(Entering Murata Himeko’s perspective…)
Before Theresa and Raiden Mei faced the Herrscher of Ice, he needed to work with Dr. Tesla to open the electromagnetic barrier while drawing as much of Schicksal’s attention as possible.
Just before the operation began, he noticed Theresa staring at him, her expression incredibly complicated.
“What’s wrong, Theresa? That look on your face… it’s pretty rare to see.”
Theresa stayed silent for a few seconds before finally speaking.
“…Himeko, your body… you know it better than I do. I understand that once you’ve decided something, even I probably can’t change your mind… So, take care of yourself.”
Not long after, Himeko and Tesla left the Third Air Harbor. According to the plan, they needed to shut down the nearest Honkai reactor—this was the most efficient way to effectively disable the electromagnetic barrier.
They hadn’t gone far when Murata Himeko spotted a robotic patrol unit moving along its designated route up ahead. She immediately looked for cover and hid.
“Dr. Tesla, it looks like we’ve more or less entered Schicksal’s defense perimeter. Any battle plan in mind?”
“A battle plan? I was thinking we could call Otto on his private line, ask him to shut down all of Schicksal’s Honkai reactors, roll out a red carpet to welcome us to our destination, and pop open a few bottles of champagne to celebrate. What do you think of that plan?”
Himeko chuckled. She hadn’t expected this Dr. Tesla from Anti-Entropy to have such a sense of humor, still finding the energy to crack jokes in such a tense situation.
“What other plan could there be? We just smash everything in sight to smithereens!”
“Heh, I actually like that plan.”
With that, Himeko drew the greatsword from her back and charged straight out.
“Illegal intrusion detected. Defense system, acti—”
The robot closest to Himeko didn’t even get its defense mode online before she cleaved it in two.
The mechs behind it tried to launch a flank attack, but what awaited them were the iron fists of a Titan mech. Due to the difference in technological paths, Schicksal’s mech forces were outmatched by Anti-Entropy’s in practically every way. Dr. Tesla didn’t even need to perform any particularly complex maneuvers before taking down over a dozen Schicksal mechs. And her own mech—well, I wouldn’t exactly call it battered and scarred; let’s just say it was more or less in pristine condition.
After clearing the mech forces in that area, they came across a fork in the path, so the two decided to split up and search. Along the way, no matter what stood in her path, Himeko cut through it with a single swing of her sword. With that kind of fighting style, Himeko quickly broke through several defensive lines.
But then, she realized a very important problem: to shut down a Honkai reactor, you first had to find it. And right now, she was lost.
Fortunately, after some searching, she finally managed to re-establish contact with Tesla.
“This place is way more of a maze than I imagined… How are things on your end?”
What answered her was Tesla’s slightly annoyed expression.
“Alright, I’ve already hacked into the system and locked down the Honkai reactor’s location. Much better than a certain young lady who’s running around in circles, anyway.”
Himeko felt a bit helpless in the face of Tesla’s sarcasm.
“Is your temper always this fiery?”
Tesla’s tone suddenly softened quite a bit.
“Not really. It’s just that I especially dislike fools like you. Because you don’t have much time left, you volunteer for the most dangerous missions.”
“Wanting to sacrifice yourself to pave the way for your comrades—people like you are so simple-minded, it’s easy to see right through you.”
Himeko asked calmly,
“So… did you decide to act together with me just to tell me all that?”
Tesla’s voice shot up a full octave.
“Don’t flatter yourself! I’ve just met an even bigger fool than you before! No, more than one! People like you… you just irritate me!”
“Alright… But Tesla, I still have to thank you…”
“Watch out, enemy reinforcements are incoming!”
Tesla stared at the data in front of her and pondered for a moment.
“This core here… looks like we might be able to make use of it… Ha, perfect, just as I thought—it’s connected to the main network… Himeko, buy me some time!”
“This girl, sure knows how to boss people around.”
Though Himeko muttered this under her breath, she still stepped forward and threw herself into battle with the approaching reinforcements. Even as a strange sensation spread throughout her entire body, her sword swings didn’t slow down one bit.
When the sweat on her forehead was dripping down without pause, Tesla’s voice finally came through again.
“Success! The Honkai reactor is shut down, and the electromagnetic barrier has disappeared! Retreat now! But judging from the situation, we can’t go back the way we came. Follow me!”
The two quickly withdrew, but the mech forces behind them pursued relentlessly.
“Turn left, then right!”
Himeko felt as though Schicksal Headquarters was one giant maze. Without Tesla’s guidance, she’d probably have gotten lost all over again.
They eventually came to a stop in front of a building that looked like a laboratory, the sound of fierce battle echoing from behind them.
It turned out the mech forces hadn’t given up the chase—there was a swarm of Honkai beasts straight ahead. Thanks to Himeko and Tesla’s nimble maneuvering, they had successfully redirected the enemy’s targeting lock from themselves right onto the Honkai beasts.
“Whew, finally shook those guys off. Let’s rest here for a little while.”
Because Tesla’s mech was too large to fit inside the building up ahead, she had to disembark.
Perhaps because her nerves had suddenly relaxed after such a prolonged battle, Himeko felt a rush of blood and a metallic sweetness in her throat. She coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“Looks like my time really is running out…”
Noticing that after stepping out of her mech Tesla seemed not to have seen her but was instead drawn to something inside the laboratory, Himeko quickly wiped the traces of blood from the corner of her mouth and strode over to catch up.
Ahead of them stood an ordinary lab bench, and on it sat a single reagent bottle containing a red liquid.
“HSN-B46 reagent… Something about it being placed here feels really out of place…”
Just as Tesla was absorbed in her study, two scarlet feathers appeared out of nowhere in the air. They drifted gently on the breeze and ultimately landed with perfect precision on top of both their heads.
A wave of irresistible drowsiness instantly swept over the two of them…
