Redmont, Serisis.

6:30 p.m. 21st Banem 1092.

Atop the city rooftops, Kashi yawned as he put the finishing touches on the final painting for the day. Just as he expected, he received a prompt. Unfortunately, it wasn't the one he wanted. The daeben took off his headphones and placed them in his inventory as he examined the prompt.

Kashi smiled as he read the prompt. As expected, he knew the Dimensional Artist class had to have a better mode of travel than burning paintings. With this [Dimension Piercer] skill, he did not have to worry about painting all the time. As long as he left his sigil in a hidden location, he could always return at any time.

Eager to test it out, Kashi immediately set to work drawing the Maggot's logo, the howling wolf, on the rooftop. Kashi had drawn this logo so many times, it was mostly muscle memory at this point. Within a couple of seconds, a meter-tall howling wolf head decorated the rooftop.

Kashi placed his hand on the sigil, and then instinctively said, "[Lock]" Vwooom! "Damn!" cursed Kashi as he was blasted off the roof by a massive gale. The daeben groaned as he crashed onto the streets below, and accidentally upset a lady's stall. "Sorry!" Without missing a beat, he tossed a coin purse to the stunned woman and then dashed into the streets. Within a blink of an eye, he was gone from view.

Meanwhile, while Kashi escaped, several brave warriors and security soldiers jumped onto nearby roofs, to examine the strange phenomenon. Luckily, a learned magician quickly realized what was happening and stated, "That gale isn't wind, but mana." Pointing at the sigil, he said, "It's being absorbed by that Sigil. Judging by the amount of mana it's absorbing, it must be something powerful."

A guard nearby frowned. "Is it dangerous?"

"I don't think so. The energy is stable, so I don't think it's a bomb. But it doesn't hurt to be careful."

The guard nodded and then ordered his subordinates to evacuate the area. Suddenly, the mana gale subsided, which allowed them to get a full view of the sigil. The guard raised a brow in shock as he stared at the howling wolf... "...Isn't that?"

Watching from a distance, Kashi inwardly groaned. Since the guard recognized the symbol, he was bound to receive an earful from Leila later. Ugh... well, at least, now he knew he couldn't just [Lock] anywhere willy-nilly. The commotion would draw everyone from far and near. Such things only worked as stealth mechanics.

Kashi, satisfied with his discovery, tugged on his hood and then rushed to Redmont Manor. The daeben confirmed his identity at the gate, and then made his way to his room, releasing a huge sigh of relief as he shut the door behind him.

"You look like you've been busy." Kashi looked over to the dresser, where Lunette sat, working on putting up her hair. The beautiful songstress regarded the daeben with a teasing smile. "What did you do?"

"Haha..." Kashi weakly laughed, choosing not to answer. Instead, he walked over to and then faceplanted into the bed. The daeben after a brief respite turned over and then craned his neck to look at Lunette. "Where are you going?"

Lunette let out an exasperated sigh as she glared at Kashi. "I knew you would forget. Leila-chan announced it remember? There's a ball tonight. I was invited to perform."

Kashi's eyes lit up as he sat up. "You'll be performing?"

"Mmhmm," Lunette confirmed with a smile as she placed the final hairpin to clasp her hair in place. "It was a personal request from three kings. There's no way I would refuse."

"Heeeh..." mused Kashi. "New song, or old?"

Lunette rolled her eyes as she chuckled and asked, "Would you know the difference?"

Kashi, rather than speak, took out a pair of headphones from his inventory. Then, before Lunette could say a word, he also dumped dozens of tiny cases on the table. Lunette's eyes went wide. These cases stored the song crystals – like CD cases in the real world, but for small crystals. If Kashi had this many, then he most likely had everything she'd done in recent times.

"Oh..." Lunette mumbled as she felt her cheeks heat up. "You got them all?"

Kashi nodded as he returned the headphones and cases. "I love listening to music when working, and you're the best I've ever heard." If it wasn't for Kashi's straight face, Lunette would have been sure he was throwing empty flattery. But the daeben's gaze was earnest and true, not brokering the slightest doubt. Oblivious to Lunette's thoughts, Kashi flashed a thumbs-up as he said, "Really, you're the best. I guess it helps that you can play every instrument perfectly."

"Yeah, it does," Lunette replied with a sheepish smile. "I was designed that way. Along with Shadow. He doesn't like singing though."

"Heeeh? Shadow can sing?" Kashi's eyes lit up with a sinister light as he began to imagine a thousand ways to use this information to his advantage.

Lunette rolled her eyes as she rose to her feet. "It's almost time. Are you going to escort me... or?"

"Give me a second." Kashi quickly switched his outfits to the dinner jacket from the previous night. It was much more formal, and befitting a ball. He gave himself a once-over, and then, satisfied with what he saw, walked over to Lunette and held out his hand.

Lunette blushed as she linked her arms with his and then made his way out of the room.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, a tense Syèl knocked on a certain room's door. The halben took a deep breath, steeling his nerves as the door opened with a slight creak. On the other side, true to character, Shokō appeared dressed in a handsome noble attire.

On a normal day, Syèl would have thrown a friendly jab at her dress choice, but not this day. This time, both he and Shokō wore complicated expressions as they knew they had both reached a critical moment in their relationship.

Syèl, realizing it was not too late to turn back, suddenly hesitated. Why was he here? Did he really need to know the truth? What if he couldn't handle it? What if the truth broke them? However, just when he was about to walk away, he suddenly heard her voice, 'Live.'

That's right. Syèl knew he couldn't keep running away from the truth. He owed it to Henri. The halben took a deep breath and then looked at Shokō. "I saw it in your eyes, back when I told you about Henri and after we fought. You feel guilty. I recognize it because I have that same look in my eyes every morning." Syèl breathed in and then asked the dreaded question, "What do you know? Why do you feel responsible?"

Shokō trembled, hesitation and fear apparent in her eyes. "Come in." However, she steeled her resolve and stepped aside to let Syèl in the room. Once Syèl entered, she closed the door and then leaned against it as if seeking support from the hard, immovable wall. Moments later, she released a sigh, and muttered, "I knew I would have to tell you everything eventually. I just hoped I would have a bit more time."

Syèl kept quiet as he watched her tense expression. He knew how difficult it could be to get the truth out. Especially when it involved a painful past you wanted to forget. All he could do to support her right now was wait.

After some time passed, Shokō managed to bring herself together. She wiped a tear from her eye as she said, "Admin Code: RD06072012, Requesting System Override."

Syèl's brow shot up. "Did you say Adm—" Before he could finish, a disembodied voice suddenly echoed around the room.

'Genesis Acknowledges Request. State Reason for Override Please.'

"Whose voice is that?" Syèl asked as he glanced around, pondering on the voice's origin. "And that name: Genesis. I know it from somewhere."

Shokō glanced at Syèl, and then bit her lip. "Requesting Temporary Real-Body Simulation."

"Real-body simu—what's that supposed to be?"

'Genesis Acknowledges Request. Reason Determined Not to Affect Surrounding Gameplay. Temporary Real-Body Simulation Approved. Duration: 30 Seconds. Do you require a time extension?'

"No," Shokō confirmed, and then added with a downcast sigh, "That will be more than enough."

'Acknowledged. Please Standby for Physique Alteration. Warning: This Might Sting a Little.'

Shokō looked at Syèl and sent him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. It's just joking." Following those words, she was enveloped by a bright light that prevented Syèl from seeing the transformation. Eventually, the light receded, and Shokō reappeared.

Shokō, like Kashi and Syèl, did not bother with the character creator, and as a result, the differences between her real self and her avatar was negligible. Unfortunately, this only made Syèl more uncomfortable, because it meant that the reason she switched to her real body was far beyond a skin-deep resemblance.

Syèl had a thousand questions, but he just settled with, "Who, or what are you exactly?"

"What..." Shokō muttered with a bitter smile as she looked at Syèl. "What indeed." She took out a blade from her inventory and hovered it over her palm. "When you were experimented on, you stated the scientists used a dark-green solution to inject you guys. A virus, you called it." A sad, dejected smile played on her lips as she said, "Have you never wondered how they made the virus?"

Pa!

Syèl grabbed Shokō's right arm without thinking. His heart violently shuddered, beating so loudly, he swore the entire Serisis could hear it. Syèl did not know why, but he was suddenly scared. How long had it been since he had been scared? Yes. It was the first time he had to contemplate a life without Henri. A life without the sun, forever trapped in the shadows.

Gritting his teeth, Syèl said, "Stop. I don't want to know. Our pasts don't matter anymore."

"No, Taiga," Saeko said as her eyes welled up with tears. "It does matter. You need to know the truth. You all do."

"No! Wait!"

Schlick!

Before Taiga could react, Saeko grabbed the blade with her left hand and violently slid her hand down the hilt.

Drip... Drip... Drip...

"No." Colour drained from Taiga's face as he stared at the green blood draining down the sword's blade.

Drip... Drip... Drip...

"No." Taiga staggered backward, disbelief coloring his features as he stared in horror at the silently weeping Saeko.

Drip... Drip... Drip...

"No. No. No. No. No. No. No." Taiga repeatedly chanted in denial as he grabbed his head and paced around the room. "This can't be happening."

"I'm afraid it is," Saeko weakly confirmed, her words nearly choking in her throat.

"No." Taiga violently shook his head to fight off memories of those mechanical arms stabbing into his friends' brains. Their screams as the virus wreaked havoc throughout their bodies.

Saeko suddenly looked so fragile, like a passing breeze could topple her. By this point, she could barely see through her tears as she affirmed, "This is who I am, Taiga."

"No. You're lying. You are lying."

Saeko violently shook her head, nearly breaking down as she asserted, "Remember when you asked how I could control multiple bodies at once? This is how. You can do it too, so you should know. That's not something a human should be capable of."

Taiga suddenly froze. He then turned to Saeko, a dangerous glare in his eyes as he asked, "What are you saying?"

"You already figured it out," accused Saeko as she rested against the door, lest she collapsed. She balled her hand into a fist, and then, confessed as she regarded the halben with a self-deprecating smile, "...I'm not human."

A/N: FINALLY! The truth begins to slowly reveal itself... But wait! There's more... hehehehehe...