[center][color=2F4F4F][h3][b]NODE[/b][/h3][/color][/center]
[hr][center][b]Hokkaido[/b][/center][hr]
She stood at the top of a skyscraper overlooking the ruined skyline of Hong Kong. The street, normally so crowded with people, were now deserted. Most of the citizens fled the city before the battle came, but some have remained, either making peace with dying or simply unable to escape in time. Regardless which, they were now probably holed up in their homes waiting for Nodes to come. They probably thought that they were all going to be killed, but Node knew that the Collective had no such intention. 

Suddenly, a figure dressed up as a clown appeared before her and then the entire world twisted. Reality began to break like and Node’s vision became grainy, as if she was watching a TV emission with a bad signal. She felt herself getting pulled somewhere. There was a flash and the scene of post-battle Hong Kong disappeared. Instead, she was standing in a field of snow. 

Node immediately took notice of the two who were on that field with her. She made no excessive movements and just prepared her cannon, ready to blow the head off of first person to appear threatening. It didn’t seem to her that any of them could actually pose a danger to her. One looked like a clown that appeared before her earlier and the other was wearing medieval armour and weapons. Node wasn’t sure, but it seemed to her she found herself amidst some really strange people. 

The clown began talking. What he said seemed ridiculous to Node. A different Japan? A world of gods? Gods don’t exist – she knew this to be a fact. The Collective has been to thousand of worlds and it had yet to see any evidence of the existence which could be classified as a “god”. Usually it was just empty myths, and only in some cases it was an extremely advanced civilization manipulating a primitive one. Yet this ridiculous person claims that her world was created by a god and asks her to go and find it? Don’t talk nonsense. 

Then it struck her. A sudden realization made her momentarily break her emotionless appearance as her eyes widened in surprise. [color=2F4F4F][i]It is so silent.[/i][/color] There were no whispers coming from other Nodes, no presence of the Collective weighing in the back of her mind. Node was alone, for the first time in months, and she felt lonely and exposed. She fought back the urge to run away from this place and find a safe place to hide. [color=2F4F4F][i]It makes no sense! As long as I am on Earth I should be able to sense other Nodes. Where are they?[/i] [/color]

She was return to reality by the voice of the third person present. The knight seemed equally unimpressed by the clown’s speech as she was, but unlike her he appeared eager to fight as long as the reason was convincing enough. Node herself wanted to ask the clown some questions, but it seemed to her that it wouldn’t be easy to get him to answer. His whole body language gave off the feeling that he now just wanted them to go away. Such attitude irked Node and she felt the urge to send a short barrage from her cannon into the clown’s head. 

Instead of doing that, however, Node turned to the knight. 

[color=2F4F4F][b]“I think I already know the answer but I have to confirm: you are not with him?”[/b][/color]