──Rumble, rumble, rumble... The ceiling of the underground passage was trembling. Fine concrete dust pattered down. Cracks running along the walls spread wider with every creak and groan. On Ryou's wrist, the link band flickered violently. [[Warning: Large Rapture Signature Approaching Rapidly]] [[Classification: Skull-Class ── Height 5.12m, Threat Level A]] [[Recommendation: Evacuate to Surface Immediately]] Skull-Class. He'd heard about them in training academy lectures. Armor tough enough to smash through buildings bare-handed, firepower capable of wiping out an entire squad of Nikkes single-handedly. And worst of all──a high-tier specimen that could launch Corrupt Seeds. (*Dammit, it really did come.*) That deep, heavy bass he'd heard at the very end that day. That had been the sound of this monster's footsteps. "[serious] Partner, run!" Marian grabbed his arm. The torn strip of his coat was still wrapped around her left arm. The wound from the Stalker-class that had attacked her back then. The armor was torn open, the cables inside exposed. The electronic signals leaking from it had traveled through the Hexalink──the Rapture swarm network──and drawn the Skull-class all the way here. This was his fault. Because he'd hesitated, Marian had been wounded. And that wound had called in an even bigger enemy. "Hurry!" Gritting his teeth, Ryou broke into a run. He scrambled up the collapsed staircase at the far end of the underground passage. Puddles splashed underfoot, and a rusted handrail shrieked in protest. The moment they emerged onto the surface── The sky was stained gray. No, that wasn't it. What blocked their view was the colossal form of the Skull-class. Five meters tall. A distorted humanoid silhouette. The armor plates covering its entire body were white, as if countless human bones had been fused together, and a dark crimson light seeped from the seams. Its head──no, there was nothing you could call a face. Just a single, vertically split sensor eye on the front, gleaming with a sharp, predatory light. "[scared]──!" His legs locked up. (*It's huge... What the hell am I supposed to do against this thing?*) The link band screamed a warning. [[Hostile Signature: Close Range]] [[Searching for Recommended Evasion Route──]] [[None Found]] (*Nowhere to run...?*) An alleyway in a cluster of abandoned buildings. The left was blocked by rubble, the right was a dead end. Behind them was the underground passage──but if that giant thing followed them in, they'd be crushed in an instant. No options. Same as always. When it mattered most, he never knew what to do. Even back at the Ark's training academy, his judgment in simulated battles was always slow. The instructors yelled at him every time. *"Your indecisiveness will get your subordinates killed!"* And they'd been right. That day, he'd ignored the retreat order and tried to save a wounded Nikke. As a result, his entire unit was wiped out. (*I'm doing it again──*) The Skull-class raised its arm. A mass of armor thicker than a human torso blotted out the sky. That was when it happened. "[serious] I won't let you." Silver hair sliced through the wind. Marian leaped out in front of him. The Skull-class's fist came crashing down. She didn't evade. She faced it head-on, leveling her rifle. Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!! The muzzle flashed, and bullets hammered against the Skull-class's armor. Sparks scattered, and for an instant, the giant's movement halted── But that was all. The Skull-class's fist didn't stop. "[scared] Marian!!" His scream was drowned out by the sound of impact. ──GOOOONG!!! The Skull-class's fist slammed directly into the side of Marian's head. Her body was sent flying like a ragdoll. Her silver hair scattered, the ponytail coming undone and fanning out. She smashed into the wall of an abandoned building, sending concrete fragments flying in all directions. "Marian!!" He rushed to her side. She was slumped against the wall, curled up. A thin wisp of smoke rose from her left temple──the spot where her star-shaped access terminal was located. Her blue eyes were vacant, unfocused. "[weak] ...Partner..." Her voice was a hoarse whisper. But that wasn't all. The link band began blaring a frantic alert. [[Warning: Abnormality Detected in Connected Nikke]] [[Electronic Brain Corruption Detected]] [[Corrupt Seed: Stage 1 Transition in Progress]] The screen turned blood red. "Corrupt... Seed...?" He looked up. The Skull-class's chest armor had opened with a heavy clank. From within, particles of dark crimson light swirled and erupted. As if possessing a will of their own, they coalesced into a single tendril and stretched toward Marian. "[scared] Stop it──!!" By the time he screamed, it was too late. The dark crimson light was sucked into Marian's head sensor. Her body convulsed violently, and for an instant, her right eye turned an eerie red. Marian was still trying to smile at him. The corners of her mouth lifted, just a little. But the movement seemed delayed. The smile arrived a mere 0.1 seconds too late. That tiny lag made the presence of something else inside her painfully, unmistakably clear. "[scared] ...No way..." His knees trembled. (*Again. Because of me.*) The Skull-class raised its arm once more. This time, it meant to crush him for good. ──That was when it happened. In the distance, a dry cracking sound echoed. BASHUU!! A deep, heavy gunshot. The next instant, right above the Skull-class's sensor eye──the seam in its forehead armor──burst open. The Skull-class's movement stopped dead. The giant body slowly tilted. GRWAAAAAASHHHHHH!!! With a ground-shaking crash, the Skull-class collapsed onto its side. Proof that its core had been pierced in a single shot. A faint, dying red light leaked thinly from the gaps in its armor, then faded completely. He couldn't immediately process what had just happened. But then a voice came down from atop the abandoned building. "[cold] ──Tch. Cut it pretty damn close, didn't you?" He looked up. The fifth floor of the ruined building. A man was leaning on his elbow in what used to be a window frame. Short, gray hair streaked with white. Deep wrinkles on his forehead, swept back in an all-back style, and a large, old scar running from his right temple down to his jaw. His gray eyes, though weary, were unnervingly sharp, like a hawk sizing up its prey. In his hands, a massive sniper rifle. "[angry] Who... are you...!?" At his words, the man let out a heavy sigh. Then, he leaped lightly off the building. Even though it was a five-story drop, he landed as lightly as a cat. He easily stood over 180 centimeters tall. Beneath a thick coat, he wore a well-worn military jacket. With every movement, scars across his body flashed into view. "Glen. I've got no obligation to introduce myself to a brat like you, but there it is." Glen walked past Ryou and crouched down beside Marian. He casually grabbed her left wrist──the terminal connected to her link band. "[cold] ...A Corrupt Seed. And a Skull-class one at that." He glanced at Ryou's link band. The words **[Corruption Detected: Stage 1]** were flashing red. "It's a fast-acting type. Stage 1 lasts six hours... no, given this young lady's condition, probably less." He said it flatly, as if discussing the weather. Then, he stood up and looked Ryou straight in the eye. His gray eyes glinted coldly. "You're a commander, aren't you?" "...From the Ark." "Then this'll be quick. Put that Nikke out of her misery. Once the Corrupt Seed's corruption progresses, emotional control goes haywire in Stage 2. If it reaches Stage 3, she'll kill you and become a Rapture. Before that happens, do your job as a commander." Ryou's mind went completely blank. "[cold] What... are you..." "Didn't you hear me? I said put her out of her misery." "[angry] Don't screw with me!!" He was shouting before he knew it. "Marian is my partner!! She's not some weapon!! There's no way I can just kill her──" "[cold] That's why I said you're young." For the first time, Glen's voice carried emotion. It wasn't anger──it was a deep, sigh-laden resignation. "I did the same thing once, a long time ago. Put down a corrupted Nikke with my own hands. It was the right call. You know about the Sector 7 tragedy fifteen years ago? They left the corruption unchecked, and an entire battalion was wiped out." Sector 7. The battlefield where Marian had said everyone was annihilated. "That... was the right call?" "Yeah. At least, that's what I've believed to survive this long." ──Twitch. A small sound came from behind him. He turned to see Marian bracing a hand against the wall, trying to stand. "[worried] Marian! Don't move!" He rushed to her side. But he immediately noticed something was wrong. The fingers of her right hand were trembling minutely. It wasn't a conscious movement. It was as if they were convulsing on their own, completely independent of her will. "[scared] ...Ryou..." She called his name. She always called him "Partner." But now, she used his name. "[scared] I'm scared..." Her voice trembled. Back then, and back then too, she had always tried to reassure him. *'It's okay.' 'Let's go home together.'* But now, it was different. For the first time, she voiced a moment of honest weakness. "[scared] They're my hands... but they won't listen to me..." Her trembling fingers clawed at the air. She gritted her teeth, desperately trying to clench her hand into a fist. But her fingers kept twitching and trembling. As if they were a separate living creature. (*Marian is scared.*) She wasn't a weapon either. Just like him, she was scared of scary things. She hated pain, and she didn't want to disappear. "[angry] ...Dammit!" He wrapped both his hands around her trembling right hand. (*Is it okay for me to touch her right now?*) He hesitated for a moment. The Corrupt Seed's corruption was making her electronic brain unstable. What if he did something unnecessary and made it worse? Even so── He held her hand. Her cold fingers and his dirtied fingers intertwined. The minute trembling transmitted into his palm. "[gentle] ...I will never abandon you." Marian's blue eyes wavered. Just as she looked down── "[cold] Stage 1 lasts six hours at the earliest. At the latest, it'll transition to Stage 2 in twelve hours." A cold voice pierced through their backs. "Her emotional control will break down, and she'll start attacking you. Put her out of her misery before that happens. If you can't do that, at least restrain her." (*Twelve hours...*) That was all. Just that. Was he saying she only had twelve hours left to remain herself? Ryou stood up. His legs were shaking. But his eyes alone glared straight at the older man. "[angry] Isn't there... a way to cure her?" "[cold] No. Officially, that is." "...Officially?" "That's why, for the last fifteen years, the rule's been immediate disposal of any corrupted Nikke. However──" Glen closed his mouth. His gray eyes studied Ryou, as if testing him. "[scared] Even so... I can't do it." Even he thought his own voice sounded pathetic. It wasn't logic. It wasn't reason. It was just pure emotional refusal. "Marian is the first person I ever thought of as a 'partner.'" Back in the Ark, Nikkes were just pieces on a board. To the command structure, they were nothing but disposable weapons. But Marian was different. She'd tried to protect him even at the cost of herself, and on top of that, she'd called his kindness a form of 'strength.' There was no way he could just kill someone like that. "...You're an idiot." Glen let out a deep sigh. The eyes that had been so cold until now softened, just a little. It was a look as if he were seeing his own past self. "[cold] Tch... fine. Follow me. Unless you want to die, that is." Clicking his tongue, Glen turned his back and start