CHAPTER 52: THE PLAN.

When Kentaro opened his front door, he didn’t see his hallway.

He was back at Halcyon’s main HQ, the very first militarised base he’d ever visited not long ago.

The sprawling sci-fi command centre stretched before him, glowing blue screens alive with readouts and tactical maps. But not a single chair was occupied. Even Shogo wasn’t anywhere in sight.

Kentaro stepped inside cautiously, glancing around the empty control room.

"Strange, " he muttered to himself.

"Hello?" He called out, voice echoing against the metallic walls. No response. Not even the hum of machinery broke the silence.

He frowned. "Okay... What is this? Did everyone suddenly get paid leave or something?"

Curiosity tugging at him, Kentaro wandered toward the commander’s massive chair in the centre of the room. He gave it a spin, leaning on the armrest.

"Well... If she isn’t here..." He grinned mischievously. "Might as well get a chance to sit on it, heheh."

He lowered himself slowly, savouring the moment, then swivelled to face the giant projection screen.

"Listen up, troops!" he barked in an exaggeratedly gruff voice, pointing dramatically at nothing in particular. "Drop the Eggdrafolium, deploy Territory, Kannazuki, help set the mines!"

His Dream world wouldn’t last long, though.

"Well, well, well... You really are quite cute when you’re acting so childish, aren’t you?"

The voice came from behind him.

Kentaro’s stomach dropped he didn’t hear her footsteps, and he didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was.

"T-Tenka!" He yelped, spinning in the chair.

There she was, standing with arms crossed, her piercing eyes practically glowing with judgment.

"Hey there, Commander," she said dryly. "Looks like you’re busy playing house."

Kentaro’s face flushed crimson.

"No! It was jus-I mean-I wanted to see how it feels to, you know... Command stuff!" He stumbled over his words, flailing for an excuse that wasn’t completely pathetic.

Tenka clearly wasn’t buying it. With a sigh, she snapped her fingers.

Kentaro felt something click under the seat... Then on the backrest... And then-

ZZZZZT!

"HAAAAAAA!" he screamed as a jolt of electricity shot through his body.

Tenka covered her mouth, giggling. "One of the rules," she said between laughs, "is that only the Commander sits on that chair. Everyone else gets the taser treatment."

BOOM!

From outside the room came a voice:

"COMMANDER, PLEASE LET ME GET SHOCKED BY YOUR TASER-LET ME SNIFF THAT CHAI-"

BOOM!

The doors burst open. Shogo barreled in, grinning like a madman. He’d heard Kentaro’s cries and wanted to experience the "glorious pain" himself. But before he could even reach the chair, Tenka’s foot connected with his side in a blur.

BOOM!

Shogo’s body sailed across the room, smashing into a wall with an oddly satisfied moan.

"Thank you, Commander... For that glorious kick... Ahhh..." He groaned, sliding to the floor.

"Idiot," Tenka muttered, brushing nonexistent dust from her uniform.

She turned her eyes back to the still-twitching Kentaro on the floor, her expression hardening.

"Enough trying to act like a dumb-ass. The team’s waiting for you in the meeting room."

Kentaro stumbled to his feet, shaking off the lingering static, and followed Tenka down the sleek corridor.

"Next time I’ll leave the chair alone." Kentaro thought to himself, as they arrived.

Inside the meeting room, the rest of the squad was already gathered: Yumi, Drone, Haruka, Emi. Riku and even Mika, the member who was rarely seen.

"Hey, guys," Kentaro said, giving an awkward wave before plopping into his seat. They greeted him in unison.

Tenka cleared her throat, and the casual mood shifted instantly to mission focus.

"While stationed here at HQ," she began, "we received intel that an Alberline has been sighted in Tokyo."

The team nodded, silent and attentive.

"But there’s something unusual," Tenka continued. "This Alberline is moving between cities faster than any we’ve encountered. Not long ago, she was spotted near our hometown. Now, she’s in Tokyo."

Drone tilted his head curiously. "Wonder what her goal could be?"

Emi rested her chin on her palm. "Maybe... She’s just a free spirit..." she said slowly.

Haruka, arms folded, shook her head. "Could be. But my gut says she’s searching for something or maybe someone."

Everyone glanced her way, most likely agreeing with the strategist’s instinct.

"What could she be looking for?" Tenka asked.

Haruka shrugged. "Not sure. But here’s another fact: we’ve confirmed that this Alberline entered the world without causing a Fracture Bloom."

The room fell silent.

"No Fracture Bloom? How?" Drone muttered.

"We’re not sure," Tenka admitted. "But if Alberlines can appear without one, that’s better for us. Less collateral damage."

Kentaro clenched his fists. "Does that mean... They can control whether they cause a Bloom?" He looked between Tenka and Haruka.

They both shrugged.

"What we know," Haruka said, "is that Alberlines can enter this world without them, intentional or not."

Seeing the confusion on their faces, Tenka refocused them. "For now, let’s discuss our Tokyo operation. We’ll be taking the ship. Transport inside the city will be via specialized vehicles with limited portal capabilities; Tokyo’s too large for full door-crossing deployment."

The team nodded in agreement.

"Our mission," Tenka said, her voice steeling, "is to seal the power of this Alberline, codenamed Siren. Thanks to Mika, intel suggests she can control people with her voice."

Mika smirked as she nodded her head.

Haruka tapped her tablet. Behind Tenka, a massive projection flickered to life: a blurred figure of a young woman facing down a knife-wielding man.

Audio barely carried her soft-spoken words, yet on-screen, the man froze, turned, and plunged the blade into himself.

"Holy crap," Kentaro muttered. "She just made him stab himself without doing anything."

"Exactly," Haruka said. "We don’t know her range, her limits... Nothing. We’re going in blind."

"Why not gather more intel first?" Kentaro asked.

Tenka shook her head. "We don’t have that luxury. Cradle won’t wait. They’re already converging on Tokyo, and their forces there outnumber ours significantly."

Her eyes narrowed. "And since that island incident, we’ve learned something else: Reiden Vale is moving again. His base of operations? Tokyo. Meaning we’ll be dealing with him, too."

Kentaro frowned. "So Cradle’s coming... And that other group... Spire?"

Haruka nodded. "Spire is essentially Cradle’s black-ops division. Controlled by Reiden Vale himself. They weren’t always like this; only in the past five or so years have they risen to global power under Reiden and his second-in-command, Velza. They’ve fought Alberlines worldwide, gaining influence, government contracts... And near-limitless funding."

"You’re kidding me..." Kentaro muttered.

Tenka continued. "They’ve even begun manufacturing their own equipment and selling downgraded models to Cradle and other organisations. It’s made them even richer and more dangerous."

Drone scratched his chin curiously. "The guy’s trouble."

Kentaro leaned forward. "I know this is late to ask, but... How do Cradle and Spire’s armours actually work? I’ve seen Kira use them, but I’ve never understood."

Haruka looked at Tenka, who nodded, and then she stood, projecting images of armoured suits onto the display.

"Here’s Cradle’s standard armour," she explained. "It’s a shielding exosuit. The moment you put it on, you synchronise with it. That synchronisation, your percentage determines how much of the suit’s power you can handle. It boosts speed, strength, perception... Makes you superhuman."

Kentaro tilted his head. "But not everyone’s lucky?"

"It’s not really luck, but more your latent ability," Haruka said. "Say you put it on, and your initial sync is 10%. That means you can only use 15% of the suit’s potential. That’s your capability."

Kentaro slumped. "Oh great, so that’s why you only gave me 15%..."

Haruka smiled faintly. "That’s actually not the worst for a rookie. Most don’t break 25% until their second year. But there are exceptions."

"Oh, okay... But on that date with Serica, when Kira found us, she activated something called Overdrive. I remember hearing her suit say ’88%’ or something close to that."

Tenka stepped in. "Kira’s one of those rare young fighters who can match many commanders if she uses her overdrive. From what we’ve gathered, her base sync is around 30 to 40%, unheard of for someone her age."

Kentaro blinked. "That’s insane... So Overdrive is basically unlocking maximum potential?"

Haruka nodded. "Indeed. Overdrive releases the full capability of the person’s potential, which the body can barely handle; it causes severe fatigue, sometimes permanent damage if pushed too long."

Kentaro swallowed hard. "So...That time Kira used it... She was desperate."

"Exactly," Tenka said. "It’s only used when there’s no other option."

Kentaro lowered his gaze, remembering her rage and desperation during that moment.

Tenka furrowed her brow, sensing the conversation dying, so she clapped her hands, pulling everyone’s attention back.

"Of course, Spire’s suits are different. They push fighters beyond safe limits. Someone who syncs at 12% in Cradle’s suit might hit 20% in Spire’s version. But that extra power shreds the body over time, damaging the brain permanently."

Kentaro’s eyes widened slightly "Damn... He’s a pretty evil guy, isn’t he?" Kentaro muttered under his breath.

Tenka crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair. "Yep. Reiden doesn’t care about his own forces. As long as someone’s strong enough to get the job done, he’ll use any means necessary to reach his goal."

Yumi tapped on the holographic console before adding, "And just so you know, that goes for specialist weapons as well. The higher your percentage, the stronger your weapons. That’s why your sword and guns will scale with your resonance."

Kentaro turned to her, his eyes lighting up with realisation. "Oh yeah... I remember Kira and the other soldiers using those swords and rifles."

Yumi nodded. "Exactly. Those swords are called Tectonic Longswords. They’re powered by the suit and tied to your resonance percentage. The higher it is, the more control you have; eventually, you can even change the blade’s size or channel it into a laser beam. But..." She smirked slightly. "Only about 15 to 20 per cent of soldiers ever reach that level, and it’s the same with the rifles, the higher your percentage, the stronger your bullets and accuracy."

Kentaro scratched his head, half-impressed, half-nervous. "Makes sense... I’ll keep that in mind."

Before the conversation could drift further, Tenka cleared her throat sharply, drawing everyone’s attention.

"Alright," she said, her voice firm but calm. "Last thing we need to discuss is our positioning in Tokyo."

With a flick of her wrist, a holographic map shimmered to life in the centre of the table. Multiple red dots pulsed across central Tokyo.

Haruka adjusted her glasses and stepped forward. "These marks represent confirmed sightings of Siren. She hasn’t left central Tokyo, which will be our main search area."

The group nodded in silent understanding.

"Due to Spire and Cradle’s movements," Haruka continued, "we can’t just hover the ship overhead like last time without a reasonable emergency. We’ll have to disembark early, then drive the rest of the way into Tokyo. Once there, Halcyon’s safe houses and hotels under our control, will serve as our operational base."

"Yes, Commander!" The crew echoed in unison.

"Good. That’s all for now," Tenka concluded. "Dismissed. More details will follow once we finalise search teams."

Chairs scraped against the metal floor as the crew dispersed. Kentaro stood first, stretching before heading toward the exit. His mind was already halfway home to Serica and Yura...

The door hissed open.

THUMP!

Two figures tumbled forward, crashing face-first onto the floor.

"SERICA? YURA?!" The room erupted in surprise.

The two girls groaned, slowly lifting their heads. They glanced at each other, then spoke at the same time. "Sorry..."

Serica nervously fiddled with her hair, cheeks tinged pink. "W-we’re sorry, Kentaro. It’s just... After we finished eating, I wanted to show Yura the front entrance. You know, teach her how to get into the apartment."

She looked down, ashamed. "But when I opened the door, it... Led here. And no one was around, so we got curious and, um... Ended up hearing everything."

Yura straightened her posture, speaking with quiet sincerity. "Indeed. You must understand, she was only trying to help me. Please don’t be upset."

Kentaro blinked, caught between exasperation and amusement. Then, with a soft smile, he crouched down and ruffled both their heads.

"I’m not mad, you sillies," he said warmly. "Just... Be more careful, okay? The last thing I want is for either of you to get hurt."

Both girls froze, stunned at his words, before their lips curled into shy smiles.

"Come on," Kentaro said, standing and offering his hands to help them up. "Let’s go home."

The girls glanced at each other, then back at Kentaro, and nodded in perfect unison. "Mm!"