[h1]Hanazawa Maria[/h1]

Suddenly, the guy perched on the rooftop ahead of me fires off a shot of his own, which [i]rips the gunner in half[/i]. Wow, he's not joking around. Then he takes another three shots. So, I guess he's on my side, for now... My attackers are getting closer to me now, giving me a better look at them. From the sleek and mechanical feel of their auras, I can tell that the spirits are all PCUs. And not just [i]any[/i] PCUs... Bernoulli was nice enough to let us analyze him when he joined, and these guys feel very similar. It's like remains of other spirits have been stitched into them with unsettling efficiency, really hammering in the idea that the only spirits that can be allowed to exist are ones that serve humans without question. Yep, those are [i]Protectorate[/i] PCUs.

Sigh. Of [i]course[/i] it's those psychos. Who else had given the Union so much trouble after we were created? Ugh. Now, should I-

Before I can finish my thought, another wave of energy from those Protectorate guys washes over me, this one a [i]lot[/i] more unpleasant. As in, literally, it's so bad that it makes all my senses recoil from the contact, including the sixth sense, and they remain numb even after it goes away. Ahaha, a blinding spell? Passable, but you gotta do better than [i]that[/i] if you wanna shut me down, losers! I focus inward and quickly flood myself with invigorating energy, washing away the numbness.

[i]Are you all right, Maria?[/i] I hear Mikkun's telepathic voice through our pact. [i]Do you want me to come and help?[/i]

[i]Nah, I can handle these idiots,[/i] I say. [i]Besides, seems like I've got help too?[/i]

[i]Very well.[/i] I feel Mikkun mentally nod. [i]Be careful.[/i]

[i]Yeah, I will.[/i] I telepathically send the thought of a smile. [i]Thanks.[/i]

One of the PCUs is coming close now. It's almost two meters tall, looking like a particularly strong and imposing human, clad in shiny, steely gray mechanical plates, but the way it moves with streamlined fluidity tells me that it's probably a lot more agile than it looks. Liquid metal materializes around its arms and solidify into a pair of bladed tonfas, and the robotic white eye lights from its visor focus on... the indistinct blur from before. He stops just in front of me, squaring off against the PCU. Hmm... I can vaguely feel that he's Light-aligned, but even at this distance, I can't tell much else from him through my passive sixth sense alone. And if I try to pierce that veil with a scanning spell, I'll almost definitely expose myself as well. Hmm... If he's with the Celestiarchy, it makes sense for him to fight those Protectorate psychos. But that means I can't really trust him either... And I don't know about the guy over there on the rooftop either; still too far away to tell anything without giving myself away. What to do...

Oh, I know.

Under the illusory veil I've been maintaining, I condense my power into a small blob around my soul. Keeping another veil around myself in this blob form, I sink into the ground, leaving my former body an empty shell made of dreamstuff. It's effectively an actual corpse now, so I let the veil around it fade away, subtly enough that people won't notice the change unless they're at least as good at this as myself, since the projected illusion and the real thing underneath are now identical. Phasing through the solid ground, I horizontally dash away, then up into the air. And...

[i]Pure Trance.[/i]

The veil falls apart around me, revealing the new body that I've just created. The basic shape is the same, but it's now wearing a backless white evening gown, revealing the pair of large, feathery angelic wings now coming out of my back. My hair is now silvery white, and flowing past my waist. This time my legs are bare, hints of them showing through the dress, and on my feet are strappy silver heels. A silver necklace, pair of bracelets, and earrings. White nail polish. And lastly, a silver mask covers my whole face, smooth except some wing-like patterns etched around the eye holes, a soft lavender light glowing from underneath.

Oh, and my old body is still on the ground, as I descend from the sky. I don't know if any of them had gotten clear looks at my aura before, but my aura is definitely different now, a gentle white that should look Light-aligned unless they carefully analyze it to find the impurities. With me looking like an angel right now, and very different from the body that lies on the ground, hopefully those Protectorate assassins will think that I'm someone new and not the Hanazawa Maria that they've been sent to eliminate. And hopefully this other Light-aligned person will see me as friendly. If I've had more time, maybe I could've made a better disguise, but it's not my specialty, so this'll have to do for now...

"I heard a gunshot. Who are you, and why are you attacking innocent people?" I say to the PCU, in a gentle voice that has a bit of otherworldly reverberations to it. "Are you here to stop him?" I ask the indistinct blur. Of course, I don't really expect the PCU to answer, but hopefully my wording will make the other guy cooperate with me...