The lights were dark.  The corridor was dim.  The darkest innermost recesses of Mrigranka could sometimes seem like they were taken straight out of a horror movie.  The resident evil was silent... then sometimes, the moans would begin.  Cries for freedom would echo through the air.  Another cry, "Let me out... Someone please let me out!"  But they were all bounded.  Their true bounds were not the padded walls, the locked doors, their prison cells, or the mounds of security measures there to keep them in place, but were the sheer negativity of their own emotions, controlled by the psycho power and kept in place by the drives.

Looking over to the censor in the hands of her pet monkey, Tams, the dark-skinned Doll, Olvere, nodded towards the her Japanese companion.  Both were wearing the dark leotard and the tell-tale ties and caps of the Doll uniform, as always, and behind them were two of the top scientists within Shadowlaw, Doctor Senoh and Professor Irvine.

In the darkness of these reaches, all sorts of contained life that was once wild existed.  Olvere did rather enjoy going down there.  To investigate the myriad of life, to see how far a living thing can go...

It was... however, cruel, but Olvere was tired about the stagnation of things.  Deep within the inner recesses of Shadowlaw where the 'ubers' were kept, she had to be on her toes.  Even held by the psycho drive, these beings were unpredictable.  Perhaps one could break free, and if she were to be inferior, her life would be over.

Danger danger?  Yes!!!  Definitely an exciting place to be!

She had gone alone, this time, leaving the PETA affiliates waiting on the outside.  Yesmen had instructions to check on her if she radioed for help.  She'd probably be able to last long enough for it to arrive if she needed it.  She tried not to overestimate herself, but Olvere did have a knack for survival.  Besides, it might be too suspicious for Irvine and Senoh to see her randomly able to command a whole bunch of other men to come down with her on a whim.

Truth be told, though, it really wasn't THAT dangerous at all.  So far, history has proven that with a very few rare exceptions (Akiko Tendo, thank you very much.  Walking holocaust WAS an apt term for the destruction THAT caused), the Psycho Drives and control were extremely reliable when it came to keeping these abominations, who got the short end of the evolutionary mental stick, in touch.  So Olvere, her monkey now armed with a flashlight, led the way down into the depths of the dark halls, moans and breathing continuing to echo from the locked doors around.  There weren't any guards down there, but none were necessary.  The psycho drive was all that needed to be guarded.  Most human guards would probably have gone insane from having to be down there listening to the wails of those that got damned, anyway.  A regret... how it happened to them.  Olvere blamed the failed experiments on the Shadowlaw scientists.  They got sloppy.  Janet was able to keep any nasty incidents from happening to anyone with the Doll project, but everyone else?  Mutants, freaks, things so much in torture from their existance that they literally screamed out for you to kill them... As for the 'legendary creatures', Baxter Corp probably would have came and killed them if Shadowlaw hadn't taken them in, anyway.  Those things were out of control, and Shadowlaw had now brought them into control via the Psycho Drives.  If it were up to Olvere, maybe she would have attempted to reform them, as opposed to using them as tools.  She had to feel sorry for them in that respect, but there was nothing she could do.  She had to keep her head screwed on straight.  She had other goals.  Ones that were actually accomplishable.  And she wasn't going to turn against Shadowlaw just for a few caged creatures when all around the world, the environment was dying due to humankind as a whole.  Nothing was perfect, after all, nor would it ever be, so leeway had to be given.

Besides, the one they were seeing was an experiment.  An artificial creation.  Something not natural.

In front of the door marked with the inscription, "D 530", Olvere checked Tam's psycho sensor again.  Precautions are always a good thing, or else you could have a crazy animal snapping you in twine ("You are very wise in your cautiousness, Miss Olivia!"  "Danger danger!", Yesmen and Goodly would respectively say).

The door silently slid open.

Within the room, there must have been at least thirty computer monitors strewn across the room.  All of them were playing retro old old old school computer games.  From Millipede to Tacman to Pig Pug to... Mrs. Tacman, someone managed to play them all simultaneously at the same time.  Olvere took note, however, about how not a single one of them had minesweeper on it.

All of the games had a scores at the highest score possible, to the point where their number indicators wouldn't go any higher.

Irvine looked around at the computers, and was not impressed.

"BAH!  Eez thzis all?  One can not reach its potential when one does nothing but repress into one's own self!!!"

Senoh shrugged.  "It's a robot, Professor Irvine.  Or at least... perhaps most of it is."

"Eez it no wonder why it doez not do as vell as zee unit, Bruticus!?!?!?  You did not prezerve zee most important aspect of zee unit!!!  Zis one is a failure.  It can not seek zee mate szo it has no motivation!!!"

Within all the scrap heap in the floor, something began to arise.  A cyborg unit, XY-V10.  One of the attempts to make a new model.  Olvere did not know its name back when it was once a man, nor did she really care to find out.  One's old name is best reserved only for those who have an attachment to the old life associated with that name, after all.

This one... was a mass of mostly whirling gears and nuts and bolts (and not the kind of nuts Irvine would have wanted it to have).  However, the eyes could still be seen, as well as the deteriorated rotten skin around it... and perhaps in other bits and pieces around the body which weren't covered in metal.  A look in the eyes revealed a lot more than a lack of motivation.  They revealed a tormented soul.  A puppet who was in constant pain, and never got to see the light of day unless Shadowlaw decided to let him out, probably to destroy something.

"On the contrary, while this one takes an extra amount of psycho power to use due to the insanity that the cybernetic process caused to it, I do believe that it can be more effective than Bruticus can."  Senoh rubbed his hands together, then cackled some silly mad scientist cackle.  "Can you imagine the destruction!?  We just have yet to put up more Psycho Drives, so we can fully control this one.  Right now, we're only able to keep it in a secure stasis, though just a little further..."

Irvine walked up to it, took out that stupid spear that he once loaned to Olvere (what a fiasco that was), and proceeded to poke the creature before them.  It quickly jumped up to its feet and roared at the professor.

"Hmm... it gives zee reaction..."  Irvine nodded.  "Very well.  I thzink we can continue with zees one.  Did you show it to Janet?"

Suddenly, all of the computer monitors turned black as words began to flash across the screen.  Olvere and Aurora immediately entered their battle stances, but nothing came, besides the messages and an oral soft defeated whispering hallowed voice.

"Don't think I don't remember... what she said to me..."

Looking at the words on the screen, Senoh nodded to Irvine.  "Well, I think that answers the question.  Yes, Janet was here quite a bit earlier.  She seemed to be quite in a bad mood, though.  Latest evaluation reports have shown that the newest clones straight from the factory are performing better and more controlled than the originals ever were.  Janet's argument was that, unlike these things, the Dolls didn't need a Psycho Drive to keep them under control.  They merely needed it as a life channel to maintain their energies, and even that is being fixed fast enough.  I don't believe that makes up for the lack of sheer power these 'ubers' have, though.  I gave her the evaluation reports and told her to look them over, which should prove ME right, soon enough, I imagine."

More words flashed across the screen.

"Dolls Dolls Dolls Toys Toys Toys Playthings Objects Dolls..."

"Erm, yes, as you can see, what she said ticked off our little friend here quite a bit."  Senoh added.

"Not Friend!  @$#@ You.  Not Friend.  @$#@ you!"

"And we also have censors on those monitors and the XY-V10's voice program."

"Mmm hmm..."  Aurora hummed to herself, then looked towards the cyborg.  "Are you in eternal captivity?  Bounded here by fate?  Or by choice?"

"Not Friend!  @$#@ You.  Not Friend.  @$#@ you!"

"Hmm... They call fear and pain negative emotions, which is why it's so conducive to our psycho power, but you don't accept?"

Whipping out her nunchuks, Aurora smashed her weapon against the abomination.  A loud crack resounded throughout the halls as the thing roared and lept at her, but Olvere holding out her hand made it stop in mid leap.  Aurora didn't even flinch.

"I really wouldn't appreciate it if you tried to kill my friend, XY-V10."  Olvere remarked.  "Be aware that you are controlled and held in your bonds by psycho power.  We, the Dolls, control psycho power.  It is subtle, and unlike some, you might not notice our power on the outskirt, but it's there, camouflaged in concealment, waiting to strike the minute self-defense is needed.  You should be aware of your place."

Too many things in the world were out of their place.  They tried to act without thinking.  Without following the proper protocal.  Olvere knew her place.  She knew who's authority one could challenge, and who's authority one could not.  This thing... could not challenge her authority.

Aurora looked at the thing, eyeing it, warily.  "What good is it if they don't want it?  The strongest man would be able to take the pain without having to strike back.  The strongest man would laugh and taunt you in the face of it."

"What about your pain?  You think that you control psycho power?  You think I am the only one being controlled?"

Olvere continued to remain matter of factly.  "I have my commanders, and I stick to them.  My authority still exceeds yours."

"When I have my freedom, I shall have something you do not.  Then my authority shall exceed you stupid Dolls."  The monitor blinked with more words, yet again.  "I will go pull an Akiko on you.  Someday all of us will.  Someday, the walking holocaust shall be eternal and you all will die.  I think... that as I slaughter the masses before me, I'll pay particular attention to killing you, Janet, and all of you stupid dolls.  Someday Shadowlaw will slip up yet again, and then you will have to look out for me."

"I think not, good professor."  Not even taking him seriously enough to look him in the eyes, Olvere calmly looked off to the side at her pet monkey as Tams climbed up onto her shoulder.  "Mistakes are learned from, fast enough.  People adapt.  They evolve.  It is the nature of things."

"And better things come in your little survival of the fittest.  Things which make you out of date.  Lessons learned?  Heh, don't you know who your Lord Bison cloned recently?"

"I must admit that I've been out of touch with Lord Bison for quite a long time, but I still know that he is a prudent man."

"Out of touch?  Is that all you'll call it?  I heard Janet... he hasn't seen you in months.  You all are deluding yourselves when you think you are above us."

"Out of touch does not mean out of mind, XY-V10."

The statement was true.  Though, deep down, Olvere did wonder if the computer animal had some truth in his statements, too...

She couldn't think further.  A young girl's yell rang across the halls extremely loudly, destroying the silence,  All four of the human occupants of the room quickly covered their ears in annoyance at the sudden sound.

"OLVERE!!!!  AURORA!!!!"  Desire continued shouting as the various moans of "Let me out... someone please let me out..." changed to "Shut up...  SHUT UP..."

Desire finally reached the room.

"Oh, found you!  Fenrir wanted to talk to you two!  Something's coming up!"  The Native American Doll beamed as she adjusted the feather in her headband a little.

"Oh?  Ah, we should get going, anyway."  Olvere nodded towards Desire, then turned around to face the mass of metal.  "Now, I'll be taking my leave.  Farewell, XY-V10."

Irvine and Senoh were already out the door, waiting for the Dolls to catch up.  Olvere proceeded to leave with Desire and Aurora by her side, but the whirling clicking mechanism of a thing that once was human wouldn't have it.  Not without one more statement.

"The walking holocaust is literal.  I'll tell you who he cloned, and maybe you'll finally realize how worthless you are to your wonderful Lord Bison."

Olvere stopped and looked back, just a bit curious as if there was any logic to the mass of gears, conglomeration of gadgets, and a tiny inkling of flesh.

Its reply sent a chill down her spine.  No... it was more like a blaring shock.

"We can hear a lot more then you'd think.  As I've said, the walking holocaust... is literal."

So it was true?  That was the new clone?  Dark Sakura...  A new replacement, yet again.  But... Dark Sakura was...  Shadowlaw hated her.  And she could be considered a clone, herself, in a way.  Cloning a clone was just... irrational.  No, it was STUPID!  And yet... the rumours were...

"Just remember, Olvere... and tell it to Janet, too..."

Click click.  More gears whirled as Olvere decided to not address him and leave.  She refused to think about it!  She had enough worries as it was.  Worries which existed in the realm of the natural living.  But IT continued to call out to her as she walked away.

"In the end, you are just one of us.  You, Fenrir, Aurora, Desire, and even Janet herself.  You all are just his dolls.  You all are just one among many just like you.  Among the loads of Shidoshis, Cammys, Sakura Kikages, Akikos, and the secondary and even third clones and copies of all of them.  The only difference between you dolls and us... is that we're not brainwashed and deluded into thinking we're actually something special..."

As he looked back at the mess of wires and chips that was XY-V10, Tams made some noises that almost sounded like laughter in order to mock the thing.  A pathetic creature, that... cyber... thing.  It should count for its blessings.  It was the one that volunteered for that particular cybernetics project.  Olvere felt no mercy for those that get what they asked for.  Fenrir never got what she asked for and had to settle for less.  And Olvere... well, Miss Olivia Kingson, daughter of the one of the esteemed heads of the PETA militant arm, never even got the chance in the first place to ask to be a member of PETA or not...

"How were they?" She asked.

His lack of immediate reply worried her.  Justin always replied the second her mouth closed, usually with a smile.  Now he just looked down into his food and didn't say anything.  Filia didn't push on.  Poor Justin had to hear about so many deaths, yet again.  He obviously wasn't prepared for such carnage.

The abnormally young brown-haired head of Shadowlaw paranormal department, however, was more pessimistic about it.  She was tempted to say 'there's nothing you could do about it' or some other words of comfort,  but she was afraid of a snapping back.  Because, in the end, there probably was something that could have been done.

"Oh?"  A sound resounded as his spoon hit the tray.  "Most of them were pretty shaken up.  At least it isn't as bad as last time."

"There weren't as many as last time...."  Oh, ooops.  That was the wrong thing to say, wasn't it?  "Er..." She stammered around. Keep your cool, try to change the subject quickly.  "Hey, have you heard about prophecies concerning next month?  Looks like there's going to be another apocalypse there."

Yeah, that was sooooo much better.  She just continued eating.  How do you talk to someone who's probably in grief, anyway?

Well, if that was grief, it really didn't show it.  That was a mystery in there.  "That's impossible."  He smiled.  "There's nothing special about the numbers next month."

"Hey, think outside of the box."  She giggled.  "Even... if that box is incredibly weird in itself.  A box outside the box which..... I'm really not helping, am I?"

"Helping what?"  Asking naively.

Well, what next?  There really was nothing that could be really said.  Obviously he was too much in shock to try to act anywhere else.  Even behind his smile the words lacked the vitality they usually had.

This was a pretty sad scene.  He probably needed time for himself, that's it!  She had time to think it over and realized, quite sadly, that while working in such a terrain, there was going to be stuff like this.  It was just like being villager to a country ruled by an evil dictator.  Except evil dictators didn't have supernatural weapons to help them (well... actually they did. Not overtly, anyway).

"Well, I'd better go." She said.  It did remind her that she needed to upgrade from the paranormal files.  They hadn't been updated since Kitsune left and there were a bit of losses here and there.  It was a good time to go think about these things.  "Duty calls and all of that."

When walking away, she saw the famous Justin smirk turn into a gloomy frown from the reflection of the mirror on the door.

Juli didn't think there was too much to panic about.  Fenrir's outburst the other day was overexaggerated, probably.  Even Fenrir herself calmed down after the initial shock.  About Juni's plans.  To destroy the Psycho Drives.  Which... if they worked as Fenrir believed, would basically cause a chaos that could end up with everyone being killed.  Apparently.

Fenrir wasn't sure, of course.  She wasn't Janet, after all.  From what she gathered, though, the Psycho Drives were basically like a Power Generator.  Only the stuff they powered made the stakes a lot higher than a simple brown out and lights going off.  The Psycho Drives were what controlled the uber units.  IE, those big scary things that caused mass destruction.  Juli already knew what it was like when one of them went rampant.  She did not want to witness first hand the destruction that Akiko had caused upon that Shadowlaw Unit one fine night at Jokuzetsu.  Maybe most of the ubers who were disconnected from the Psycho Drive would just wander harmlessly off, like Yuki no Onna did.  But... the chances of that were slim, and odds were that if Juni's plan somehow worked out, everyone was going to die.

Juli didn't know WHAT her partner was thinking when she came up with such a hare-brained scheme...

Ah well.  She just had to point out that Juni's plan would make everyone... well, die, then Juni would say "Oh yea!  Um... doh?" and everything would be back to normal as always.  And normal was good!  Juli wanted normal.  Because whenever things deviated from the norm then all her best friends would end up leaving her then betraying her then slapping her around and playing her emotions like a puppet before finally putting a gun to her head to try to kill her and Juli did NOT LIKE THAT!!!!

But that wasn't going to happen this time.  Because this time, things would be different.  Juni's always come up with silly plans before, and they always ended with her realizing just how silly they were.  So why would this be any different?

Confidence at a stable level, Juli opened up the door to the two 'sister' agents' room to talk with the blonde.  And a blonde girl was waiting for her.  Only it wasn't her partner.  Instead, it was the outcast doll, as Juli was beginning to think of her as.  Cammy... no, the girl who looked exactly like Cammy except wearing a black mask and the doll uniform instead of that horribly blinding teal swimsuit wasn't Cammy at all.  The most advanced clone was also the most similar to the girl she was cloned from, apparently.

Juli took a step to enter the room as the masked Cammy watched.

"Ophelia?  Should I even ask what you're doing in my room?"

Sitting on Juli's bed, hands planted by her side and feet dangling off the bed's side, Ophelia looked at Juli behind the emotionless black porcelain mask.  "The one they call my real father got a new daughter today."

Ophelia knew birds language, too!?  Wait... Juli quickly realized she was being literal.

"Your... real father?  You're not talking about Lord Vega, then?"

"I see Lord Vega as my true father because he gave me my real life.  He gave me my identity."  Ophelia adjusted her mask to emphasize Lord Vega's gift, which differentiated her from the one she was cloned from.  "But they all say that Lord Bison is my father, even though I don't think he fits the definition.  And today, he got a new daughter."

Juli knew what that meant.  Technically, Lord Bison was the father of everyone, since he was the one that made their creation and supposedly, all the Dolls were cloned from him.

"So... Lord Bison made a new doll?  Another one?"

"No, this one's not a doll."  Ophelia shrugged.  "I heard some of daddy's... erm, Lord Vega's men saying that she was a walking holocaust.  The school girl one.  But I never went to school."

Juli blinked.  Bison... actually made a Dark Sakura clone!?  But didn't he know how much everyone in Shadowlaw despised her?  Though... yea, she was really powerful, so in terms of practical reasons, Juli could see why someone would want to clone her...

But what about Ophelia?  A new daughter to replace her couldn't be good.  And why Dark Sakura, of all things?  Juli heard that Dark Sakura was a manifestation of Sakura's Satsu no Hadou energy or something like that (She wasn't exactly an expert in Satsu no Hadou) and thus, herself, was an original copy.  Copying a copy?  Of course, Lord Bison did it before.  And the result of that was the one that Juli was talking to, right at that very moment.

"Ophelia, I'm really sorry..."  The brunette began to console.

"No worries."  Ophelia's feet waved back and forth a little.  "Lord Vega is my true father.  You know him well, right?  He gave you a mask, too.  Though I don't think you need it."

"I don't."  Juli walked over to her desk lying besides the bed and removed the grey mask from it.  "Do you really want it?  But I am quite fond of it.  It's a nice luxury.  I just don't have the time or energy right now to deal with you angrily trying to kick me for not giving it to you."

"Oh no.  You can keep it."  Ophelia replied, much to Juli's relief.  "I was just wondering... why did dad see that you need it in the first place but were able to take it off?"

"Well, Lord Vega didn't really give it to me.  I got it from a friend in the I&E department.  I don't need it because... hmm..."

It was hard for Juli to think of a big symbolic reason why she didn't need it later because she couldn't figure out too much a symbolic reason why she needed it in the first place.  There probably was a symbolic reason out there, but Juli couldn't grasp it at the moment.

"Because you don't look exactly like Agent Cammy?"

"Erm... yea, that's it."  Glancing at Ophelia, Juli put the mask back.  The girl was right.  That was the symbollic reason, these days, perhaps.  Thinking again about Kikage, Juli couldn't help but think it'd just be a bit demeaning to have a look alike running around.  Sure, she and the rest of the Dolls apparently were clones, but at least whoever cloned them made sure to make them all look significantly different from each other, to the point where Juli still found it really hard to believe they were clones at all despite all the statements.  What was Lord Bison thinking when he created Kikage?  Juli had to feel sorry for the original Sakura.  She hoped the original would never find out about this Kikage.  Then again, the same thing probably applied to Ophelia, too.  Suddenly, Ophelia's possessiveness and obsession with her own mask became a lot more clear.

"You may be right.  I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so unsensitive.  I don't think not looking like Cammy is that hard, though."  Juli decided that she really had to help the poor girl out.  "Here, let me try soemthing.  But it'll mean you have to take off that mask.  Which... you probably won't.  And now you're going to kick me again, aren't you?"

Much to Juli's surprise, Ophelia had the mask off.  Her face really did look similar to Cammy's, but there was something missing.  It wasn't the eyes, surprisingly.  Ophelia looked just like Cammy in every regard, save for the lack of a scar across her cheek like Cammy had.  That right there actually did make her look rather different.  She also seemed to have a slightly darker skin tone, and her hair was more orange like Juni's than yellow like Cammy's.  Well, that was a start, Juli supposed.

"I don't have a picture of Cammy to compare with, but I do think you look different enough, already."

"I don't."  Ophelia pouted.  "About the only difference is that I don't do the horizontal monkey dance with Lord Bison like Cammy does."

In took her a brief moment to register what Ophelia just said.  When she did, Juli stared at her, wide-eyed.  "Wha...!?"

"I followed Kikage and she was seeing it and I quickly looked away because da... Lord Vega always told me that I'd be traumatized if I ever saw Lord Bison doing monkey things."

"But... Cammy...!?"

Those were just rumours, weren't they?  Cammy wouldn't have ever done anything like that.  Juli remembered she, Cammy, and Avelle all joked about it but one day when actually talking about it seriously, all swore they'd never do something like that...

"So you see, Miss Juli, I'm too much like Cammy except for the monkey thing."

"I'm starting to think that girl with Bison isn't like Cammy at all, nevermind you..."  Looking off to the side, still trying to figure out what to make of what she just discovered, Juli sighed.  "Well, okay, if you don't think so.  Still, let me help for a little bit.  I guess I'll have to talk with Cammy.  That.... I can't believe she'd do that."

Keeping herself wary so she wouldn't be kicked again (though that turned out to be unnecessary), Juli proceeded to get to work.  She didn't know where she got the ability from, but Avelle was always talking to her about how jealous she was from Juli's hair-styling abilities.  Juli often jokingly responded that while she did enjoy the professional yet fancy look that she was able to give herself with the bangs and the bun, she couldn't for the life of her figure out how to come up with such a hairstyle for a guy, simply because male haircuts just felt so much less... versatile when it came to such a thing.  It wasn't anything feminist.  Doing that just eluded her.

Good thing the Dolls were an all female unit.

"All done!"

Ophelia glanced in the mirror at her not-so-new-but-hopefully-new-enough look.  The two pig tails of Cammy had been combined into a single unbraided thicker tail held together by a scrunchie that Juli quickly flopped on.  She gelled the single bang Cammy had to the side a little, but that was about it.  It was all Juli could do on such a short notice, but it didn't look so bad.  Most importantly, it didn't look so bad while looking different at the same time.

Ophelia blinked in surprise.  "It's... me?"

"You're always you."  Juli responded with a smile.  "Now, is there anything else I can help you with?  You don't have to show that to Lord Vega if you don't want to.  It's all your choice, of course."

Ophelia beamed at the mirror again then quickly saluted to the brunette.  "Thank you, Miss Juli!  I'll keep it, but I'll keep the mask too.  It'll be something from both my father and my mother!"

Putting the mask back on, Ophelia grabbed the bunch of scrunchies and redid the pigtails in her hair surprisingly quickly.

"You're not going to keep it?"  The brunette asked.

"I don't need it with the mask."  Ophelia replied.  "Dad might not want a wife so quickly, I think."

"Ah.  Well, again, glad I could help.  I'll be seeing you again."  Juli saluted back as Ophelia nodded then disappeared with a quick mach slide.  The brunette didn't even have time to revel in her accomplishment because as soon as the not-so-Cammy Cammy-clone was gone, Juni was in clear view, standing behind where Ophelia used to be.

Crossing her arms, the other blonde looked off to where Ophelia dashed away, a stern look on her face.  She closed her eyes.

"That... was interesting."

"Erm... well..."  Juli began, but was interrupted by her partner.

"Even I didn't realize how bad it was."  Juni sighed.  "And yet, even she knows."

"Knows what?"

Opening her eyes, the blonde looked at Juli sadly.  "You don't know?  Lord Bison has given up on us.  He's decided he would rather have the walking holocaust in our place.  I was tricked.  I thought that Rose was a false alarm, but I guess not."

"Juni, I don't think it's that..."

"It's been so long since Lord Bison has seen us.  Then he saw us for just a brief time, gave us some presents, then was gone again.  The other Dolls are restless, Juli.  I... have to stop this.  We... we're all just objects to him, no matter what he says.  I think... he's just a little sick.  I need to do this... something is clouding his mind."

So that was the reason for Juni's plan?  But the other Dolls... Juli paused for a moment.  In a way, Juni was right.  The brunette clearly recalled Fenrir's depression back when she thought Ophelia was Cammy about how Cammy took Bison away from them.  She remembered her own hate for Cammy for losing to her for Lord Bison... sure, a lot of that was because Cammy decided to get the edge by suddenly deciding to not play by the rules and be more... promiscuous, apparently, but the envy and the sadness was still there.  And now, Bison was going around creating even more clones and even sleeping with Cammy who, like the other Dolls, was just a clone, herself, so Juni really WAS right.  But... these days, Juli herself didn't think about Bison much.  She didn't interact with him much.  She had other things.  After realizing what she truly had, Juli cared about her partner a lot more now, after all.

"Juni, is it that bad?  Aren't there more important things besides Lord Bison?"  The brunette was answered with Juni handing her a photograph.

"This is what Lord Bison used to be."

Juli blinked as she looked at the picture of a significantly younger more energetic youthful Bison in surprise.  "Lord Bison... sure has gained a lot of weight, hasn't he?"

"Let's just say that he got fat off our despair."  The blonde replied.  "Do you see how much he's changed thanks to the soul virus?  He's lost touch with himself.  He's lost touch with us.  He's lost touch with his goals, and with everything.  I'm just trying to help him, that's all."

Oh... right.  This was it, then.  The moment of truth and reason.

"Juni, you know what will happen when you destroy the Psycho Drives, right?  It'll only... I don't know, like... cause all those walking holocausts that are supposed to be on our side to turn against us and slaughter everyone including the very man you're trying to cure, right?  And... maybe even us..."

"Huh?  Us?"  Did it work?  "Juli, this time, I know what I'm doing.  We'll get out fine.  You're with me on this, right?"

"Juni, it's... too insane."  The brunette forced herself to reply, still surprised that Juni was so deadset on the idea.

"So... you're not with me?"  Staring in surprise for a bit, the revelation began to sink into Juni and a sad pleading demeanor swept across her face.  "Juli... I... wanted you to be with me for this..."

Why was she doing this?  Why was she holding onto her idea and goal so much?  But... Juli didn't want to push things too hard.  She didn't want to have it end with Juni walking out of her life like everyone else did before her in a fit of anger.

"Juni, I..."

"No... I understand."  Juni sighed, before looking up at her partner hopefully.  "But I can trust you.  You promised not to tell anyone, after all.  I mean... If I can trust Serina to know not to get in the way of something she doesn't fully understand, I can trust you definitely, right?"

......oh crap.

Juli blinked, inwardly swallowing with a twinge of nervousness.  Should she be honest?  She already told Fenrir, and Fenrir most likely already told Janet and... but she didn't want to hurt Juni or anything!

"Y... Yea, of course."  Juli lied.

"..."  Her blonde, wondering a little at her partner's hesitation, closed her eyes again before turning around.  "Please don't get in the way.  I can't stop her, Juli."

With that, Juni walked out of the room.  Juli watched her leave.  She... she didn't have to panic.  This was Juni, after all.  Though... Juli knew that besides the absent-mindedness and screw-ups that happened every once in a while, her partner actually was a lot more competent than people gave her credit for.  But even with that, Juli already did tell Fenrir.  Who probably would get to Janet to take the proper security precautions.  Which would protect the Psycho Drives and make sure everything would be okay.

Juli did feel quite a twinge of guilt over that.  But it wasn't her fault.  So that was why Juni invited Rose to the casino?  To tell Rose about that plan and get her assistance for it?  Back at the casino, she got so caught up in gambling that she didn't realize the seriousness of the scene.  Of course Juni would understand that she mainly told Fenrir just because she wanted to make sure the plan was a sound one... Juli was stating a fact more than being arrogant when she knew that Juni knew fully well that Juli was the more reasonable and practical of the two.

And what were the chances of Rose agreeing with Juni, anyway?  Rose was a reasonable person, right?  Really, unless something literally came out of no where and slapped Rose hard that the Psycho Drives had to destroyed, she wouldn't go along with the plan.  It would take the High Lady to be able to have the information and access to the psycho drives to pull something off like this.  Without Rose, Juni's plan wasn't going to work anyway.  Even if Rose agreed to the plan and if Janet somehow were to not take the necessary precautions, there was no way that Juni and Rose could get past the security.  If the Psycho Drives were so important, Lord Bison probably kept them locked up extremely tight, after all.

So why did she have such a sinking feeling in her stomach?

It must have been because she didn't like opposing Juni like that.  This particular idea was one that Juni seemed incredibly attached to for some reason.  Yea, that had to be it.  Once Juni's plan failed so ridiculously badly to the point where Janet would see that nothing wrong happened and Rose decided just to drop the thing (if the slim chance of her agreeing with it in the first place happened), then things would go back to normal and the whole debacle that never existed in the first place will be over.

There'd be no way she could get past security.  No way she could get past Janet.  And definitely no way she could convince Rose to go along with the plan.  Right?  Of course.

Sighing, Juli lay down on her bed.  She really needed to get some rest.  It made her head hurt...

Data Transfer from path five.

777 is now in node 054.

Decrypting...  ...  ...

Silvermoon has opened gateway 303.

777 has passed through gateway 303.
 

Traveling the cyber network.  Watching the numbers go by.  The lights shine for each midpoint passed through.  It increases.  Bandwidth use is minimal.  The initial gateways were passed already because the two started out within the network, anyway.

Marzche knew that this other person that Juni got to assist her in the double entry was really good.  Not that she really cared, though.

Whatever.
 

Data Transfer from path four.

Silvermoon is now in node 033.

777 is decrypting...  ...  ...

777 has opened gateway 565.

Silvermoon has passed through gateway 565.
 

Serina was staring at the laptop that Marzche was typing at, and afterwards, she was looking around a little.  Now wouldn't be a good time for a certain vampire to come around.

"Don't worry, Marzche!  Juni already called the vampire's seal.  I don't know myself if this is how it truly works, but I guess you never know until you try it.  I always thought the vampire was the one closest to us and not the one that went far away, myself, but I guess it would make sense..."

Whatever works.  Marzche just wanted her Tchaikovsky back.  Janet's rants she didn't care much about, but she would prefer that Janet stop with the yelling.  Last time, while Serina was trying to call Mr. Red Bird, Janet yelled about how Marzche and Serina didn't have their priorities straight.  Serina felt that the garden back during that mission was a higher priority, anyway.
 

Data Transfer from path one.

Silvermoon is now in node 000.

777 is now in node 000.

Silvermoon is decrypting...  ...  ...

777 is decrypting...  ...  ...
 

Maybe, finally, it would be soon enough.  Marzche never did know much about Juni, but according to Serina, someone had to finally try something.  Did Marzche really care?  Well, it actually WOULD be nice.  She got a new computer from Lord Bison.  But technology tends to progress quickly, and sadly, old computers quickly become obsolete within a short amount of time without someone to constantly update them.  And now, Marzche needed to update.

For though the babies didn't burp,

and the flowers didn't bloom,

and they couldn't even have

the return of Silvermoon,

and though they could not even find

the Red Bird's secret garden,

though it was all canceled,

the petition...

lived on.
 

Duo lock decrypted.  All Psycho Drive Security shut down.  Final psycho drive security port closed by 777 and Silvermoon.  By 77 and Silver.  By 7 and Sil. By...

The IDs 777 and Silvermoon have been deleted from the Shadowlaw database.

Last modified:  777 and Silvermoon never existed.

"I don't know... don't you think you should at least ask Marzche to check up on the security systems there or so?"

Why was Fenrir bugging her about this?  Janet wasn't really in the mood.  She had other things to do besides worry about a silly agent who competed with Desire for most air-headed doll.  Bremare based Juni's programming off a VIDEO GAME for crying out loud.  Course, Janet supposed that might have been why Fenrir had a borderline failure sixty-percent efficiency rating, herself.  You get your efficiency rating by being efficient, and wasting worrying about harmless girls who spent the majority of their doll life even more braindead than Marzche in perpetual freeze was not a very efficient thing to do.

Now let's try this again.

"Fenrir,"  Janet remarked.  "It's Juni."

"Juni has a seventy-eight percent efficiency rating, Janet."

"Oh please.  The psycho drives are so heavily secured that even I'm not allowed to go very close to them."  Sighing, Janet continued to read over the latest genetic reports Doctor Senoh gave her.  "I'm really busy right now.  Now that Bremare's gone, Senoh finally just got some data retrieval so I could take up some of the work that idiot left me with, and I really don't like what I'm seeing, here."

"Are those science reports?  So the rumours are true?"  Leaning over, Fenrir attempted to get a glance of the papers in Janet's hand, but Janet was fast to put them away, out of sight.  "I heard about Bison's cloning of Kikage, Janet.  I'm extremely wary about it, myself.  Okay, I think it's really fucked up.  But right now, I seriously think you're overexaggerating this and letting it get to your head.  This is really important, and being distracted by a clone of some crazy screaming flying satsu no hadou walking holocaust really shouldn't be your top priority..."

"It's not Kikage... though I'm really irked about that, too.  I'm still trying to figure out who's the one who's making all these Cammy clones behind my back.  I'm getting sick and tired of how they always..."

"Cammy?"  Fenrir interrupted.  "Jen, that one's old.  You're doing it again."

"What?"

"I think Bison is lost to you.  Janet, just forget about Cammy and go ask Marzche to check up on the security in those sectors."  The agent crossed her arms, a serious expression on her face.  "Sure, Cammy's an asshole now, but odds are that if she never existed, you'd be hating Juli or Avelle right now instead.  Just because Bison made one Cammy clone... really, all she does is run around screaming how her name is Ophelia and stalking Vega for some weird reason."

Just one?  Ophelia?  Janet knew from the report in her hand who Fenrir was talking about, but still...

Raising an eyebrow, the girl who should have been obeyed slowly stared at the bowl-haircut brunette.  "Erm... you do know that 'Cammy' is currently... oh wait.  Nevermind.  Still, you're right.  Though not exactly in the way that you think you are."

"Nevermind what?  Huh?  You mean that Cammy really IS sleeping with Bison!?"  Fenrir was shocked at what she didn't realize was a misinterpretation of Janet's statement (though it was a misinterpretation that Janet herself had recently discovered was true, too, much to her dismay).  The anger in her face showed Janet that Fenrir herself still didn't give up how Lord Bison was lost to her, either.  "That... that stupid bitch!  That's cheating!!!  That's not just cheating... that's damn disturbing!  What the hell am I supposed to think, now!?  What, so she got to the top because she SLEPT her way there!?  ...Please tell me you're joking.  Isn't she just a bit young for that, anyway?"

"It's funny how we all repeat this, and not just me, isn't it?  So who's doing it again, now?"  Janet smirked.

The other doll was quick to protest in defense of herself.  "Well, yea, but Cammy..."

"Don't blame Cammy.  You'll have to take my word on this."  Janet sighed.  There was some stuff in the reports that Senoh gave her that she couldn't even show Fenrir. No one ever did look at the big picture or appreciate her, but in this case, the borderline failure had a point.  "Well, whatever.  Dammit.  Where the hell is Marzche?"

Janet figured that to make up for that, she might as well follow Fenrir's suggestion.  It was pointless, but it wouldn't take long.  Fenrir had better appreciate it, though.  However, before Janet could begin to locate the neon haired agent, the phone rang.  It appeared that there was always something there to annoy the hell out of Janet when she had better things to do.  It was probably Senoh on the line to tell her some more disturbing info that she probably really didn't want to know.

Unfortunately, the low female voice on the other end of the speaker was worse than that kooky doctor's voice could ever be.

"Good day, Jen-Ya."

A chill shot down Janet's spine as she realized who she was talking to.  "Oh... my... god... How did you find me?!?"

"Oh, I have my methods..."  ...damn.  No!  This... this was...  Fenrir was confused trying to figure out why Janet was so terrified.  Janet switched on the speaker phone so that she could listen to her hell as the voice continued.  "A mother who dearly loves her daughter will always be able to find her!"

WHY WAS SHE CALLING HER!?!!?!?!?

"MOM!!!"  Janet shouted back into the phone.  "I'm kind of busy right now!  You always do this!!!"

"Oy, it's been two years, two years since you called."  The voice of mumzilla cried back.  "You're giving me an ulcer waiting for the phone call!  I say to myself:  Is she dead?  Is my little girl sitting someone in a ditch crying out before he life ends?  NO!  SHE'S SITTING LUXURIOUSLY IN A GREAT IMPENETRABLE FORTRESS WITH LOTS OF GREAT ACCOMMODATIONS, FORGETTING THE ONE WHO GAVE UP 50 POUNDS AND 14 HOURS OF TORTUROUS LABOR AT THE HOSPITAL!!!!  You're killing me!!"

Janet closed her eyes and sighed, tears streaming down her face in anticipation of the sheer HELL she was about to go through.

Fenrir decided to make a pathetic attempt to save her.  "Hey, Jen, could you just ask your mom to talk to you later?  There's a certain important thing you have to do, right now."

While Janet didn't see getting Marzche to check up on security as important, anything would have been preferred to having a conversation with her mother.  Dammit, she thought that after two years, she could at least be safe.  Unfortunately, she didn't even have time to open her mouth before THE BEAST'S voice came from the speaker phone again.

"Oy gevalt sweetie, you still hang around with Ferishi, that shishka?  And when are you going to find a nice husband?  I mean, Bison has all these great business opportunities, but will you ever let me live to see my grandchildren?  You're giving me an ulcer  here!"

Fenrir was not amused.

"MOM!  Do you have any idea how god damn embarrassing it is for you to talk about my friends like that RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEIR FACE?!  And business opportunities?  Michael was a lot more to me than stupid business opportunities!  Don't you realize how..."

"Michael Bison?  SO YOU DO STILL HANG AROUND WITH THAT GOYIM!!!"  The beast roared.  "NO DAUGHTER OF MINE WILL ASSOCIATE WITH A MAN WHO LOOKS LIKE THAT DEMON, that devil of a man who broke my heart and left you cold and alone and without a solid father figure!!!!!!!"

Janet couldn't believe this!  No matter how often her mom did this to here, even after TWO YEARS, she never realized who the real reason for all of this was!

"MOM!!!  I already have at least three people on my MUST GET REVENGE THEY MUST DIE list and I'm a member of an illegal evil underground organization plotting death and destruction and WORLD DOMINATION and you have the nerve to tell me that none of this is your fault?!?"

"No no, dearie!  I know who's really doing this!  Oi gevalt!  Your father ran away and left me to fend for both just you and myself and all he did was plant the seeds of hate in my poor daughter whom I love so much but now won't love me back!"

What?  ....WHAT?!?!!?

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS WAS FATHER'S FAULT?!?  Father left you long ago because you never cared about him, either!"  Something in Janet's mind snapped.  "Everything was your fault!  I HATE YOU!!!  HATE YOU HATE YOU HATE YOU HATEYOUHATEYOUHATEYOU!!!!!!  I HOPE YOU GO TO HELL!!!  I HOPE YOU GO TO HELL AND YOU DIE!!!!!"

Silence.

Fenrir was stunned.  She saw Janet's conversations with her mother before, but they never got THAT bad...

She thought she could hear the clock ticking, despite how she wasn't even sure if there was a clock in the room.

"Mom..."  Janet stuttered.  "I..."

"You speak like that to me?"  Janet's mom interrupted AGAIN.  "Look at this honey, look at this. Do you see this, at the side of my stomach?  It's an ulcer, an ulcer from mistreatment by the daughter I gave all my heart to.  YOU'RE KILLING ME!!!! JUST WATCH THE YEARS SHAVE OF JUST LIKE THAT!!!!  I...  I... OH!!  IT HURTS MY CHEST!!!  AAAAAAAH!!!"

Janet stared at the phone wide-eyed.  "You're... having a heart attack?"

Several incoherent noises from the phone made Janet's wide-eyed expression turn into a sulking frowning one.  ...It figured.

"I'm so wishing you weren't faking."  The annoyed girl snapped.

Janet's mom, realizing that her ruse was over, continued.  "I have the best years of my life for that girl!  See this, see this skin hanging here?  Stretch mark from the 48 hour delivery!  And with all of this I gave and I gave and she doesn't even bother to come for the holidays.  What did I do to deserve this?!  Oh!  But I know!  My daughter wants her mother by her side finally!  She wants her mother to come over, because she knows her mother dearly loves her after all the pain and work her mother went through for her!!!"

The Chinese girl smacked herself in the forehead.  "Oh God..."

"I hope I won't be too much of a bother," Momzilla replied apologetically. "I did carry you and have a hard labor and raise you with blood and tears, but all I want is your comfort.  My last request before perishing, yes honey, you've shaved those years right off, is to see my darling daughter, to know that she's doing well in her life and I might not die in misery and regret, but if you're busy, that's alright."

Janet turned off the speaker phone.  She figured she'd rather Fenrir not hear the rest.

"No, no mom.  It's okay."  She replied with a defeated tone in her voice.  "Coming over?  The security password?  Oh yea... you know.  It's on the tags on my swan plushy and kitty plushy like always.  Yes, the bird comes before the cat.  You'll be here in a few days?  Yea.  Yea.  Of course.  Love you too, mom."

Hanging up the phone, Janet let out a sigh.

"Heh, well, look on the bright side."  Fenrir smirked.  "This time it took SHE-who-must-devour a whopping two years to find you again.  That's a new record."

"I'm tired of all these authority figures bossing me around!"  Shooting Fenrir a glare, Janet pounded the table.  "Look, you know what?  I don't care!  I wish I could just throw these stupid data reports that Senoh gave me into the shredder!  Michael has left me and screwed me over with Rose and Kikage and lust for Cammy and despite that I'm going to continually faithfully serve him like a masochistic puppy and my life sucks and my stupid mom is coming over so it's only going to get worse and I JUST WANT THE HURTING TO STOP!"

Raising an eyebrow, Fenrir stared inquisitively at those papers.  "Erm, wow.  What the heck is in those papers, anyway?"

Hmph!  Whatever.  Janet supposed it was finally time for Fenrir to learn the truth, too.  Lord knows that Fenrir freaking already got enough truth slammed down on her that turned her into the death-bitch of death in the first place, anyway.  A little more wouldn't hurt.  At least since Janet was doing Fenrir this favor instead, she didn't have to bother giving her another favor.  Like something stupid, such as, say, asking Marzche to check up on the Psycho Drive security.  So with that, she decided to tell Fenrir exactly what she herself just found out.

For the past few weeks Rose had a recurring dream.  She was walking in the forest, wearing a golden crown, when she suddenly comes to meet a strange woman.  The woman is wearing a bridal gown and, looking like she was filled with sorrow, was downfallen in the mud.

Rose, taking pity on such a state, extended her arm in an attempt to help the bride.  But the woman, for lack of gratitude, instead pulled Rose into the mud.  A mob of people then appeared; people whom, to Rose's shock, were those she recognized and befriended throughout the course of her years.  They grabbed her head and forced it into the mud, and she fell into a black ocean.

It was then that the woman came, riding a fiery serpent, and offered her hand to help Rose.  "I am downfallen," the Bride explains. "Because my husband has betrayed me, and has lusted after others in his blind arrogance.  Now, he has deviated from the laws of the black ocean and created his own land."

Both were walking on the water, the murky darkness below being nothing but elasticity to her feet.  The bride pointed to a mountain which stood erect in the middle of this black ocean.  The mysterious woman continued, "Help me. Help me, and together we'll fight this deviation, and return everything to the blissful state of the black ocean."

That was when the bride smiled, looking both innocent and filled with wickedness at the same time, and handed Rose a nail in her right hand.  The psychic nodded, and responded by driving the nail in left hand, watching the blood turn the ocean below into a deep blue-green.

Attempting to analyze the dream proved useless.  There were too many different symbols strewn around the scenery, none of which Rose could particularly identify with, so she left the scribbled journal with the myriad of symbols and text on it.  But there was something about the end which she understood very well.

She went for the door.
 

She needed a more suitable attire for this situation.  Not finding anything suitable enough, she just chose a crimson variation of her dress, with black lipstick to complement it.  Was it wrong, to be thinking about such trivial matters in a time like this?

It was quite a shock when she discovered that Myrna had been standing there by the door, dressed in a full body velvet suit instead of her usual night gown.  Her arms were crossed, and the curls of her hair fell on her eyes.  It seemed different to see them like this. "You do know you could've caused a lot of problems back there?"

Myrna laughed, "oh darling, you know my weak spot all too well.  It's so simple with children, you just give them a hug and a few words of encouragement and they calm down."

"Less easy to manipulate than men, apparently," Rose said offhandedly. "That thing could've caused some serious damage if provoked."

The lady shrugged, but took note of Rose's usage of the word 'thing'. "A child will never seriously attack their parental figure..."

"Don't imply that," Rose spat out. "I know you figured out what's going to happen next, haven't you?  And this is your way of either agreeing or disagreeing.  I just wish you were less ambiguous of your stance."

"So," Myrna spoke. "You're going along with that girl's plans.  Am I right or am I playing the prophetess of doom here?"

Rose closed her eyes, talking while she buttoned the top part of her dress. "I may not know the meaning behind all of this.  All I know is that destroying those hellspawned things will provide a better future for everyone."

"I see."

She pulled back her hair, still facing the mirror, the only way she saw Myrna still in the same position behind her. "Bison of course will not stand idly at this."

The serious tone of her voice sounded strange when mixed with the soft natured earthy voice of hers. "So this is a crucifixion."

That made her laugh a bit. "Counting on my death already, O Cassandra?"

"Then you really do believe you can defeat our dear friend Michael at his own game this time?"

'Michael' ...how Rose hated to hear that word.  Michael was something in the past, one of the many things that were taken away from her when this happened. "I... don't know. I am like a plankton in the greatest depths of the ocean, here.  All I know is that these past three years have been a farce, an illusion created by something that shouldn't be.  Maybe I've failed, I don't know.  I'm not a warrior; my path wasn't designed to don the shield and armor that was thrust upon me.  This must end.  But... will it be the rose of sacrifice and transformation or the rose of blood-force which will redeem the world?"

"Assuming of course," she walked towards the unmade bed. The soles of her high heeled shoes clicked heavily on the ground and echoed almost ominously in Rose's ears. "That the world needs redemption."

"How can you say that?" Rose said. "All of this-- Shadowlaw, M. Bison... everything.  They're all aberrations.  Something that should've never been in this world and because of their continual existence which causes the death and pain of millions.  This is all an illusion, and pulling off the weed will guarantee the better world."

Myrna climbed unto the bed, her knees on the mattress and her shoulder standing fully erect. "Always waiting for a better future.  Expecting that after years of suffering and martyrdom the heavens will proclaim the mystical secret for you.  Well..." she leaned forward and placed her hand on Rose's ear. "Do you want to know what the mystical secret is, darling?"

Rose gasped, then pulled back. "Myrna!"

She was unfazed, instead leaning back, her hands on her heels, and laughed playfully. "The mystical secret is that there is none.  It's a sublime aspect, almost a zen experience if you will.  Darling, stop swimming in the waters if oblivion hoping for dominion in the hereafter; everything takes place here.  And you can either choose to continue an attempt to redeem the world, to deny it's existence and transcend it, or to live in it.  Only one of those answers prove your proper understanding."

She shook her head, trying to ignore what was said. "That's a breach of the oath."

Myrna then thrust herself backwards, sitting up on the bed, and smiled. "Always the stubborn one, darling. I see that you still don't know."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Hmmm?"

"Three years ago," Rose forced a smile. "When I visited a mystic to illicit his help in the war against Shadowlaw, that was exactly what he said, 'there are things which you do not know'.  But this is to unlike your usual jovial nature."

The sound of the bed-springs uncoiling announced Myrna's departure. Rose was looking at the wall, and could only hear the echoing footsteps and her last words, "you were the one who asked for my help darling; I've given you all the ammunition you need for this fight.  It really is up to you whether you realize that the real battle is internal rather than external.  I'll be leaving for a while, as to not arouse too much suspicion in the higher ups."

With that she left. Rose sighed, looking at the mirror and the wall, and was reminded of the talk she had with Filia yesterday.
 

"Is this alright?" Rose looked at the aquarium.  But there were no dolphins in here.  Instead, the murky depths were filled with every sea creature imaginable to the sailor's mind.  Miniature versions of leviathan, the offspring of a Loch Ness monster, mystical crocodiles, and giant squids.  You couldn't see them, hidden underneath, but you could certainly feel them from the stirring waters.

Filia smiled, "We're safe here... behind the wall."

Rose knocked on the screen, and it responded with an uncomforting clank sound. "But it's only glass."
 

The hallways of Shadowlaw, like the ones of the cavern of the devouring creature, twisted in it's serpentine paths like the Minotaur's labyrinth.  Rose found walking around the halls to be quite beneficial when wanting to think about something.

She walked by 'that spot' and got the impression once more. She bit her lower lip and upped her pace until the impressions were far gone.  The fact that never again will she have to feel that power after this was done made her smile.

From the beginning, she had lied to herself.  Thinking that this didn't affect her, that the whole situation of Shadowlaw was nothing, and that she didn't believe in redemption or the battle between preservation and destroyer.  That was a complete lie, and the situation with the soldiers made her realize her head had been stuck in the sand all the time.

But was Myrna right?  Impossible.  How can she say that nothing can be done in this situation?  Even if the victory were temporary, it was a victory.  A step closer to the fabled redemption of the world.

In a distance she saw Cristan sitting in the unoccupied lounge.  He was wearing a black T-shirt with red lines on it, and black jeans.  When he saw her enter the lounge his mulling demeanor quickly changed into a smile and he said, "oh, hey Rose."

"Hello." She smiled weakly, and sat down besides him.

When she first saw him, she concluded his age must be around seventeen or twenty one.  Whatever gave her that impression was certainly wrong, she saw him closely now, and knew that he was older than twenty four, probably closer to her own age.

"Cristan...?"

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering, had you not been involved in all of this... what profession would you have chosen?"

He smirked. "Heh, believe it or not, I was studying to be a doctor."

That was an unexpected answer, to be sure.  It made Rose smile, if only temporarily.  He then continued, "actually, it was my brother who recommended I enter the Third Eye, so I can know for myself all forms of healing and be more effective."

His smirk ceased, "then all of this happened."

"Yes..." she looked at the floor. " 'Cross'..." he turned towards her in surprise. "I've heard many soldiers call you that.  What is the reason?  The cross, symbol of suffering and torture, seems hardly like a flattering nickname."

He pulled back the sleeves of his shirt, exposing a deep red formation in his shoulder joint, which looked a lot like a cross. "It's a scar that's been there for as long as I remember.  I forget what caused it.  It still stings like hell."

She expected it, "Oh... you do know I can remove that."

He smiled, "no you can't."

"Through sympathetic magick, a transference of.."

"It's not the only scar," he said. He showed one in the other shoulder blade, and yet another in the bottom of his leg "This first baby came from the Bon Mage incident, and the one right there from the current Jokuzetsu shit, it's only a matter of time before another one pops up."

"This can be stopped." Her mind raced back to when she saw, in full horror, the names of the people who were killed in the stage set by Bison's nonsensical play.  Yes, this can be stopped and prevented.  "You know what's causing this, right?"

She wanted him to say 'Shadowlaw', so that he may join the cause and help destroy everything, but his answer, followed by a shrug, made her mad. "C'est la vie?"

It was like she was the only person who woke up this morning. At that moment I understood that the sin of this place wasn't inflicting wounds on people- but to remove any trace of hope that once existed.

"Thank you," Rose said.

He naturally replied, "You're welcome... but for what?"

"For confirming that this needs be done."

"Security's shut down."  Justin remarked as Juni covered her ears, since she could hear Janet's shouting from all the way across the radio Marzche was using to communicate with them.  "That's one out of three.  It takes the second and the third to complete the set, though.  One by itself is nothing."

One... by itself... is nothing.  It... it hurt...

Closing her eyes as she inwardly cringed, the blonde replied.  "Janet won't interrupt.  Rose gave me her weakness."

She didn't think someone's mother could be that scary.  But she didn't remember what her mom was like, though.  Juni was never sure if she even ever really had one.  At least, in a family sense.  Course, she found out she didn't have a father, either.

"Then that's two then."  Opening up his calculator, the young boy proceeded to input what seemed to be some random numbers.  "I didn't get to talk to Rose much about it.  The third is still uncertain.  It takes three to complete the set.  Two by itself is also nothing."

There wasn't even two.  After all, what good was a father who only saw you as an expendable plaything?  It really really hurt...

"There is a third, right?"

"I... I don't know."  Juni replied.

Was there?  Who would be the third, then?  Why oh why did she still trust them?

Justin, curious about the girl's demeanor, asked, "What's wrong?"

The girl thought to be Juni wasn't around, right now.  That coward had probably gone into hiding after the blaring truth got shoved into her face once again.  But... she'd be back.

The girl thought to be Junivelle sighed.

"I had everything set.  Everything ready.  But it's just that... there's a part of me that keeps saying that this is wrong.  She doesn't realize that in order to succeed, she needs to forget about everything else and just look towards her goal.  She's trying to make me feel guilty because even my own partner that I've been with for as long as I can remember won't back me up on this.  She doesn't realize how much she can ruin everything with her thoughts.  She doesn't realize that we need to act one-hundred percent and go forward without looking back."

Justin blinked.  'Junivelle' had just given away the secret, though she didn't care.  What was really sad, though, was that after that huge rant, after all the complications, after everything which it threatened to make go wrong, Justin, maybe due to naive luck, or maybe due to innocence being the only way to clearly see it, or maybe just because he was in fact smarter in more ways than just numbers, was able to sum it up within one word.

"Doubts, then?"

"Pretty much."  Juni replied, because even though that single word didn't do justice to the complexity of the issue and the tension it had within it, in the end, Justin... was right.

"Well... I guess a good idea would be to ask yourself why you're doing this, then."  Justin suggested, making an attempt to help the girl.  "That's what I had to do with myself."

When you're confused, and you need some direction, you're willing to take anything...

"I... I'm doing this for a friend."  Juni began.  "I never was able to find out why she chose to die.  That secret is hidden within someone's secret garden that I think is now lost forever.  But I believe I know who killed her.  So I do this for her.  So... why are you helping me?"

She asked because she was curious.  She really wanted to know.

"I'm doing this for my friends, too."  Putting away the calculator, Justin closed his eyes.  "They didn't even have a choice on whether they could live or die...  I know for a fact who killed them.  So I'm doing this for all of them, I guess.  For the ones who died, and the ones that are still alive.  Because... I don't want anyone else to have to die..."

Justin was... distraught, for lack of a better term.  He must have gone through something big.  Something which Juni suspected when she first saw him and his ID tag, but only now was able to confirm.

"...Jokuzetsu, right?"

"..."  He couldn't find the words to reply with.

Shadowlaw was supposed to be the ones dispensing the powerful artillery.  Not the ones recieving it.  Where did things go wrong?

But... it wasn't just that.  There was a lot more than just that...

Justin must have been let down when that happened.  Lots of people probably were.

"I think we all lost something that day."  Juni remarked.  Though... why was she still hesitating?  Why was she still hesitating even after the truth had appeared in front of her so often!?  Juni sighed, apologetically, to her companion.  "I'm sorry.  I'm sorry for being unsure of this.  I'm sorry that the weak side of me threatens to jeopardize everything that you and I are fighting for."

Tears in her eyes, she continued, this time, a hint of annoyance... no, anger, in her voice, too.

"But... she continues to nag me, to get in my way.  Thanks to her, I'm still so unsure of this despite how I know I shouldn't be.  High Lady Rose didn't seem like she wanted to agree with the plan.  I thought that I could go forward, but after my partner told me that she isn't with me, I... I'm not sure of anything anymore.  What am I supposed to do?  I need something... anything to help me decide..."

Was she talking about Juli?  Or was she talking about herself?  She probably... was talking about both.  But it changed nothing.  What was she supposed to do?  Where was the sign?

"I've... never been a leader, myself."  Juni's companion replied.  "I guess I should apologize, too, since I can't help you, there."

"No... it's okay.  I've... never been a leader until recently, myself.  Justin, thanks."

There wasn't any room for a smile at a time like this, when things were so unsure, but Justin was able to give the blonde a nod, at least.  Taking a deep breath, Juni glanced back at the direction of her room.  Out there, her partner had fallen asleep. That final clincher was just about to arrive that would allow Juni to finally be able to make her decision.  As she saw the lady coming, she realized, for once, her partner, far off in dreamland, wasn't going to be a factor.

Rose walked up to Juni and nodded.  "Let's do it."

As Juli dreamed on, the girl thought of as Junivelle looked up at the High Lady and beamed.  Things would be great!  Things would be great, indeed.