"So… what exactly did you tell Kiana?" I said.
I was very interested in what exactly Siegfried had said about me.
"I didn't actually tell Kiana anything really." Siegfried responded
So Kiana had managed to jump to the conclusion that Siegfried was the reason I had been avoiding her all on her own? Well it would have been true if I wasn't already avoiding her to decrease my romantic score.
[System: Again I highly dislike avoiding natural relationships in order to maintain the original plot! You should keep your relationships natural! In this universe, relationships can create the power of miracles! The power of Romance can overcome any obstacle! ꉂ(˵˃ ᗜ ˂˵)]
I am not going to get into this argument again, while even if I changed the plot, I could resolve things if I was around. However I intend to leave as soon as possible, I need to ensure that the world after I leave is still on the right track to successfully 'embrace' the Honkai.
"So what happened?" I was dying of curiosity ever since I received those texts from Kiana earlier.
"She may or may not have caught me on my way back to my hideout." Siegfried responded
That was interesting. Kiana knew Siegfried was in the city and I had commented how laughably close Siegfried was this entire time. But they had actually met in the wild? I thought Siegfried was SS ranked deadbeat dad! He could overcome all obstacles to avoid parental responsibilities!
I had a feeling the rather messy state Siegfried had arrived in wasn't from Cocolia's men after all, it was probably Kiana attacking Siegfried as soon as they saw each other.
Wasn't Kiana supposed to be at school?
Why don't I just ask.
"Isn't Kiana supposed to be at school?"
"They were also attempting to investigate what was up with the Honkai energy here in Nagazoa."
Kiana hadn't texted me about that, however that was somewhat understandable as she was unaware that I had knowledge of the Honkai at the time.
Actually I don't know if Kiana is aware that I am knowledgeable about the Honkai.
"So, how exactly did I come up?"
"She blamed me for a bunch of her problems, including you distancing yourself from her, and blamed it on me. Even problems that I didn't cause." After a while Siegfried admitted, "After they blamed me for it, I said you were using a fake identity and was dangerous, and that she should stay away."
"So is Kiana aware that I have knowledge of the Honkai or not?"
"I don't know, probably." Siegfried responded.
One more thing to worry about, hopefully this causes her to not worry so much when the eruption happens and focus on Mei, speaking of which, my romance score really has shot up significantly.
Well that was a problem with another time, problem number one was still in the room with me.
"Okay, you can leave now." I commanded.
"What? Why?" Siegfried said, looking somewhat confused.
"The longer you stay here the more likely Cocolia is to trace my location. Actually, give me your phone number so we can stay in contact."
Actually I just don't know how to continue this conversation, and I didn't really want to chat with Siegfried.
"Wont she just trace any texts or calls?" Siegfried asked, his brain cells kicking into high gear.
"She doesn't know of my existence, probably, so she doesn't know to trace my calls." I said, before adding, "Try and keep it brief, and don't use too many specifics, update me on the status of your investigation and I can decide to meet or not."
Actually what I wanted to know was if Siegfried actually managed to stop the eruption, because then my whole plan would need reworking.
After adding Siegfried's number to my phone, and giving Siegfried my number, I turned to Siegfried.
"Goodbye." I said with a note of finality. Then ruined it by adding, "If you make any headway in your investigation, share it with me."
After attempting to push a very confused Siegfried out the door. He left the hotel room, leaving me alone again.
After closing the door I picked up my new Alloy Dominator pistols.
Hehehe, cool guns…
[System: (˶˃⤙˂˶) How come your romantic attachments to these weapons are higher than your romantic attachment to the protagonist?]
Could inanimate objects count as a romance target? Well, I now had a way to defend myself If I was attacked by Cocolia's forces, the chances of which had increased substantially since Siegfried had shown up at my apartment, proving that at least one person knew where I was staying. Siegfried was probably being tracked by Cocolia or World Serpent already, he wasn't exactly the most subtle.
>>> POV Change<<<
"Hey Siegfried you idiot, what are you calling so late for." Said the ever irritable Dr Tesla.
"It's only 1 pm, it's not late at all!" Siegfried defended himself.
"Time zones! Time Zones! It's midnight here at HQ!" Tesla ground out.
"Well, I need the information from your investigation into the radical faction." Siegfried explained.
"It's Cocolia, she is the one who outed Ryoma, she is always trying to gain more power in Anti Entropy. The takeover of ME Corp is definitely her plot, as for the increase in ambient Honkai energy, I have no idea what the plan is, maybe she is testing some new kind of tech." Tesla explained.
"I already knew it was Cocolia, so no update on the Honkai energy?" Siegfried responded.
"No, I have other things to work on, you know! I am busy!" Tesla said irritably. "Its always investigating this, do a background check. Why don't you bother Mophead or anybody else with this stuff! Its not like they do any real work anyway!"
"Thats not very nice, Siegfried specifically asked you to investigate, don't push your work onto others." Einstein, who had suddenly appeared from the door to Tesla's lab, said in response."
"Oi Mophead, what are you doing here, come to bother me so late at night as well?" Tesla Said.
"It's about the ambient energy increase in Nagazora city. When you instructed Anti Entropy to look into the increase in Honkai energy at Nagazora I did some investigating of my own, and found out that the ambient energy has increased in a circle with a radius of around 1.2 kilometers centered on ME Corp Headquarters. I thought it might risk another Honkai eruption." Einstein clarified in response.
"So what does that mean? That whatever ME Corp is doing has the potential to cause an eruption?" Tesla gasped.
"I'll go to ME Corp headquarters and ask Cocolia about what they are doing myself!" Siegfried had also witnessed the horror of the eruption in 2000 along with Einstein and Tesla, so they all knew how bad it could be.
"Don't be so hasty, Cocolia also witnessed the eruption of 2000, she knows just how bad a Honkai eruption can be. She would not do something that would risk a Honkai eruption. If she isn't worried about it we are in no immediate danger…" Einstein trailed off, "Siegfried, your arm."
"What about his arm?" Tesla was confused, then leaned in to inspect the image of Siegfried more closely, before shouting "Your arms back!"
"Oh yeah, interesting story there. That person I asked you to investigate, they healed my arm." Siegfried seemed to recall, then started scratching at his shoulder, then stopped after remembering about the golden looking branch sticking out of the shoulder blade, apparently it had forced a hole in his shirt and was now sticking out. Overall, it just felt a bit odd.
"So they were a Schicksal agent after all, I knew I was right about that! Is this some kind of new Schicksal tech? Why haven't I heard anything about it at all? This is leagues better than our current capabilities! And what's with the branch?" Tesla said.
"Actually, they aren't from Schicksal, they said it was imaginary energy." Siegfried responded absentmindedly.
"That's stupid." Tesla said.
"What?" Siegfried answered in response.
"While I would not put it the way Tesla did, she is correct, that is impossible. Imaginary energy is almost impossible to even observe, let alone harness for something as precise as healing. The person you are speaking about probably lied to you, using complex terms they knew you wouldn't understand." Einstein explained.
"Well, it wasn't Honkai energy." Siegfried answered in response.
"How do you even know that?" Tesla stated irritably.
"Remember Tesla, Siegfried used the ICHOR factor, it significantly enhanced his strength and senses. He now has the ability to detect Honkai energy in the environment." Einstein explained, this time to Tesla.
"I also saw them touch a Honkai energy power cell, and all the Honkai energy inside of it disappeared." Siegfried stated.
"What! That's especially impossible!" Tesla yelled.
"Actually, there is a substance that causes similar effects, the blood of the Scharic family." Einstein stated.
Pausing for a moment to think, Siegfried who was familiar with the Scharic family as a Kaslana stated, "I don't think they were Scharic, they didn't look like a Scharic at all, and they didn't get any blood on it. They just touched it and it was gone." pausing before adding "They didn't have any Honkai energy in their entire body."
"Seems your friend is more interesting then we initially thought, you said they were not with Schicksal, who are they affiliated with then?" Einstein responded.
"They said that they were not affiliated with anyone, I asked them if they were a defector from the radical faction and they agreed." Siegfried relayed, "I don't think they are our enemy, they healed my arm and told me about the radical faction being behind the increase in honkai energy.
"So it's radical research then, those guys were always so interested in biological experiments." Tesla said with a hint of disdain.
"I don't think so, I still don't think this is imaginary energy, but even if it was, the radical faction definitely doesn't have the prowess to pull off something like this. I just don't think it's possible for them to have researched imaginary energy to this level." Einstein countered, "If your friend is not aligned with any faction, try and convince them to join Anti Entropy."
"They are worried about Cocolia, they almost kicked me out as soon as our transaction was complete. It shouldn't be too hard to sway them to our side with offers of protection." Siegfried was using his brain cells at maximum output.
"Should I investigate Cocolia first? Or is recruiting Lee our top priority?" Siegfried asked the scientists.
Einstein thought for a moment before replying, "We will need your help to investigate Cocolia's actions, we don't have very many agents in the far east who are loyal to the Conservatives, almost all are loyal to the radicals. But recruiting Lee is a top priority, if we wait any longer we might risk her being taken out by Cocolia's forces."
"Okay, that makes sense, I know where Lee is right…" Siegfried started to say before trailing off, "What the fuck!" Siegfried suddenly shouted.
"What is it!" Tesla shouted, suddenly looking very nervous.
Siegfried immediately left the view of the camera, before both scientists heard swears from the other side.
Both scientists looked at each other confused, before the base alarm suddenly went off, causing both scientists to jump.
The base alarm did a long blast twice before pausing, indicating a Honkai event, then blared 6 short blasts. Indicating a level 6 event.
Both scientists stared at each other, a level 6 alarm indicating a honkai event over 2000 HW's. The last time this had happened was 14 years ago in 2000, and everyone knew how that had turned out.
Tesla jumped up and ran to the wall by the door, where there was an emergency base phone that connected directly to the command and control center of the base.
Picking it up, Tesla shouted into the receiver, "What's going on, is it a new Herrscher?" Then thought for a moment before adding, "Is it Nagazora?"
Siegfried had come back into camera range, and shouted "It's a major Honkai eruption! There are deadmen everywhere! Everyone in the entire city has been affected!"
Siegfried moved to disconnect the call, Einstein yelled "Wait!" but it was too late. Einstein and Tesla sat listening to the base alarm blare, waiting for a response from Central.
A.N Thanks to Insomniologist and Sky for subscribing to my patreon!