The Southeast Military Base

49:21

Officer RY4N, N04H and LUK3 are standing in the Great Leader's office. RY4N seems to project all the photos took by the recruit this whole time while the others wait for him. LUK3 came only to support N04H though, as he seems a bit down for a reason he doesn't really understand.

[RY4N]-...You sure did take a lot of photos, N04H.

[N04H]-Sorry...

[RY4N]-Don't apologise, I don't blame you. It was our fault we didn't think about that problem before we put everything in action. You only obeyed to the orders that I gave you. I'm just surprised of how many you managed to take.

[LUK3]-Yeah, little guy! You did a great job! Maybe from now on, Boss will let you come with us without that stupid decade training!

But even with all these positive words, N04H is still sad, and of course, LUK3 notices that and he gets a bit concerned about him too. He just doesn't see why he would be this way after all, since everything went so smoothly. Doesn't he want to work with them anymore?

[LUK3]-N04H? Why are you sad? You should be happy! You showed us all what you are capable of!

[N04H]-...

But he doesn't respond, as he waits for RY4N to finish everything, nothing more. All can LUK3 do is to stay by his side and look at him worried. Meanwhile, RY4N continues to look into the photos, until he finally finds the strange hologram N04H found.

[RY4N]-What is this...?

[N04H]-It was... hidden in a drawer of a desk... From what I've read quickly, they are suppose to be documents written by the M soldiers regarding their future plans.

[RY4N]-Then I think we found it! Maybe these are the documents CHE5TER was searching for! Now we know where we can find the soldiers in the next few days!

[N04H]-...

RY4N was excited as he knew these photos were what his brother wanted in the first place. All the documents were in front of him. And yet, the happiness didn't last long as he finally got to the last photo. As he was reading it in more details, it was like his whole life crashed before his own eyes. This is why N04H was feeling so down ever since he got back from the building. This is why he didn't want to talk that much.

So, tears were falling from his eyes, no one saw him cry like this before. LUK3 didn't even know what was happening at this point, so he got close to the Officer in a hurry and started to read what was in front of him. But even he got upset, no matter what happened all these years between these two... as they've witnessed the death of the ruler only by reading a bunch of words.

And as the world crushes him further, RY4N was looking deadly at nothing, remembering a memory from some days ago, what he thought that those were the last words his little brother told him.

"[RY4N]-...So you are going to leave us now, huh?

[CHE5TER]-It's not like I'm leaving forever, Brother. You know that I always come back no matter the situation. Even when we were kids, I used to do this to you and our father. Don't you remember?

[RY4N]-Those were different times, CHE5TER. You were leaving only to explore this city by yourself, not the City of Above.

[CHE5TER]-What's the difference anyway? I was getting in all bunch of problems in both of the cities. But I always came back home, dead or alive.

[RY4N]-...

And in this memory... RY4N is watching his brother getting ready to leave, as he says his last words before a long goodbye.

[RY4N]-...Can you promise me something, though?

[CHE5TER]-What is it?

[RY4N]-Would you... take care of yourself?

Then, as CHE5TER hears these words, He cannot help but crack a smile on His face. No matter in which case this situation was, the brother who remains behind will always be concerned about the other. It was a bad habit of His to leave for a good time the ones that He loves ever since He was little, but the thing is that now He is only doing it to protect them all. The enemies already took His father, why would He stay and watch them take His brother as well?

[CHE5TER]-...It is my word."

03.04.1642

The Council of the Underground City

23:56

Inside the room are every Leader and Officer waiting for the meeting to start, but outside are Officer KYR4 and Officer RY4N, standing together, waiting for someone. No matter how hard it is, RY4N still hopes that his brother will come, that He didn't die as the Colonels said. He still hopes that He is the unbeatable child he knew ever since they were kids and that nobody took his last family member away from him.

But he waits in vain. The ruler didn't come, nor with His disguise, nor as His true self. All he can do now is to enter the room alongside Officer KYR4 and lie about the situation regarding the Great Leader, as he did one year ago as well. Everyone greets the son of the Great Leader, but starts questioning about the father immediately after.

[EM3RY]-Young Master RY4N, may I ask you where the Great Leader is? You usually come together at the meetings.

[RY4N]-He is... taking a break for a while. We will need to continue these meetings without Him until He decides that He is ready to come back.

[XANTH3]-..."A break" as in what He did a while ago, or a smaller one?

[M4EK0]-I don't think it's a good idea for Him to take a break right now, Young Master RY4N. Especially with what's happening in the City of Above.

[XANTH3]-If anything, it will only bring more chaos to these events. At this point, we can already start to make the decisions on our own.

[M1SH4M]-Don't be childish, XANTH3! If the Great Leader considers that He needs a break, we should respect His decision.

[XANTH3]-I'm just saying that the last time Master M4TTH3W took a "break" resulted in a complete mess regarding all the plans. Not to mention the "break" He took after His son's death and came back as a complete new person.

As everyone argues about the situation, RY4N is only looking deeply at the empty space on the chair in which the ruler was always sitting, thinking only about Him. He then closes a bit his eyes to clear up his mind, or maybe to try and wake up from the nightmare he thinks he has. Yet there are too many problems to this whole thing that crosses his mind right now, and the biggest problem from them all is just one question: who will take the title now?

As it happened before, when the Great Leader M4TTH3W LENKOV died, there was no will left by Him to inform His people who will be the next descendant of the title. But He had two sons from whom to choose. RY4N wasn't ready for this title, he never trained nor stood to learn about everything that comes with it. CHE5TER was already training by the time the old ruler died, so His master chose Him to be the descendant. But the problem was that the death was too early, so CHE5TER wasn't ready for the title either. He didn't even manage to get to the adult age, as He was only 14 when this happened. But it was an obligation after all and He had to accept it for the sake of the people from the underground. His master let Him take the title, but also have two years of learning about it before He can put anything in action. So, He became a true Great Leader at the age of 16, when He finally hit the adult age.

Now, things are way different. CHE5TER doesn't have any successors as His father did, and before anything, He clearly said that He will never let His brother take this role, no matter what happens. So now, the descendant line is falling apart in his mind, and not only that, but also the title itself. The Leader title of the group will clearly belong to RY4N as CHE5TER was already planning on preparing His brother for this role, but the Great Leader role has no potential candidate.

This problem didn't actually happen for the first time now, it was discussed one year ago as well. Fortunately back then, the Great Leader managed to get into His position back and led everyone until now. But back then, at least they had Him with them the entire time, knowing His condition very well. Now, nobody even knows if the body was left behind or not, or if what the two Colonels said is actually true. Probably that's why people will still hope to see Him come back, at least until they know for sure that He is dead.

And of course RY4N hopes that too. Not only CHE5TER was the Great Leader of the city, but also his own brother, who raised by his side all this time and never let him go. To others, the LENKOV family is just a bloodline, but to him, it was HIS family, HIS childhood in which his story started. He could endure the death of his father that time, but losing his sibling as well is just too much for him... especially for an Original with a close Error. All that they can do is to hope that this isn't the actual truth and that it was hidden from them this entire time, but if it turns out to be real, they have to prepare everything by themselves to outcome these desperate situations.

The Southeast Military Base

25:33

And after the Officers got back to their base, we witness now MY4, who was sitting by the side of the bed that she used to treat the Great Leader, in the room specially made for Him one year ago. Before anything, it was a simple room in which someone could stay and call it "home" if the person didn't have where to stay in the first place, similar to the one LUK3 has, only for it to become a room in which the ruler could rest. She was simply looking at that empty bed, as she was waiting for Him to come back to her. CHE5TER wasn't only the boss in her eyes after all, He was more even back when she first came here. It was like destiny made them to be each other's lost piece, piece that covers the empty hole in their soul that they didn't even know about, completing it as a whole. That's why she cares about Him so much, that's why she is so worried every time she sees Him. But now, the only thing remaining behind was an empty room, in which she sits alone.

RY4N was looking at her from the entrance of the room. He knew about everything between them, as sometimes he was even jealous of her and how much He cared about her, at how much He used to talk with her compared to him. But in the end, it was this little thing that made Him happy, so why destroy it?

[MY4]-He... didn't come back... did He?

Silence can always be an answer as well though, as the Officer doesn't respond to her question. Of course she stays quiet for a while, she was devastated when she first heard about this too.

[MY4]-...I told Him that this might happen if He continues like this. I told Him so many times... Why didn't He want to listen?

[RY4N]-...Because he acted the same as when we were kids. It wasn't unexpected for him to make this kind of decisions, but I didn't expect this to happen so soon either...

They both stay a bit silent. It is a hard time for both of them to endure the situation after all.

[MY4]-So what will happen now...?

[RY4N]-...Do you think that I won't fight for his desire anymore? We will continue everything no matter how hard it gets for us. Both of the previous Great Leaders wished to bring peace among their people, why would I stay in the dark doing nothing at all and watch their wishes fade alongside them? If my brother wanted to end everything, that's what I'm going to do, with or without him.

[MY4]-...Wasn't revenge what put Him in this situation?

[RY4N]-I'm not seeking revenge... only to make his desire come true. As my last words to him.