!" Akira yelled. They've worked really hard to capture this guy, and now their enemies were saying that he was worthless?? Was it cutting their own tail to prevent loss? How vicious!

But the one who was most surprised was Shouji himself. He has been awaken for some time now. He was planning to fake being unconscious for a bit longer, but Rui's declaration immediately brought him up.

"...!!" He wiggled around, looking like he wanted to speak, but can't because of the cloth on his mouth.

"What? Oh, err, my bad," Mikawa pulles the cloth off.

"Rui! What do you mean?! I've served my purpose? WHY?!?"

Mikawa covered his ears the moment Shouji bursted out in anger.

 

[Admiral19]

"I can't say who the Kaiserin is," Rui said, "only that I take orders from her. Please, trust me when I say that we're both better off if I said nothing about it."

Kanae scoffed. "Sure, I'll believe you."

The sound of Shouji's struggling immediately brought Rui's attention to him. Their grimace returned, but it seemed...angrier somehow.

"We heard from Alfred that you defected, Shouji!" They spat back, shoving Mikawa aside to stand in front of the fuming man. "I didn't believe a damn word, but Aina and Aoi cut you off in an instant! They said you were a liability, that you failed way too many times, that your ARMOR was so much weaker than ours were that you'd be dead if Leo got any stronger! And you know what I hated? That they were right!"

Rui gestured vaguely at Shouji. "I don't know if you actually defected or not, but either way, the Kaiserin clearly wanted you gone; not just because Gemini is clearly not the right fit, but also because you've been screwing with our plans. She tasked me—and me alone—to cover for you, to clean up the messes you're trying to make! We want Leo on our side, and you've done nothing but drive her further from us!"

Kanae bristled. "Like hell I'll join you all!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"I... I..." Shouji was showing a lack of thorns for once. His defiant attitude couldn't change the fact that Rui was right. He had screwed up so many times, and it was made worse by his inferiority complex from having a weaker ARMOR than his allies.

"It's not my fault that Gemini is defective, alright?!?" He finally erupted, yelling back at Rui even though he was the one laying helplessly on the floor.

"Look, we don't really care about your little drama... but we sure as hell won't join you. And we sure as hell won't give Kanae to you either!" Akira growled. These guys wanted Kanae to join them? In their dreams! Ignoring the Shouji guy's psychotic behavior, that other person from earlier had tried to kill Kanae on the spot. That alone had drained all his goodwill. "Kanae, you're not entertaining these criminals, are you? There's no way that they're planning for anything good!"

 

[Admiral19]

"That's where you're wrong." Rui brought out their own medallion, marked with the astrological sign of Cancer. "The Kaiserin is doing research on these medallions. She knows more about them than OLYMPUS does, more than anyone does."

Rui looked back at Kanae, nodding at Akira. "Aoi told me about what happened when you fought her. The first thing you did was take the fight away from that boy over there. You wanted to protect him."

Kanae raised her claws. "And what of it?"

"The Kaiserin wants to better the world with the medallions. But to do that, she needs all of them first. These things have power. Do you know what could be done with that? We'd never have to worry about our loved ones again! We could end wars, stop power struggles, save the planet!"

Kanae paused. All of that...she remembered the talk she had with Hotaru. People like her...they were few and far between in Kanae's childhood. She reached out to Hotaru that long ago because she didn't want to be alone, and she didn't want her to be alone.

"I don't want to see you in danger. But I also understand that sometimes there is no other way but to fight... it frustrates me so."

But what if Kanae didn't have to fight...?

"I don't expect you to join right away." Rui continued when Kanae didn't say anything. "In fact, I wouldn't blame you if you still hated us. But I'd like you to try and see from our view. I understand if we're your enemy, but we are not the world's enemy."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"You're spewing sophism," Seiichiro's voice interjected. They had just finished taking samples, and he was shocked when he noticed the Cancer medallion in Rui's hand. Mochizuki was oblivious, but Hotaru and Seiichiro immediately went alert. The former in particular quickly ran over to Kanae and hugged her bulky, armored arm, as if keeping her from going anywhere.

"The medallions are powerful, sure. We can use them for the greater good, no question there. My problem is not about using the medallions, but having this Kaiserin figure hoarding them in her grasp. This is too much power for a single person to wield! We would just replace current dictators with a new one! And with the power of all the medallions in her hand, who knows what she would do the moment her interest change?"

Seiichiro stood beside Shiori, taking a firm stance against Rui's argument. He glanced at his colleague. "What do you think, Shiori? I'm right, aren't I?"

"I don't care," Shiori responded, plain and simple, to Seiichiro's visible dismay. "Kaiserin, Prime Minister, President... I don't really care who's controlling the world or whatever, as long as they let me do my research in peace."

Ah, right, she's that kind of person...

"...What about the monster?" Akira glared at Rui. "Your friend, over there! He turned... uh, who was it, Mochimaro-? into a giant crab! You said that this Kaiserin fellow wanted to save the planet? You want us to see your view? Then tell me what kind of view would turn humans into literal monster!"

 

[Admiral19]

Rui looked at Shouji again. The slightest glimmer of regret was in their eyes before it flashed back to cold anger.

"A view that isn't ours, but Shouji's." Good. Keep talking.

"It was never our intent for the serum to create monsters." Keep believing yourself.

"He stole our formula, modified it, turned it into a weapon. That girl and that boy were simply test targets." Keep lying through your teeth, keep throwing poor old Shouji to the wolves. Speak smoothly, as if you intended to say all of this from the start.

You owe it to your Kaiserin. You owe a lot to your Kaiserin.

Kanae looked back at Shouji. "You've gotta be kidding me..." She wanted to say that she couldn't believe it, but...well, today and the day before, Shouji's been the one always seen with the monsters. It wouldn't be...outrageous to believe, sure.

"Shouji." Rui spoke to the man again. "Gemini's medallion; I'm taking it back to base. Don't make this hard on me, please."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"What...?! Rui-!"

Shouji was aghast. He knew how the Kaiserin works. This was her throwing him under the bus. He instinctively wanted to retort, but... would these people even believe him? Why would they believe him instead of Rui, who was more articulated compared to him? For once, the fire in his pit died out, leaving him devastated.

Upon the mention of Gemini medallion, however, he blinked at Rui. Then he slowly turned his head toward Seiichiro.

"..." Seiichiro shuffled around until he hid behind Kanae.

"I'm not giving it to you!" He righteously proclaimed. "Suit up!" Clasping Shouji's ARMOR, which he had tweaked with beforehand, on his wrist, he gripped the medallion on his other hand and called out for the transformation system to start.

Error. Incompatibility detected. Error. Cancelling transformation module.

...

"...Well... it's worth a try," he sighed with disappointment.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae shrugged, as if to say to Seiichiro, Good try, but what did you expect, really?

Rui was far less amused. "That thing is useless to you all, Shouji included. Trust me when I say that the Kaiserin has everyone's interests in mind, and that's why I need that from you. After everything I said, I would hate to use force to get it from you."

Kanae didn't believe this person, not entirely. But they were right about the medallion; without someone using it, it would just be something that would get stolen anyway. Whoever had it, they would just be doing research on it until it was eventually taken back. Pointless fighting, that would be.

"Rui, right?" She gestured for Seiichiro to give the medallion to them. "Fighting ain't gonna help anyone. We're gonna let you have this. But listen up..."

She walked until she was face to face with Rui, staring hard into their eyes, searching for any trace of a lie. There wasn't any, or maybe Kanae was blind.

"If we find any more medallions, stay the hell out of our way. If your Kaiserin cares that much about the world, then surely she won't mind if she doesn't have a few medallions, right?"

Rui nodded. "Fair enough."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"...Are you sure about this, miss Saitou?" Seiichiro wasn't willing to give the medallion to OLYMPUS's hands, but they were right. The medallion wouldn't be useful in their hands either. If this would allow them to have temporary truce, perhaps...

He had just taken off the wristband when Akira suddenly snatched it from his hand.

"Wait, what-"

The boy had taken the Gemini medallion as well, gripping it in his hand as he put the wristband on his arm.

"The heck? You saw what happened just now, that thing is only compatible with me!" Shouji yelled.

Ignoring everyone's pointed stares at him, Akira murmured the activation sequence, word by word.

"Suit. Up."

"ARMOR ON."

Flash of light blinded the room before they receded into a sleek black armor, it's eyes shining with brilliant gold.

"BLACK TWIN STAR," the system's voice concluded with its usual lifeless tone.

"You were saying?" Akira chuckled. "It seems that the medallion found me compatible as well. That's great," he said it so casually, like getting a discount coupon.

 

[Admiral19]

"Akira, hold on—" Kanae's eyes widened as Akira changed, the sleek armor covering his whole body. No fucking way...! "Yo, hang on! We're definitely not giving this thing to you then!"

There was no way Akira planned this; he'd have to know that the medallion would be compatible with him. And if he didn't...well, it didn't matter, because now they had another wielder on their hands!

Rui had to bite their tongue to keep from yelling out a retort. They couldn't lose their cool, not after everything they said. Instead, they sighed.

"Hm. Yet another reason for me to cut you off, Shouji." They sounded more sad than anything, although their cold stare remained. "That said, I'm keeping to my word. If it means helping the Kaiserin reach her goal, I'm willing and able to do anything."

Well, less willing and more able.

With that, Rui turned to leave the way they came. "Give me your name, Leo. If you won't mind."

Kanae took a few more seconds to admire the armor on Akira's body, then looked back at Rui. "Ah, ahm...Kanae. Kanae Saitou."

Rui nodded, took another glance at Shouji, and left.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Wait, Kanae, don't tell him-"

But it was too late. The intruder knew Kanae's identity now. Then again, maybe it was inevitable. They were going against OLYMPUS. It would be a slight difference between telling them their names on their own terms, or having their data spied and hacked from various sources after a few days. It was inevitable.

"...How... how?!?" Shouji was breaking down on the corner. Less about Rui abandoning him and more about Akira being able to utilize Gemini, just like that. But... what about him? He thought he was the chosen one!

Seiichiro, and now Shiori too, were more interested in analyzing this new ARMOR that they've gotten. Especially on how Akira could be compatible.

"There must be something about the genes, is it? Maybe that guy and Tanaka boy is related? No? How about molecular arrangement..."

"Senior Amamiya, I've already thinking about it before. We should run more bioptic tests-"

Now it was Akira's turn to shuffle away as he used Kanae as a buffer between him and these mad scientists.

"You guys... what about the intruder...?" Hotaru chimed in, reminding Shiori about their utmost priority.

"Right! Security! Come here! You guys are useless!" Shiori immediately chewed on the security personnel through her phone, telling them to increase their vigilance and check for any breaches.

 

[Admiral19]

In her efforts to look cool, Kanae seemed to have forgotten that the only thing keeping them all that well hidden was her name. "Ah. Oh yeah, that was, uh...hm. It's fine, it's fine." She watched security go after Rui, then proceeded to protect Akira from the musings of the mad scientists. Honestly, it was good how much they wanted to learn, but man...

---

Rui had to run to make sure security didn't catch on to them. They managed to leave the building before anyone could start a chase, but still, that was way too close.

They ran further into an alleyway and, once they were certain they were alone, slumped against the wall.

It had hurt. It had hurt them to frame Shouji like that. But they didn't have a choice; they at least needed Kanae to have the benefit of the doubt, but that wasn't possible without any doubt casted. They had to do it...surely Shouji understood.

After about a minute or so, a headache beat at their skull; someone was calling them on the uplink. "Hello?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Armor off," Akira sighed. The two crazy researchers also sighed, but mainly because they wanted to dissect- err, inspect the ARMOR more closely. Check what was different from Leo. Do some scientific degeneracies-

"Alright, let's be serious. I'm doubting the security of this place now. But honestly I don't think we'll be safe anywhere. Not my house, not... Kanae's house. Do you think your house will be okay? What about your parents?" Akira suddenly remembered. Kanae's parents had connection to OLYMPUS. Would they get into trouble because of this affair?

"You should stay here for now, Senior," Shiori said to Seiichiro. "I heard that you're a fugitive now? It's better if you lay low in my laboratory. Also, the analysis of the samples would take a while."

"Right, then, miss Saitou, if you're fine with it...?"

"Err, aunt, what about me?" In the midst of the discussion, Mochizuki squeezed in, not sure on what he should do.

"Mamoru, go home and tell your dad about what happened to you. But don't let him antagonize OLYMPUS just yet. We should stay under the radar for now."

"Oh. Okay..."

And like that, Mochizuki walked out of the lab, feeling like he was a discarded good...

---

"I presume that you have finished the task at hand, Holder of Cancer?"

Alfred's boring voice echoed through the uplink.

"The Kaiserin was expecting great work from you. It would be best not to disappoint her."

 

[Admiral19]

"Yeah, no chance they won't find me now. Armor off." Kanae shrugged as her armor dissolved, sitting back down in a chair again. "Even without my name, they probably could have traced my dad's work with OLYMPUS. I say we hole up in the lab." Oh shit, speaking of them, she'd have to figure out how to explain all this once they got back...that wasn't gonna be fun...

---

Rui ran a hand through their hair. "I...I have. Almost. I managed to cut every tie Shouji has with us. The Gemini medallion is still in their possession, but that's because someone among them was found compatible with it. I had to give it to them, because it was essentially their peace offering."

How on earth was that boy able to use Gemini? Shouji's been the only one they thought would be compatible for ages. Was it something about the medallion, or was Shouji really not strong enough? The Kaiserin knew more about the medallions than they did...maybe they should ask her later.

"The Kaiserin will be pleased to hear that I've begun trying to explain our motives, however. Leo seemed to be at least considering our view."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Well, I agree, but..." Seiichiro glanced at Shiori.

"I'm fine with it. We have a lot of amenities around, so you won't miss anything. We also have lots of empty rooms to sleep in. Just take your pick. You guys wait here while I ask for clearance cards." She went off to the corner to call someone.

"I guess we'll lay low, for now... and by the way, you might want to tell Uncle about his medicine failing to reverse the monsterification," Akira said.

"Failing? How? Tell me the detail!" Seiichiro leaned closer, his face clearly filled with rabid curiosity.

---

Alfred sat in silence, letting them finish their explanation. In the end, he finally opened his mouth.

"So, you failed. Both on taking back Gemini, and getting Leo to our side. Did you at least clean up the loose end?"

He asked rhetorically. He already knew the answer even before Rui managed to answer. They didn't have the heart to finish off Shouji.

"...Them finding a new host for Gemini was a worrying exception, but it doesn't matter. The Kaiserin has everything in her grasp, and it is still within the range of her plan. Return back to base, Holder of Cancer. The Kaiserin will brief you next."

He finished the call. In the dark laboratory, lit only by the eerie gloom of ultraviolet, he wondered why the Kaiserin didn't send Scorpio, or even Taurus, instead. Cancer was soft. Too soft. It would be hard to get their job done. And now Gemini had fallen to their hand.

Perhaps... he would need to take matters to his own hand...

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae leaned back. "Easy, Uncle!" She recounted the events best as she could, saying that rather than turn the monster back to normal, all the serum did was make him faster and more aggressive.

"I dunno what caused it," she said, "but the serum definitely needs some improvement. We don't need that happening to any other beastie we come across."

---

The connection was severed, and Rui heaved out another sigh. They were frustrated. They had to let the medallion go, even though that boy was compatible; trying to take it back would mean acting in violence against them, and Rui had already spent time putting on this peaceful façade. It was leagues easier to just let the ARMOR affect them in the short term rather than have a failed attempt at peace affect them in the long term.

But the Kaiserin didn't care for sunk-cost fallacies. She didn't care for half-assery and almosts. The Kaiserin cared for results, and if the ARMORs of Aesir couldn't deliver them...oh, if Rui especially couldn't deliver them...

The Kaiserin would be expecting them. They had to get back.