Chapter Text
Countless, countless variables had gone into consideration when it came to this act of revenge. It was a plan near flawless as it could be, given the resources available.
After all, Angela had nothing but time.
Countless Abnormalities released at once. Qliphoth set to minimal deterrence, increasing their power. Binah's aid was a mild surprise, but accounted for. It handled the issue of Gebura rather handedly.
There was to be resistance. The Sephirah were putting up a good fight, all things considered. But all the victories were temporary. With the deterrence so low, those eggs were bound to crack open again in short order, and the cycle began anew.
WhiteNight readily tied up the lowest floors. The Mountain gorged on flesh, traipsing through the uppermost layers. The middle ones were more difficult to crack. Nothing There tied down Disciplinary well, and Melting Love was spreading through Welfare.
Central Command, though... that was a tricky one. Even though its size and frankly terrible layout hampered some things, they were keeping on top of it well.
Namely due to one particularly annoying Agent.
Don Quixote.
They were an agent of note. They kept logs for everyone, of course. Logs of problems, weaknesses, and other useful tidbits like notable incidents and the like. Hers, though...
Hers was among the longest of the lot. She'd been a strange problem from the start of this loop. One would've expected someone so peppy and odd as them to break quickly... but she didn't. She adapted to the environment well, despite her strange ways of speaking and insistence on those shoes.
It was the moment they suppressed Meat Lantern in melee combat that put them firmly in her sights. It was an unfeasible thing, even for higher level agents with high resistances, but she handled it in Meat Lantern's own suit. She managed, on her own, to hold that thing's nigh unstoppable maws open from the inside out, kicked its uvula to force a gag reflex, and then proceeded to down the dazed Abnormality in record time. And since, they'd practically been able to command the being of fluff and teeth back to its cell like a dog.
Humans weren't supposed to be able to do that. But the records for her initial employment indicated nothing out of the ordinary.
In fact, they were empty enough that it was actually somewhat concerning. The initial documentation she sent in for approval for the Wing position was... colorful. They seemingly had written much of it in crayon, little drawings and flourishes all over the page.
And yet, it was approved. Even knowing the criteria for hiring, given her effective managerial role for extra-facility matters, she wondered how the strange yellow haired being was approved.
It only ever got stranger from there. An incident with Fragment of the Universe also came to mind, in which she, on tape, climbed onto the thing and began eating it alive. Taking chunks out of its string-like neck, the thing panicking, flailing, and screaming to no avail while others managed to suppress it.
The next time the two encountered each other, the Fragment actively ran away from the Agent. Which was frankly baffling. Abnormalities typically didn't keep memories once they returned to their egg-like state. It was rebirth, complete and total.
And yet, somehow, she left a stain enough that it remembered, and since they consistently tried to speak to it, to 'duel' it. An incident about 2 days later involving her trying to eat the Heart of Aspiration effectively barred her from that toothy EGO gift, though. The removal was painful for all parties involved, apparently.
After that, Angela figured she would fall into irrelevance, but they got promoted to Central Command once it opened.
And then came O-01-04. The 'Queen of Hatred'. She was a constant, recurring menace throughout the loops. Sentient, humanoid, a 'magical girl' who wanted to fight villains. They were absurdly temperamental, unstable, actively required the death of Clerks to be even minorly appeased that peace hadn't fallen on the facility (Oh, how utterly ironic that statement was, even when people weren't dying).
Oh, and of course, the fact that not appeasing them turned them into a giant, teleporting snake creature that shot laser beams across the whole facility.
They were, in the Manager's colorful words, a absolute horrible, no good shithead and a right pain in the ass. Given the amount of incidents involving her over these years, Angela was inclined to agree, if simply by the statistical data.
Then the two met. She figured it would boil down to a mostly standard reaction, but...
It was clear that 0-01-04 became rather infatuated with Don. The latter did attachment work, but it was in the form of a rambling long and passionate enough that it gave even the Queen pause.
Fixers was the topic. It was something Angela was only vaguely aware of, really. But Don Quixote's breadth of knowledge on the subject was something she could tentatively speak on as fairly impressive. And Queen was captured by the topic. Of these tales of righteous warriors and fighters just like herself.
She brought the magical girl stories. It wasn't surprising, given at least 85% of her belongings were a outwardly disorganized mass of books, comics, and magazines. The two got along absurdly well, especially once Quixote was authorized the suit of the Queen's.
And then, as Don Quixote taught the Queen about fixers, the girl responded by teaching her magic.
Which should've been an impossible task. The Suit was solid and well built, but the most it and its staff could do was fire those odd multi-colored stars in various damage typings.
They were wrong. All of them were wrong. Especially once Don got the hang of firing laser beams. They don't think they would ever forget how the manager's mouth hung open at the sight, jaw dangling like it were about to wholly fall from his face.
Though she was surprised too, of course. E.G.O weaponry and suits carried a bit of power of the original source, but it typically didn't let you wholly imitate the Abnormality.
Typically. Which wasn't a word tied to that statement before her, the Agent even getting her hair styled by the Abnormality itself to resemble them.
E.G.O corrosion was suspected, but she met all the requirements of the suit. Level IV, III in every statistic at minimum... (Frankly it was baffling how high that Justice stat was, they remember at least one talk in which there was consideration for a 6th level due to her.)
But mental corruption was surprisingly low. Don Quixote's was almost always remarkably low. She was convinced the machine just didn't know how to process someone like her, honestly.
The two became rather infamous after that. The filing for incident reports had to be re-categorized on two separate occasions and a directory specifically made for 'incidents involving magical girls' due to how many were piling up.
Each were problems. Together, they were a menace. And yet...
They were allowed to stay together, suit and all. Normally, fraternizing and empathizing with the Abnormalities like this was met with separation and 'firing', typically.
Typically. But that Agent was different. The Manager said as much. And it was clear why.
Don Quixote had a 100% success rate with Queen of Hatred. Every time, even with Hysteria involved, her eyes lit up like holiday lights in Don's presence, darkness chased away with words and stories and hugs and smiles.
It was practically a fact enough that it could easily be on the documentation for the Queen.
- O-01-04 falls into a hysteric state upon no casualties for an extended period, greatly reducing success chance.
- Failure to procure 16 or more PE Boxes in this state will result in the O-01-04's transformation into a monster.
- When employee Don Quixote performs Attachment work with O-01-04, the success chance was increased to 100%.
For all intents and purposes, the agent had somehow managed to tame the magical girl. And while they were... menaces, actual casualty rates fell to near zero when it came to them.
Even if it meant having to watch the Abnormality breach itself to go on 'adventures' around the facility, perform in sparring matches with the Agent (of which betting pools had to be shut down), and generally get themselves into trouble on the daily.
And yet, since then, the Queen had not transformed since. It was baffling and ridiculous and led to here, where the two had actively stabilized Central Command, making it a rally point for this... resistance.
Angela had no clue if they would go anywhere from here, however, pushing the tide back this much had been impressive, but...
Wait. Where did they...
When the hell had Don Quixote learned how to teleport? She had it on cameras, the two speaking, determination clear on their faces, before, in a burst of pink, both vanished. Cameras flicked to in instant, every department and hallway and where the hell were they?
None of the cameras revealed their location, neither did the managerial overview. They kept scanning, focusing on other matters, but then, approximately 23.4 seconds later, the room became pink.
A beam, passing through the wall directly for her location, covering the practical width of the room. Her own processing speeds allowed her plenty of time to consider how this had occurred, connected feeds flipping as the source was tracked down.
Ah. It was from somewhere in the maintenance areas. Clever. There were still cameras back there, but far more sparsely placed. It left gaps and holes and the perfect place to launch an assault like this from. The size was surprising, larger than the standard beam. The luminosity was greater, too. Perhaps they were doing it together. The power of love.
It also left Angela absolutely nowhere to move to if they wanted to try evading it. Arcana Slave passed through surfaces like they weren't even there, and with Binah and Gebura fighting right outside the main exit, it left her isolated, but the room's defenses should've accounted for this.
Except with the Qliphoth Deterrence so low, there was the distinct possibility that the Queen's power was far more than it was built to account for.
She had accounted for countless possibilities and variables. Even the Queen to an extent, but given all the death, they should've fallen, transformed like the others already had.
But then there was that agent.
Goddamn Don Quixote, that frankly stupid, absurd fixer obsessed lunatic who was like her buoy in a stormy sea.
They should've killed her first thing.
But now all they could do was watch and feel as the beam penetrated through the room, steadily wearing away at her chassis, powering even further, clothes burning away, false skin tearing apart.
Metal warping and heating and expanding as a practical sun was being fired out towards her.
Warnings flashing. Difficulties moving, eyes shorting out. Even with her chassis's immense defenses, she was not wholly invincible. Heat tolerances could still be exceeded, Pressure from every angle...
And the last thought that ran through her mind as everything winked out one by one was that of everything considered, everything planned and executed...
She had forgotten that in this facility, victory often came from the stupidest, most absurd things.
And in this case, it was a pair of magical girls, hand in hand, derailing everything she had planned for so long on a whim, all resulting from the manager's curiosity on what would happen if the two met.
Angela hated this facility with every fiber of her being.
And now she knew no more.
This Faust was not a Faust who believed in uncertainty.
Faust could understand why some Fausts did, but here of all places, where even a small slip-up could lead to instant, irrevocable death, Faust wasn't exactly fond of the concept of leaving Faust's life up to a gamble.
So Faust took the information of the Gesselschaft rather frequently. Fausts were rather helpful to Faust, too, especially given Faust's location in time and space.
L-Corp HQ was a place many Fausts wished to know more about. It wasn't exactly a frequent place where Faust ended up across the mirror, seemingly. Only one other had, and chronologically, Faust was behind Faust by a significant margin. Still using the Forsaken Murderer's equipment. Faust was distinctly glad Faust had been able to exchange it for the equipment of Alriune since then. It was distinctly less constricting.
So Faust took the information Fausts provided, and applied it in exchange for knowledge of Faust's own. It was a simple, simple service, and had saved Faust many times.
It helped to know the path this was going. 50 Days, and then some kind of rebellion occurred due to large and frankly justified grievances housed by the resident AI, and lead to the eventual creation of a place known as 'The Library'.
Faust was rather interested in the sound of it, even if it meant Faust was likely to die for a little while, by Faust's own accounts.
Faust was rather sure that wasn't going to happen now, though, given said resident AI had been thoroughly disabled by a dual attack from Central Command Team Captain Don Quixote and the Abnormality O-01-04.
The 'Queen of Hatred'. It was a name that elicits groans from some other Fausts in the Gesselschaft. Apparently even beyond HQ, it was a headache. A curious Abnormality in Faust's own eyes though. It's effective human nature, its 'magic', which differed from other forms of magic practiced in the City, apparently something to do with the 'Light' that was currently shooting upwards into the skies above the facility.
And yet it was hostile much of the time the moment its ideals were questioned, extremely difficult to manage, and typically more trouble than it was worth.
And then was Don Quixote. Or 'Sancho Panza', as the Gesselschaft informed.
A bloodfiend, a Second Kindred of the Manchegan family. Absurdly powerful. And also simply absurd in general. The 'shoes' she wore changing them into someone completely different.
And someone who the Queen of Hatred was utterly infatuated with. And who, consequently, Don was also utterly infatuated with. They'd become a pair, and the bloodfiend kept the magical girl on the straight and narrow, directly countering information possessed by other Fausts in regards to the nigh impossibility of keeping such an entity sane for extended periods.
Perhaps even if Faust didn't believe in uncertainty, uncertainty found Faust anyways, given the scrabbling notes Faust was asked to take regarding her and the relationship formed.
Both basically relied on each other heavily. Each stabilized the other, and it made them dangerous. Even if Don never utilized Bloodfiendish attributes beyond the occasional burst of hysterical strength, it seems she could learn magic. It prompted theories among Fausts as to whether or not Bloodfiends and Abnormalities shared more with each other than standard humanity. But from Faust's own perspective, it was simply fascinating to watch the two.
Countless suppressions won due to the two's energy, optimism, and death beams. Ordeals handled in record times, stabilization of a whole department during the suppression of the Red Mist. They were practically one and the same at this point. You didn't talk about one without mentioning the other.
And now they had effectively broken the track of where this timeline was headed. It was Malkuth's idea apparently. Give the two the exact coordinates of Angela's position. Warp to somewhere Angela couldn't see, and blast.
And it worked. It reasonably shouldn't have worked, even the Sephirah who suggested it was shocked when it worked. When Faust had relayed the information to Faust, the entire Gesselschaft fell silent for a while as it was processed on how drastic a shift had occurred.
The Seed of Light Project was supposed to fail. It lead to the formation of Distortions, which lead to the Pianist, which lead to the revenge of a bitter man and eventually the release of Light in full.
It was a series of events that cascaded and lead to the formation of countless things which shaped the route of the City and now...
Faust was left in a sea of uncertainty that practically no Faust had been left in before.
What a bother. The intercom came on.
"Qliphoth deterrence is up to above normal levels, everybody! Group up and clean through the rest!" Malkuth's voice was excited regardless of the baffling nature of this all. Control had been cleaned up a moment ago, and it left Faust with little but time to think as wounds healed in the gentle pulse of the Regenerator.
"Getting lost in your own head again?" A voice called from the left as the form of Ishmael came in, clearly wounded and blood-soaked. Though the crimson of that Mercenary's suit blended in with it well.
"Faust is simply ruminating on possibilities from here."
"I'll take a guess that you thought the chances of us actually winning were pretty low."
"Correct." Faust answered. Ishmael huffed.
"Figures, I suppose. The odds were stacked against us, even with the gear. So, what, you're figuring what comes next?"
"An idea of it. This is uncharted territory." It was. Effects of the Seed would have to be catalogued and listed, compared to other realities where it was released again later after malformation. Would Distortions still become a phenomenon? Would Golden Boughs?
"The chances were that low?" Ishmael blinked, seeming skeptical.
"Faust would place the odds lower than those of successfully performing Repression work with CENSORED."
The sunset-haired agent just stared for a long moment before deflating, leaning against a wall. "Oh. So then, wise and mighty sage, what do you think happens now?"
"Faust anticipates one of two possibilities. Once suppression is complete, the Sephirah will either let us go, our contracts fulfilled, and we go our separate ways after collecting our pay. The alternative is, like many of the Sephirah intend on doing themselves, we will be buried with the facility."
Ishmael's eyes widened. "So there's a chance we will die anyways is what you're saying."
"I believe the probabilities are rather low at this juncture, but it would be foolish to utterly discount the possibility, given the extremely low chances that lead us here in the first place."
A sharp exhale from Ishmael's nose. "Yeah. Guess even our AI overlord wasn't expecting laser beams from the broom closet."
"Maintenance catwalk A-24." Faust corrected, and Ishmael's eye twitched.
"It's a metaphorical closet, you...." Ishmael's anger simmered down. Faust had noted it was likely the suit causing such a thing. She had become far more irritable since donning it. It seems she realized it too. "Be glad to get this damn suit off. Ugh."
"It is likely for the best, even if we are released. Outside of Qliphoth Deterrence, the suits will be significantly more difficult to control." Faust advised.
"No wonder when it went down, I felt like..." Ishmael started, a pointed realization in those yellow eyes of hers, voice lowering to a murmur Faust could only barely make out. "...that bastard..."
She shook her head rapidly as if breaking from a trance. A sigh. "Nevermind. Have you heard anything about-"
It was then both were interrupted as the door beside opened, and in came pink. The stars of the day. Don Quixote, staff floating by their side as if uncaring of gravity, and beside them...
The Queen of Hatred. A sight which caused Ishmael to freeze up just a touch. It wasn't surprising. Abnormalities simply could have that kind of effect on people. An odd feeling that permeated the air like a pressure. The force of their will on the world only held by Qliphoth Deterrence. But it didn't mean that tension wasn't still palpable.
And here she was, casually striding hand in hand with the Agent, both with smiles on their faces.
And more than a bit of blood tracked in, but that was par for the course for everybody at this point. Both were proud, Don raising her staff up high as she casually grabbed it with her free hand.
"Hark, we hath arrived, victorious!" the agent proclaimed.
"The forces of love prevailed against the hateful machine!" The abnormality beside cheered.
Both Faust and Ishmael just stared quietly.
"I'm... surprised you're not down in Central?" Ishmael eventually spoke, unsure.
"We would, but miss Malkuth summoned us! I knowest not why, but so it is! 'Twas their valiant strategy that won us the day, after all!"
"Even if it's less fighting than I expected." The Queen's twin-tails seemed to almost sag a little. It was one of the oddities that pointed her out as distinctly inhuman, hair seeming to respond like limbs.
"But what fighting there was was indeed glorious! I, Love, and the Red Mist herself engaged Lady Binah soon after! It was a battle for the ages, the mere thought of fighting alongside such a legend, even as they are....!" Don seemed to practically vibrate, eyes alight. Her enthusiasm seemed to infect the Queen, her own eyes sparkling just a touch. It was hard to say whether it was at the subject or the speaker, however.
"Are Binah and Angela both...?" Ishmael made a motion of a throat slice.
"Nay! Lady Binah relented after being disarmed!" The agent boasted proudly, raising her head up just a bit.
"Yep, those arms went flying!" Both other agents could only blink at the Abnormality's words. Ah. Figures it would take that kind of effort to get such a being to relent.
"As for Lady Angela... our Arcana Slave left them in quite a state! Took a bit of effort to pry them from the earth! But Sir Hokma believes they're still mostly functional and repairable!"
"I hope so. They may have been a villain, but I could see the goodness that lied within! Their draw in the world left them with a terrible hand from start to finish." The Queen spoke.
Oddly spoken, but Faust found herself agreeing with that assessment, given what Faust knew.
"That sounds like a terrible idea." Ishmael's tone was flat, eyes narrow, clearly wondering what the hell was going through their heads. "She just tried to murder everybody."
"Faust would like to remind you that literally every Sephirah has attempted the same during their own breakdowns."
"And you don't exactly see me being chummy with them." The sailor's arms crossed.
"This place hast been full of immense trials and tribulations for all! T'would be folly to judge them for something many of us have experienced." Don began. "I distinctly remember you falling asunder too once, Lady Ishmael! Thy bullets and sickle alike art quite troublesome!"
Yellow eyes shied away, orange hair sliding down the wall just a bit more. "WHITE damage is different."
"'Tis merely more focused!" Don countered. "But a focus that is most unpleasant!"
"Everybody needs a helping hand once in a while." The Queen spoke. "Even me... as much as I feel I should be... better."
Her eyes seemed to grow a touch more shadowed, but at that, Don leaned into her side with a knowing smile.
"Like so!" Pivoting, they gave the magical girl a large hug, chasing away those shadows as the agent nuzzled her cheek, the Abnormality giving a giggle.
The two really were made for each other. Honestly, it was kind of startling just how close they both appeared to each other now. Were it not for the hair and the Abnormality's ghostly complexion, they'd practically be twins.
It was then, finally, that the boxy Sephirah of Control arrived. "Oh! You're already here, good!"
She stepped in more fully, moving around the two magical girls as the yellow haired's gaze locked on.
"We did as thou instructed, Fair Lady Malkuth! Tis' all settled?!" She vibrated, seemingly ready to practically bounce.
"That it is! Cleanup is practically done, and I came to congratulate you both." Her eye's shutter rose, giving a happy gaze. "You both saved us, the facility, and the wing's goal all in one swoop. It's rather hard to put into words the level of thanks we have, really."
"T'was no issue at all! Tis' the duty of fixers and maidens alike to put down such villainous acts that threaten the lives of countless!"
"It's our purpose!" The two spoke together, eerily. Malkuth's singular eye shuttered closed for a moment like a camera, pausing before continuing. "...Right, of course. And for this accomplishment, we've added a quite hefty bonus to the end of your contract. As a gift from us."
"We don't need money for these things!" Queen seemed almost slightly offended before Don patted her shoulder.
"Nay, but should they not be able to express gratitude?" she commented. "We may not care for it, but if they do, then is fine to accept it! Tis' more rude not to."
The Queen looked at her for a while, seemingly processing it. "I mean, as long as we put it towards helping others!"
"Tis' the plan!" Don grinned, and Queen seemed to follow.
"On the subject of plans, Miss Malkuth." Faust's words drew the prosthetic's attention. "Faust would like to inquire as do if the Sephirah have decided a course of action from here in regards to the facility and its current residents."
"Well, we've been discussing that." Malkuth spoke, singular eye glancing down to notes on occasion. "Originally, Ayin's original plan involved burying the facility with everyone in it. Buuuut, well, honestly, most of us kind of disagree on it now."
"They wouldst have...?" Don blinked, voice falling. "An act of villainy so cruel seems... different than he."
"Well, it was the old Ayin doing that. Not this one. I think X would've disagreed too, but... well, they're not here anymore." Her posture deflated somewhat, tone mournful.
Faust was still unsure why the manager decided to take a plunge into the giant pillar of light, all things considered. It came off to Faust as rather cowardly, especially given what the purpose of this entire facility was.
But perhaps the former Ayin had something to do with that to ensure this is how it would end. Which was... saddening, really.
"So, new plan we've come up with is similar, but well, we're doing an evacuation! Get everybody out of Records storage, pay out contract fees, etc, etc. Then we're burying the rest of the facility."
"With, ah, all the Abnormalities?" Don's face looked a little worried.
"Well..." Malkuth trailed off a moment, flipping a page in her notebook. "There's been a fair few people who are willing to play 'guardian' for them. Laetitia, some of the Training Dummies, Scorched Girl... most of them are too dangerous, but... well, we're considering it, as long as they take full responsibility and know what they're getting themselves into. Outside of Qliphoth, Abnormalities get... strange. Warping the environment and all. Same goes for E.G.O equipment. Maintenance is not something you can easily do and corrosion can happen a lot more frequently... but, uh, as Gebura put it, 'it's their hill to die on if they want to keep using it'."
"So does that mean we can leave?" The Queen asked, eyes wide and pleading.
"For you... well, you did help save everybody and I imagine Don is more than willin-"
"YES!" The agent's voice interrupted with immense volume, bouncing." Of course! Have no fear, Miss Malkuth, for I shall help guide our Magical Maiden in the ways of the Cityfolk! We can finally pursue the dream!"
Queen's eyes lit up. "You mean we can..."
"Be heroes!" Don and Queen both finished at the same time, each seemingly hyping each other up.
"Prithee, we shall become righteous Fixers and help the countless folk of the City's streets!" the agent proclaimed, and both Sephirah and agents could only watch as they continued to speak on 'righteous deeds' and 'defeating of villains' in various tones, deaf to the world around them.
Ishmael leaned towards Malkuth, whispering. "You know this is going to go terribly, right?"
Malkuth's vocal processor lowered in volume significantly. "The City will probably survive them?"
Faust could hear the Gesselschaft making a poll on that topic.
The resulting odds were not good. Faust elected to say nothing, though. It wasn't Faust's problem to deal with.
Hopefully.
The evacuation after took quite some time. The sheer quantities of people who needed to be unfrozen, debriefed and summarily let out took quite a lot of effort, manpower, and patience.
Which was something that was getting lower and lower for many people in the facility. Many agents and clerks simply, slowly began to filter out. Numerous of those Faust had come to respect, gone on their separate ways.
Outis had doffed Magic Bullet, finally. Though she knew the contract itself would find its endpoint some time. Returning home was simply more important.
Ryoshu, the Captain of Safety left too, with that E.G.O equipment of theirs, synergizing well. Faust had an idea of what future lied for her, the way her eyes narrowed at further mention of spiders, at how that blade almost seemed to rumble in its sheath.
There was Ishmael and Heathcliff, Ishmael wanting to continue her wanderings across the City before heading home to the sea to close out matters. Heathcliff behind her. The two seemed halfway ready to tear each other to smithereens, and yet still fought for each other's sake. It reminded Faust of a brother and sister, not that either would ever admit to that. Heathcliff did speak of having plans before once they got out of here, but...
They seemed to have forgotten it. It left them listless in a sea. Something Faust understood well. No wonder they clung to Ishmael such, for if anyone could navigate those waters, it'd likely be her.
And then, of course, there was Don Quixote. She and the Queen, hand in hand, speaking of a path of heroism, a path of becoming the brightest star in the sky.
Faust didn't know if they'd reach that goal. Maybe they'd die in a week, the immortal magical girl left to fend for herself, causing untold casualties. Maybe they'd just settle into some monotony, never ascending or descending. Maybe that part of Don Quixote would come out at some point, and who knows how the other might react to the situation.
But Faust wished them well regardless. It was the polite thing to do.
Even some of the Sephirah seemed ready to leave. Some weren't ready to fade away. Gebura, Malkuth, even Hod, funnily enough. Plans discussed in earshot, the idea of better prosthetic bodies to acquire with leftover funds from the Wing. Faust had no idea where Hokma went to after the codes had been given to unfreeze the others, but given he vanished the same time as Angela's body, Faust had a good idea of what they were doing.
And then there was Faust. Faust had been part of the skeleton crew left to help unfreeze the last of those in Records. But now, that vault now lied empty.
Faust, and Lobotomy Corp. as a whole had been evacuated.
The last few packing bags, whatever they wanted to keep.
And Faust was... unsure what Faust wanted to do, now.
"Miss Faust." Faust's thoughts were disrupted by those simple words from the one beside. One of the others who had stayed. Yi Sang. That one member once of Training, now of Extraction, and now perhaps, none at all. "Might I ask... what are your plans now?"
Faust couldn't help but blink. "That is... yet to be determined."
"Then, I would like to propose to you an offer." The poet began. "Me and Lady Binah have been discussing a 'round trip' through the City. To sir ourselves with new experiences and to witness what the results of this project unfolds. If, perhaps, you lack a direction, perhaps would you be interested in joining us?"
That was... huh. The moment Extraction had opened, and more so, the moment Yi Sang and Binah had met was... rather a sight, all things considered. The philosophical talks and eloquent works had brought the rather lamenting state of the agent up by a large margin. The few times Faust had been privy to listening in...
It was rather enjoyable. Even if perhaps Faust wasn't as elegant with wordplay as the two, she could keep up, and to them, that seemed all that mattered.
Faust did not know what would come next. Faust doubted if something like that vaunted 'Limbus Company' would ever even be formed. It was a murky place of possibilities, of uncertainties, brought upon Faust despite her wants. A sight that no Faust had seen before.
But this... she didn't know how this 'round trip' would go, whether it would end prematurely, whether anything would come out of it, but...
She was certain it would be interesting. "Faust... would be more than willing to do so."
And they saw that pale face give a small, genuine smile. And Faust could feel something similar onto her own face.
Whatever the future held, even if Faust was the only Faust to see it, to experience it, at least Faust would not be alone.
And so, side by side, Faust marched out of the facility, out of this grave, this place where fate had been veered wholly off course.
By a pair of girls, projecting beams powered by Love and Light and all that was good. It was utterly ridiculous.
And yet, such was life, full of uncertainties, no matter how much Faust wished them away.
But perhaps, just for a bit, she could believe in them for now. To witness the blooming of that seed, to witness a future that shined strong and bright.
Perhaps it wouldn't so bad, after all.