MALWARE

Teana is on the floor, leaning against the bed, with the datapad on her lap. It took her longer than expected to go through the documents with the clone girls. They needed a lot of help with many words. For hours Teana read the contents of the datapad aloud. The girls listened otherwise silently except when they interrupted her to ask questions.

"-is thus advised the research be kept strictly confidential, at least until the combat droids business enters its definitive decline phase."

"What does that mean?" A senior clone asks.

"It means… my company decided not to share the revival technique with anyone." Teana's answer causes great confusion among the girls. Red Ribbon asks on everyone's behalf.

"But why? It would have made a lot of people happy." The other seniors agree with her. "If Alicia wakes up mother will be happy. I will be happy."

Teana feels a little pang in her heart. Yes, some are fully grown-up ladies, and some are just little girls, but overall these girls are just innocent kids doing bad things, misled by an impossible hope.

"That's just how business works." Teana shrugs. She can sense the rage filling up the room.

"So, there was a way to wake up Alicia, but your people kept it a secret?"

"In essence, yes. Sorry."

.

The senior clones scramble.

"What do we do with this?" One of them asks no one in particular.

"With this mother can bring Alicia back." The red ribbon girl announces excitedly. "And we won't need to fight our way to Midchilda."

"But we are already so close…"

The girls fall silent as they contemplate.

Fate remains silent at a corner of the room, trying to minimize her presence. She still is confused about the objective of Teana's mission. It is obvious the Bureau wants the girls to deliver this datapad to mother. But for what? Has Caledfwlch really developed a revival technique? Fate is sure whatever mother plans to do in Midchilda has to be related to bringing Alicia back. The Bureau spoon-feeding this project data to mother, and consequently helping reviving Alicia, eliminates the root cause of the war… that would make sense had the project not been led by Scaglietti. Fate knows it's impossible. She put him in jail herself. So… what is going on?

At last a senior clone girl breaks the silence.

"Let's just send it to mother. She will make the right decision."

The others murmur in agreement and look at the red ribbon girl for confirmation. But she is in deep thought and does not realize she has the final say. Somebody nudges her.

"Huh?"

"Let's send it to mother?"

"Sure. How about we send it along with the presents?" Red Ribbon suggests and unknowingly settles the matter. With that the girls leave, chatting about what presents to send back home. The senior clone with the polka dot red ribbon on her head remains, sitting on a stool, silent, thinking. She absentmindedly takes it off and fidgets with it, her mind wandering.

She honestly doesn't know why she took it. The look of devastating remorse on the dying soldier's face burned into her memory. He offered this to the dead sister in an attempt to amend what he felt was his wrongdoing. She searches through her soul to find the answer. Why did she take the ribbon? She doesn't know. But what she knows is whenever she sees it in the mirror or feels it on her head, she remembers; The feeling of the utter sadness this fighting brings.

She has made her mind up and jumps on her feet.

"Sister, could you watch this woman?" She asks the tall sister in the corner of the room. "Kill her if she tries anything."

Fate watches the senior clone leave the room, closing the door behind. Fate and Teana exchange glances and their eyes fall on the datapad still on Teana's lap.

"What the heck is this, Teana?"

The captured Enforcer scoffs and massages her sore face, groaning in pain.

"Remember you told me to look for a way to neutralize their linker cores?"

"Yes, but-"

"It can't be done in Vaizen." Teana explains. It has to be done in Al Hazard using Al Hazard magic, and the only one capable of doing that is Precia Testarossa.

"Besides," Teana continues. "Hayate does not want to push them too hard because she is worried about the entire Al Hazard population coming over as a reinforcement."

"So, this is supposed to neutralize the girls in Al Hazard?" Fate points at the datapad. "By mother's own hand?"

"Hence this play. I didn't expect to be beaten up, though." Teana concludes and groans in pain again. She inserts fingers in her mouth and pulls a loose molar tooth out, much to Fate's horror.

"The Office will cover my dental fees, right?"

"Heck, no." Fate shoots icily. "I didn't approve this operation."

"Aw, come on."

.

Red Ribbon is outside the door, silent. She had gone downstairs to the kitchen and came back with a bag of ice. Now she is thinking again in the hallway. She deliberately left the datapad with the prisoner and the sister.

'If she really is here to work against us, this is her chance.' The senior clone thinks. If it was the case surely the datapad would be destroyed. Maybe the prisoner escapes, too. Thankfully the sisters are about two thirds there to the Terminal, so she can risk this. If things turn out as she has suspected, they will just shrug it off and proceed with the original plan. But then more sisters will die fighting… That she is afraid of. The senior clone girl is surprised at herself for hoping the sister in the room decides not to do anything bad.

She knows. 'That sister definitely is not one of us.' But from what Red Ribbon has seen… The sister with the broken mask is immensely powerful, so powerful she just waves off that winged beast's attack with one hand. Yet… the sister uses her power to protect the girls. And the way she dotes on the little ones… The red ribbon girl has not seen any sign of malicious intent. That puzzles her. Who is she and why did she come?

.

"Are you alright?" Fate is less angry now. "Does it hurt?" She sits down on the bed Teana is leaning against.

Teana points at Fate's face.

"It's nothing compared to having that thing bolted on your face. Really… what a brave thing-"

They are interrupted by a single bang on the door.

"I'm coming in." A younger Fate's voice says from behind the door. The two Enforcers look at each other; did that girl just knock?

.

The senior girl with the red ribbon walks in with a bag of ice. She hands it over to the captive woman and takes the datapad from the lap. Teana thanks the clone girl and puts the ice bag on one side of the face.

Red Ribbon sits on the bed next to Fate, dropping her staff down on the floor which rolls across the room making a funny noise. She scrolls through the long texts and charts and tables in silence for some minutes.

"Sister, what does this mean?" After some minutes she casually asks Fate, pointing at a long-worded sentence on the holo-display. Fate is about to answer, but she notices the eyes behind the mask fixed on her, not the displayed sentence. Fate freezes.

"Sister?" The red ribbon girl urges.

Fate sighs. She stands up, facing the Alicia clone girl.

"Are you trying to confirm if I can read?"

"Yes." The senior clone answers without batting an eye.

"Yet you've left your staff out of reach." Fate observes.

Teana is confused. What's going on between these two? "What the-"

"Would I need it on me?" Asks the red ribbon girl.

Fate thinks for a second and shakes her head.

"No."

With a bit of effort, Fate takes off a rubber-like layer off from her head, revealing another, slightly more aged, real face underneath. Now Teana is panicking.

"What the bloody-"

"Sorry, Teana. I'm not crazy enough to drill holes on my face." Fate gives an apologetic smile and shows the broken mask on a fake head mask. "Shamal refused anyway, so…"

"What are you fucking doing?!" Teana's face is turning red.

"Besides, how else could I hide the wrinkles?"

Red Ribbon remains calm and indifferent, watching the interaction between the two Enforcers. The old sister sighs again and properly addresses the younger clone sitting on the bed.

"My name is Fate Testarossa Harlaown. I am the Chief of Executive Office, Time Space Administration Bureau. I am also the first of your kind." She beams a smile. "You can call me onee-chan." She gestures for Teana to say hello. "This is Enforcer Teana Lanster. She works for me. Thank you for not killing her." And she means it.

Teana, of course, is frothing in the mouth.

"Boss, are you out of your fucking mind!"

The red ribbon girl looks at the two Enforcer apologetically.

"I'm sorry. I don't have a name to tell you."

"What the fuck are you guys doing?!" Teana jumps and stomps, screaming. Then she breaks down, squatting, her face in her hands, crying.

"Boss, you are ruining everything!" And she wails, seriously upset. All the efforts. The beating she took today. The possibility to end the war. The mind-blowing art piece Scaglietti put his soul into its creation. The promised family house he so looks forward to. Everything is now gone poof in the air. By the hands of none other than the person she oh so admires and looks up to.

"Onee… Onee-chan?" The clone girl tries sheepishly. "I have to ask this; have you come to help them kill us all?"

"What? No~. I want to save you from doing more bad things." Fate answers with a smile. She called me onee-chan! "Because if you keep going, you will all die."

Then Red Ribbons realizes.

"You are the sister who fought the flying devil, aren't you?" Then she also remembers and puts two and two together. "But you helped her escape, too."

"She's someone dear to me. Like how Alicia is dear to you."

The clone girl holds the datapad dearly in her chest.

"This will bring Alicia back. And there will be no more reason to fight. No more sisters dying!"

Teana stops her wailing. She looks up with hopeful eyes.

"Yes! That's it! You will help, right?"

"Teana!" Fate gives Teana a scornful look. Enforcer Lanster looks at her boss's eyes. She goes back to wailing. Fate shakes her head, approaches the masked sister and gives her a tender hug.

"Sorry, but nothing can bring Alicia back." She meets the surprised eyes behind the mask. "No matter what you try, it cannot be done. I'm the living proof. So are you."

The girl is confused now. Then what is this? Fate explains slowly. If mother does what is written in the datapad, something will happen. Something that will make all the sisters back home unable to fight.

Teana is devastated. Now the plan is laid bare everything is fucked. She buries her head on her knees.

"You are fucking everything up!"

.

The three remain silent for a while, except for Teana's upset sobbing. The senior Alicia clone breaks the silence, with a determined voice.

"But the fighting will end, right?"

Teana looks up with her eyes all red and wet, sobbing. She nods weakly.

"But what if…" The red ribbon girl wonders. "What if mother decides to ignore this? We are winning after all."

"You are not winning!" Teana snaps. The invading girls are fighting against someone who can easily kill every single one of them with a flick of a finger. They are not winning. They are merely allowed to exist. For now. "The only reason she hasn't done it is because she's ordered not to!" Teana yells at the clueless girl.

Red Ribbon digests this unbelievable information. She turns to Fate for a confirmation.

"Is this true?"

Her eyes widen as Fate nods.

"I'm afraid so. The person Teana is talking about is my close friend Hayate-chan. If this keeps going," Fate winces at the idea. "The Bureau will have no other choice but tell my friend to use her power. And then everyone will die."

The clone girl shivers at the thought.

"No. I don't want any more sisters dying." She stands up. "I will go packing."

Teana brightens up. 'Wait, is this girl going to help us?'

"I will convince mother to give this a try." The girl announces her plan.

"Wait, I go with you." Fate offers, but her clone sister shakes the head.

"No, onee… onee-chan. I saw through you when you talked about the boy's things. You won't fool mother for a second. Besides-" She points at Teana squatting on the floor. "-If sisters hear something happened back home because of this, they will kill her. Keep her safe."

.

Red Ribbon waits for Fate to put the mask back on before opening the door. When she leaves Fate turns to find Teana frowning at her.

"Easiest undercover job ever, you said. And you go blow your cover talking about the penis to these virgins. Well done, boss. Very well done."

Before Fate can rebut Teana's remark, a group of little Alicia clones barges in, loaded with countless questions for Teana.

.

Leaving Teana busy with the little girls, Fate walks into a deserted alley to find Zafira, or rather, Zafira finds her.

"Did you know about this, Zafira?" Asks Fate.

"They did tell me something called 'Malware' is coming this way." Zafira is as irritated as Fate is. He thought it was strange they specifically instructed him to stop Fate from interfering. Now he knows why.

"I didn't know it was going to be Miss Lanster setting it up." He shakes his head.

Fate scoffs. Teana can go overboard sometimes, but this is… just too extreme.

"And I bet she's the one who came up with this idea."

"This is only the first half of the operation." Zafira recalls the instruction he received after Teana was picked up. "I've got instruction for you, Chief Enforcer."

"For me?"

"Yes." Zafira nods. Fate is to take Malware to Dr. Testarossa and nudge her mother in the right direction; that is to replicate the magical procedure contained within the datapad.

"You mean I should spam mother until she opens this so-called Malware?"

"Indeed. Like it or not, you are our only asset who can safely reach and face your mother." Zafira explains some more. The Bureau will try to trigger Testarossa to the point where she feels she has the better option in her hands. Fate is to encourage her mother in that direction.

"Ah, well. No." Fate shakes her head. "Job's already taken. Someone else has volunteered."

She looks at Zafira's stunned puppy face. "It's someone we can trust." She then changes the topic.

"So, what's the trigger?"

The puppy soldier checks to make sure there is nobody else listening.

"Show of force. We are going to convince her she will never ever break through."

He then tries to bring the topic back to the… 'What the fuck? Volunteer?'

#

.

Reinforce approaches and whispers into Hayate's ears. The commander's eyes go wild, and she looks up from the map she's been studying.

"What volunteer?"

"We don't know." Reinforce grimaces. "But Fate is vouching for the person. Apparently, Malware is already on the way."

Hayate slams on the desk. And once more.

"God damn it, Fate-chan! Why you always-" She stops as all the heads in the hangar have turned her way. She stews in frustration, rubbing her eyes. "Why does she do this to me?"

"What now?" Reinforce asks.

Face-palming, Hayate thinks about it for a while. Success or failure, the outcome of Malware is the diverging point; whether to go to Al Hazard or not. Up to that point, Hayate's job is already set and fixed. Push the invaders back. She sighs and stands up from her seat.

.

Hayate walks up to a semi-circle of stools in the center of the hangar. Her two division commanders are there along with the newly appointed commander of the ad-hoc division provided by Vaizen Defense. Vaizen Air's Bug Boy is also there, sitting next to vacant-eyed Nanoha. To everyone's puzzlement, a Sail Force admiral is also attending.

"Comrades, thank you for coming in such short notice." Hayate walks into the middle of the semi-circle. "I've called you here to inform you that a special mission to induce an implosion within the enemy territory is underway."

Hayate notices glances being exchanged. She continues.

"When triggered, I am promised everyone in Al Hazard will be rendered harmless and unfit for combat."

The Vaizen division's commander raises his hand to ask a question.

"Madam, what is the nature of this so-called implosion?"

"It's classified." Hayate grimaces. "Even to me. But I'm told once it's activated the clones will turn into potatoes." She changes her tone. "Anyway, that brings us to the next phase."

She gestures dramatically, a hand outstretched pointing somewhere in the distance, the other hand on her waist, her face serious.

"Operation Trigger!"

.

The officers do not react, except for Signum who looks very embarrassed. A huge map appears behind Hayate, showing the force placements; A fat red arrow originating from the Staging Dock is horizontally elongated westward, engulfing three small towns in its path, its head touching a blue rectangle named RR. On its far north is another blue rectangle named VTF. On the opposite side is the third blue rectangle named 2DIV. Hayate moves aside so her people can see the map better.

"The implosion is meant to be triggered by the sense of utter defeat in Vaizen. That means we are attacking hard. Very hard."

There is a small cheer. She points at the RR box and continues.

"Rapid Response, roll along the axis. Stomp on whatever is in your path." She points at the first town east of Caledfwlch factory. "Zafira reports this place is full of injured ones, so I don't expect much resistance here. Skip this town if you need to."

The Princess then points at the VTF box.

"Vaizen Task Force division come down from the north and cut them off in the waist."

The Vaizen's division commander acknowledges with a cheerful 'Yes, Madam!', eager to be the anvil for Rapid Response's hammer.

Hayate goes on. Her 2nd division should move a bit more and take up a position north of the industrial zone. Their mission is to pose a threat to the invaders' tail from the south, especially the Staging Dock and the town next to it.

The Princess looks around the room.

"On the ground, we are toe to toe. They have the advantage in individual mage prowess and tankiness. We have the advantage in the coordination and experience. Fight smart, and we can win this."

Bug Boy raises his hand.

"The sky is the problem, madam. We are seriously underhanded, and-" He nervously glances at expressionless Nanoha. "-and with White Devil out of the picture...if they swarm in numbers we can't keep the sky clear; There is a reason she's called the ace of the aces."

Under normal circumstances, Nanoha would be blushing and blurt out some humble lines, but she remains vacant, not really there.

"Yeah...We do with what we have." Hayate scratches her head. Nanoha becoming a potato was not a part of the plan at all. There isn't much they can do except putting some extra efforts in ground-to-air.

"We can do that." Signum chimes in. "It will help a bit, but the fundamental issue is-"

"I know. I know." Hayate cuts Signum off. The Wolkenritter general gets the sign and shuts up, but Bug Boy still goes on.

"Besides, they've started to go at Friedrich. He's a tanky beast for sure, but-"

"I know!" Hayate stomps her feet and puffs cheeks. "We do with what we have. OK?"

Bug Boy finally shuts up and signals defeat.

.

Hayate takes a deep breath to calm herself down before continuing. Once she corners the enemy to the area surrounding the Staging Dock the result of Malware becomes a factor deciding which path she takes.

"First is the continuation of Operation Trigger; we wait up to 48 hours for the signal from Al Hazard. When we get it then we make the final push."

"What's the alternative, madam?" The 2nd division's commander asks.

Hayate frowns. Even though she is the one who drafted and revised plan B, it is something she does not want to see happening for real.

Given the time required for preparing the force to take her place, let alone the abysmal cost efficiency, the higher-ups instructed Hayate to revise her plan. She has thus scraped the idea of a full-scale invasion in Al Hazard. Now she knows Testarossa's war goal, it would instead be a hard-hitting surgical strike on where it hurts the enemy the most and make the war objective unattainable. Hayate knows for sure; If there is anyone who can pull that off in one go, it has to be Signum and her division.

And so, she tells her generals of her plan B. If there is no confirmation of Malware's success within 48 hours, a marine battalion, currently getting ready to sail from an uninhabited world far away from Vaizen, will land in Al Hazard and establish a beachhead.

"Joint Task Force will mop up Vaizen, then ship Rapid Response and half the flight mages to the staging location. From there, we raid Al Hazard." Hayate informs her subordinates, trying to avoid meeting Signum's eyes. The officers murmur among themselves. Defending Vaizen is one thing but going offensive on another world is… that's something completely different.

"Is that why you are here, admiral?" Bug Boy waves to the Sail Force admiral, who nods back.

"That's right. I will be in charge of transporting you out to the invasion staging."

"But-" Signum raises her voice. "But why just Rapid Response? Besides, why not go straight from Vaizen?"

Hayate sighs.

"We still can't close the Vaizen gate, which means there remains the possibility more of them coming here while we move to the staging. We gotta keep the defense up." She then explains the situation inside the Vaizen - Al Hazard path. Sending ships down that route would be suicidal.

"I'm not sending you down that pipe." Hayate lets Signum know.

"What would be our objective in Al Hazard?" Signum gets to the main question. She notices Hayate's eyes going cold.

"Link up with the Marines, and then, by whatever means possible, destroy the Ziggurat where we believe Alicia Testarossa is located at."

Signum is horrified by what that means. Destroy dead Alicia, no more Alicia to revive. Delete the root cause of all this tragedy and crush the grieving mother's hope once and for all.

"And hopefully we kill her mother in the process, too." Hayate adds icily.

"But what about the legal matters?" Asks Bug Boy. "Testarossa still is a citizen, and your martial law command is confined to Vaizen-"

"Al Hazard is not a Bureau territory." Hayate shuts down the question with that simple fact. The officers have to think about it for some seconds before realizing what that means. Although debatable, the clone invaders walking on Vaizen soil are deemed as legit citizens and thus their wrongdoings are in principle Executive Office's job. But when they are outside the Office's jurisdiction and the Bureau's territory…

"Is that what you meant by 'to the letter'?" Signum asks, rather upset. Technically her Princess is not wrong; just being professional and trying to get the job done in a resource efficient way. Nevertheless, all this just does not feel right nor honorable to Signum. 'I go shred a little dead girl?'

Hayate doesn't answer Signum's question, her face indifferent. The officers remain gloomy silent for a minute or so. They, too, are sickened by the cruelty of this so-called alternative solution.

"Jumping in against two hundred thousand enemy-" The Vaizen division commander hesitantly breaks the silence. "Wouldn't it be practically a suicide mission?"

"Yeah. So, let's all pray Malware works."

Avoiding Signum's troubled eyes, Hayate walks off without further words. She did not want to talk about plan B. Now she needs a smoke.

.

Reinforce starts to distribute the document files detailing the Operation. Bug Boy gets his file and quickly jogs after Hayate, catching her up just as she is about to exit the hangar.

"Madam, can I have a word with you?"

Hayate stops and gives him a weak smile.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I'm guessing 'half the flight mages' going to Al Hazard means her." The Vaizen Air Wing's group leader glances at the White Devil, hunched low on her stool shaking legs nervously. "You can't send her to Al Hazard when she's like that." He takes a deep breath.

"Let me go. Vaizen Air will go with Rapid Response."

Hayate looks into the man's sincere eyes. These are not the eyes of a suicidal maniac, but of a concerned man who just wants to make sure the job gets done.

"Thank you, I will keep that in mind. But we go if and only if Malware fails." Hayate heads out the hangar gate. "So, fingers crossed it fucking works."

.

She has barely lit her cigarette when Signum walks out the hangar.

"Hey."

Hayate takes in some quick puffs before responding.

"You know I'm sending you because you are the best, right? There is no one else who can do this. You understand that, right?"

"I don't mind." Signum shrugs. "If you tell me to die fighting I die fighting."

"Don't you ever!" Hayate throws her unfinished cigarette on the ground. Then she pleads. "Please. You and me. We are not like that. Never."

The master of the Tome of the Night Sky, to whom the Wolkenritters have pledged their loyalty to, buries her head in Signum's chest. She was just nine when the four Wolkenritters barged into her life along with the Book of Darkness. Ever since then, for more than twenty years, Hayate has never considered herself as their master nor them as her servants. They are her family. Her friends. Her everything. And she has just acknowledged to Signum's face her plan to send them to a mission which is likely to be a one-way trip.

"Look, I'm not telling you to actually die in Al Hazard, OK?" Hayate looks up from the embrace. "You will come back. You, Vita, Zafira, Subaru, Ginga… everyone. Promise?"

Signum is confused. 'Isn't going to Al Hazard supposed to be the plan B? What about the plan A?'

"You know, you sound like you believe Malware or whatever it's called will fail?"

A look of annoyance passes over Hayate's face.

"There was a last-minute change. Now it's in the hands of some 'collaborator' I didn't even know existed!"

"Is that so?" Signum decides not to ask about the supposed collaborator.

"Would you trust someone who betrays her own family?"

Signum thinks about it for a while. Is she even in the position to judge?

"I don't know… remember we were deceiving you back then? But you still took us in even after you found it out?"

#

.

With a 'WOOMP!' a Sail Force frigate ship that looks exactly like Helios emerges from a large transdimensional gate wobbling over a vast flat dust land. It slowly navigates through the three mid-sized marine landing ships hovering well above the ground.

From the Bridge Captain Griffith Lowran spots the beacon designating the area for his new ship.

"Let me out once we park. I want to talk to the battalion CO." Says the Captain of a brand-new Naval Intelligence ship.

As his operators carefully maneuver the ship to the designated spot, the captain observes the marines on the ground. Tents have been set up for the men and women, but he does not see heavier gears. 'Probably all packed and stowed in the landing ships.' Griffith concludes.

These marines will be the first to land in Al Hazard. Their mission; secure a suitable landing space for the Ground Armament Service division and the accompanying Air Wing group. As the only people who have actually been to Al hazard, Captain Lowran and his crew will guide the way. Their new ship is appropriately dubbed Lighthouse to commemorate its role in its first mission. But for now, like the marines, Lighthouse and its crew are on standby, waiting for the go word from Vaizen.

#

.

The senior clone with the red ribbon steps out of the dimensional gate, carrying a large cardboard box with an equally large pink ribbon on the lid. She greets the girls manning the gate; Several dozens of sisters have been in the rotating duty of monitoring the path. Red Ribbon chitchats with her sisters, happily handing out some snacks she brought. The girls tell her mother has been informed of her coming. Red Ribbon feels tired after flying through the cold pipe the whole night, but there is no time to rest. She waves to her sisters and flies to the Ziggurat.

On her way, the red ribbon girl recalls what Onee-chan told her. Fate said it will hurt. There are sometimes where one has to hurt oneself and the loved ones because that is the right thing to do.

"Or I can just decide not to do anything, no?" Asked the younger sister. She remembers the sad look on the face, which the broken mask could not hide.

"You can't. Not doing anything would be giving up on the people you love. That hurts even more at the end."

Red Ribbon grits her teeth. For now, she is going to deceive her mother and her sisters. What she does will weaken them, so they are unable to continue the fight.

"But they will eventually recover." Onee-chan said confidently to ease the sister's mind. But Red Ribbon is nervous. She feels like she is going to throw up as the Ziggurat comes closer and closer in her view.

.

She takes a deep breath before entering the throne room.

"Mother, are you well?" The red ribbon girl greets her mother.

"Did you bring it?" Testarossa asks. When the girls told her what they had found, at first, she was skeptical. It was just too convenient. But then again, Caledfwlch hiding their research results is something that they would really do. For now, she has decided to postpone the judgment until having read the paper.

The senior girl with the ribbon puts down the gift box. She approaches the throne, hands over the datapad, and takes a few steps back.

"We found a woman. Arendi archive director? At a place called Caled- Caledf-"

"RnD. And Caledfwlch." The mother corrects the clone girl with a slight irritation in her tone.

Red Ribbon goes over the circumstance the datapad was found, which Testarossa has already heard from the girls in Vaizen during today's morning reporting session.

"I'm indeed intrigued."

Precia Testarossa manipulates the datapad. Several holo-displays pop up. She quickly reads through. She has to do a double-take on the name of the project lead.

"Who would have imagined Scaglietti would sell himself out to corporate idiots." She scoffs. But the name holds some value. 'Jail Scaglietti worked on this?' She keeps reading, immersed. Suddenly she comes to her senses. She turns the displays off and tosses the datapad onto a small table next to the throne.

"I don't need this. We are almost there anyway."

"But mother-"

"You've done what you came for. Now go back to Vaizen."

The senior Alicia clone picks up the gift box, head hung low, disappointed.

"Mother, I've also brought presents for Alicia." Her eyes brighten up. "The girls were very happy to-"

But the mother waves her off not even looking at the girl.

"Leave it there. Now go."

The big box in her arms, the red ribbon girl stands there in silence, with head hung low again. It takes some seconds for Testarossa to realize the girl has not left.

"What are you-"

To her surprise the clone girl gets on the knees, begging.

"Mother, please! Sisters are dying for her sake! At least...at least allow me to give their best wishes to Alicia in person! Please!"

Testarossa is taken aback. She carefully observes the kneeling masked girl; eyes are bloodshot, and knuckles are bruised. There are cracks and dents and mud on the mask, holes and singes and possibly dried blood splatters on the dirty overall. The short blond hairs are unkempt and matted contrasting the pretty polka dot ribbon. The mother suddenly feels a certain pang in her heart. 'What is this?' She slowly stands up and heads towards to backroom.

"Just this once. Follow me."

.

They enter the dark lit backroom, where Alicia is floating inside a cylindrical container, forever sleeping.

The clone girl kneels and takes out the contents of the gift box. She carefully lays them down in front of the container; a simple black dress, a box of chocolates, a pink ribbon, a box of crayons, a pair of yellow dance shoes, a stuffed doll, a toy train-

'I'm sorry, Alicia.' She prays silently. 'I'm really sorry, but you will understand, won't you? You won't be mad.'

Precia Testarossa stands behind the masked girl, watching. As the presents are laid out one by one, her chest heaves. Alicia had wanted a little sister, but that monster of a brat was no good. But this one… and her sisters… They at least care about Alicia. The old mother catches herself almost petting on the girl's head. She quickly withdraws the hand.

The masked girl stands up and turns around, with a yellow artificial flower clasped in her hands.

"And this is for you, mother." She offers the flower. "No matter what, it won't wither; truly beautiful magic."

With a slightly shaking hand, the old mother accepts the fake flower.

#

.

It's late in the afternoon in Vaizen, and a lone surveillance orb emerges from the gate at the ruined Staging Dock, much to the nearby girls' puzzlement.

Fate has been waiting, sitting on the ground not far from the gate, munching on a bag of potato chips, with Zafira by her side.

"One orb." She notes.

Zafira stands up, nods to his companion, then trots off to a distance trying to find a secluded area.

.

Half an hour later Reinforce approaches Hayate.

"Malware receipt is confirmed."

Hayate looks up from the report she's been reading.

"Could it be a trap?"

As far as she is concerned, the Bureau has nothing to base their trust in the so-called collaborator girl. All they have is Fate's words, who by the way, sort of forced the Bureau to fight it out in Vaizen in the first place, and now mingles with her sisters on the other side of the front line… This is not going to look good on paper unless carefully worded and thoroughly explained. Hayate can already picture a group of hungry auditors salivating over these facts in the coming months.

Thinking out aloud, the general tasked to end the war weighs her options.

"If it was… what would we lose?"

If the girl talked, Testarossa would know the Bureau wants to do something about Al Hazard. The old hag would then step up the alert level, which would make it harder for the marines. She would also logically conclude the Bureau is afraid of the clone army in Al Hazard coming to Vaizen…

"But then again, it's kinda given we don't want them here. They are invading us, after all."

Hayate thinks some more. Trap or not, she still needs to drive the invaders off from Vaizen.

"That is true." Reinforce agrees to the obvious.

"Fate better be right." Says Hayate through gritted teeth as she punches some buttons to call her unit commanders. "I hope she's right."

The faces of the officers under Hayate's command appear in front of her.

"Everyone, Malware is installed, and we move onto the next step. Operation Trigger is a go." She stands up and gestures dramatically.

"Unleash the-"

"Yes, madam! We attack!"

The officers interrupt Hayate, who stuck awkwardly in her dramatic pose, turns ember red. She stomps her feet, annoyed.

"Every single time!"

.

Major General Signum is leaning on the armor plate of her command vehicle, sipping coffee. In front of her floats the faces of her junior officers.

"Anvil and Punchkid break though. Ginga, I want you to follow behind and mop up. I'm moving the Raptor regiment, too. They will be my reserve."

The colonel nods. Signum continues.

"Caledfwlch is the first objective. Princess has promised them they will get it back as soon as possible."

"Those towns after Caledfwlch…" Subaru asks. "Do you want us to go house to house, or-"

"Leave that to Ginga. You and Vita keep going, OK?" Signum nods to Agito who then loads and shares a map through the communication magic. Whatever Rapid Response pushes back will meet the Vaizen Task Force division coming down from the north.

"If all goes smoothly, you should come in contact with VTF about halfway to the Staging Dock." Signum concludes.

"Right. We will be careful not to shoot them." Says Vita, making notes on the map from her side. She looks up as Subaru asks with a grinning face.

"Permission to scare them a bit?"

Signum, Ginga, and Vita collectively face-palm.

"Hell, no!"