If breaking into Regalia Arms was this easy, Souta concluded, he ought to have his dear dad get the occult wing busy with anti-teleportation measures. A wave of nostalgia had hit the moment he stepped through the watcher's shadowy threshold and clapped the heel of he shoe upon the immaculate floor. [i]Same old sound.[/i] A strange thing to remember, but something even the horrors of recent days couldn't make him forget. In this building, the smith remembered, all one had to do to see himself was take a quick look downward and peer into his reflection in the polished metal below. Sterling—just like the company's reputation, and the quality of its products. They were, after all, the reason why he was here. [color=cyan]“So, this is where some of the Earth's greatest humans work.”[/color] Not far away, Souta's escort ran her wispy, pitch-black talons across the intricately-wrought, gleaming chrome surface of a piece of equipment. Having appeared inside a laboratory in the research wing, a whole host of ingenious devices lay scattered around, along with various scraps of material being tested or deconstructed. Here, Souta knew, the components of the company's famous weapons were tested for quality, and various items taken from the field came under intense examination for the sake of understanding and perhaps incorporating them. For humans, the trinity of realities was a brave new world, and every chance encounter brought never-before-seen elements to their attention that all bore scrutiny. Souta likened it to the movies where humans reverse-engineered the technology of aliens, and for humanity's sake he hoped that Regalia was making similar progress. He watched, frowning, as the watcher fiddled with a microscope, peering through it one eye after another at the empty slide that lay beneath. [color=teal]“There's nothing there to see. All samples are packed away at the end of each day. Professional standards.”[/color] [color=cyan]”Aww.”[/color] Bending over backward like a serpent, the specter oozed over a table of tools, knocking things over until she reached the edge, whereupon she slid up against the window to the hallway. Face pressed against the glass, she stared out at the well-lit corridor. [color=cyan]”It's soooo....clean! Organized! But also fancy. Not ostentatious like the stuff in Paradiso, but still making a statement. Like, 'look how efficient we humans are! We'll beat the demons with out protocols and growth rates! No angel will penetrate this bureaucracy!”[/color] Souta sighed. He did not trust the watcher, even if she seemed a good deal less purely malicious than the average specimen, as demonstrated by the day she brought him and Kyle to the Council. What choice did he have, though? As she tittered with laughter, Souta walked past and through the door to her left. It snapped shut on its own, forcing the watcher to give as close to a pouty look as her inhuman features could manage before phasing through the glass. The smith glanced one way and then the other, searching for an indicator that would lead to his goal. [color=teal]“That would be the weapons, actually. Now, if you warped us right, my room is on this floor...”[/color] His questing finger turned to the right. [color=teal]“That way.”[/color] Sliding his hands into his pockets, he set off at a brisk pace. As familiar as this building was to him, he knew that he should not be here. Those who didn't think that he was dead could very well assume him to be a traitor, so keeping a low profile was quintessential. Unfortunately, his companion did not share the sentiment. She floated lazily behind him, keeping up with his power-walk even while pausing to gawk at every interesting office and elaborate display piece along the way. [color=cyan]”Woow!”[/color] she remarked, her ethereal voice sporting a tone somewhere between intrigued and patronizing. [color=cyan]“If the public space is this neat, I can hardly wait to see the shinies!”[/color] Her eyes narrowed as they fell upon Souta, who'd stopped to punch a number into a door's keypad. [color=cyan]”You aren't forgetting, are you? Whatever treasure catches my eye. Eyes. That's why we're here, not so you can rummage around. You ought to be grateful I agreed to this little trip in the first place!”[/color] She rested her head in a claw as a flat beep sounded from the keypad, causing Souta to grunt in frustration and try again. [color=cyan]”'Course, it would've been tough to say no. [i]Nobody[/i] takes the time to think about us watchers want. So offerin' me a fun little shoppin' trip for a new shiny, even if you had your own angle? It's soooo sweet! Y'know, people are gonna talk.[/color] A moment of silence passed, and her eyes narrowed. [color=cyan]”Hey, hammerhead, you're not ignoring me, are you?”[/color] A lighter tone sounded out, and Souta found that the door handle yielded beneath his inquiring press. He swung the door open, but before proceeding inside, turned to face the watcher. In as sincere a tone as he could muster, he said, [color=teal]”Of course not. I am beyond grateful that you accepted my offer. Though I am surprised to hear that nobody has been paying you attention.”[/color] He spread his hands apart. [color=teal]”You are not at all like the others. Even though fate has given you a terrible lot, you do not let it turn you bitter and miserable. You are someone who still knows how to enjoy yourself. That makes you special—makes you strong. So it is only reasonable that you should be rewarded. Your masters might not appreciate that, but I know what it is like to work a thankless job, surrounded by idiots. So I hope you like this trip.”[/color] After punctuating his speech with a little bow, he entered the room. Behind him, the watcher clapped both hands over her face, eyes fading away. From the muffled tittering sound, Souta could tell that she was working hard to suppress laughter. Pretending not to notice, he approached his personal forge, and laid his hands on the top of the workstation. Though dust coated it from lack of use, he could still see the nicks where he'd scratched them, and the brown spatters of long-dried blood he never bothered to clean. [color=teal]”Ahhh....watashino furui juujin.”[/color] After a longing pat, he took a few steps back and started maneuvering various pieces of equipment and containers of material next to the forge. He finished after just a half-minute of labor, and turned to face the watcher, who still seemed to be shaking. Souta frowned. [color=teal]”What's the matter?”[/color] [color=cyan]”That was the cheesiest damn thing I ever heard in my whole existence. Where do you get off being such a breathtaking dork when you've failed to prevent two seals being destroyed and the world's on the road to ruin?”[/color] Though he burned inwardly, Souta shrugged. He took a moment to think about the response he wanted to make. [color=teal]”Comes with being an engineer, I suppose. As for the world: the British have a saying. 'Stiff upper lip'. Even when bombs fell on London many years ago, week after week, they did not fall to fear. Sucks that the other realms are too busy fighting to see the big picture, but it doesn't matter. Americans have a saying too, I think: 'keep on trucking.' So I will just take things as they come.”[/color] A sweeping motion with his hand covered the cluster of technology he'd amassed. [color=teal]”If you don't mind, warp this stuff to my room in the Citadel. Then we can hit the Armory and find you your shiny, eh, Magpie?”[/color] The watcher gave a wave of her hand as well, and beneath Souta's collection a darkness welled up into which the equipment sank. A moment later the portal closed, and the room lay depressingly empty. The watcher's piercing cyan eyes contained what Souta assumed to be amusement, yet try as he might he couldn't glean anything like contempt. [color=cyan]“Magpie, huh? Save your fancy schmancies, Hammerhead. I'm just here for the loot. Soooo...”[/color] Making finger guns, she twirled them around to point toward the doorway. [color=cyan]”Let's boogie.”[/color] [center]-=-=-[/center] The moment the gleaming door slid open, the watcher's eyes grew wide enough to become spotlights. A moment of quiet passed as Souta watched her, his hands in his pockets, until the specter whispered, [color=cyan]”You weren't kidding.”[/color] Before the two lay Regalia's Armory. Clients, principally from Gilgamesh but also monster hunters, independent crusaders, military companies, and arms fanatics the world over, inevitably ended up here to take in the same view. Table after table of armaments of every shape and size extended before them, and nary an inch of wallspace existed that wasn't home to a weapons rack. Every type, color, and design imaginable was on display, from explosive meteor hammers to jet-powered spears to triple-barreled shotguns to revolving rocket launchers. Souta snickered to see his ghostly chaperon so taken aback. [color=teal]”Nothing like this in the Citadel, eh? Most of these have no soul in them, so they are not quite at the level of famous Devil Arms, but each one is a masterpiece. And any one is yours.”[/color] Too amazed at the eye-popping variety to even nod, the watcher zoomed through the room. Her claws closed around one thing after the other, and though it was doubtful she had ever would ever have to fight at all, she gave each one -even the ranged weapons- an eager swing before setting it back down. While his chaperon hooted and hollered as she whizzed around, Souta made a beeline for one spot in particular. His target's size made it easy to spot even before he homed in on it, and before long he stood in front of a special, deluxe display. [color=teal]”Mountain Buster,”[/color] he breathed, and with ginger fingers he took hold of the weapon's handle to pry it off the wall. Its weight forced him to strain, but even still he could not stop appreciating it. Though not too overwhelming in the artistic sense, Souta knew that this weapon would serve him well. He'd wanted it as long as it had existed, but only now -with the world on the verge of ending at all- did he feel at liberty to seize it for his own. It was, simply put, an enormous pickaxe with a large pile bunker instead of a head. Unlike the watcher, he did not feel the need to test it; the short video of its demonstration on the hidden Regalia sight was ingrained in his memory. By the time he returned to the entrance, the watcher was ready to join him. [color=teal]”Find something nice, Magpie?”[/color] he joked as he examined her choice, which bade him raise his eyebrows. [color=cyan]”Yeah! This is one sickass piece of work! And stop calling me Magpie, you worm.”[/color] Tittering, the watcher strummed her find's strings. The discordant noise made Souta want to grind his teeth, but he managed to give a wry grin instead. [color=teal]”The Acoustic Katar,”[/color] he said. [color=teal]”I thought we instituted a rule against pun names. It is more like a sitar anyway; katars are push-daggers, and if one were to use that as a weapon, it would work more like a trident with the blades on the bottom like that.”[/color] He crossed his arms. [color=teal]”What should I call you, then? Panoptos is the only watcher who told us his name.”[/color] The watcher gave the sitar another strum before lowering it. Her eyes appeared dull. [color=cyan]”Uh. Well...”[/color] [color=teal]”You know what it means, right? It's a type of black bird that collects treasure. Thought it was fitting.”[/color] She looked annoyed. [color=cyan]”Of course I know what it means, stupid! Well, nevermind. That's fine, I guess. Better than nothing.”[/color] Souta gave a light sigh. [i]What a weird watcher.[/i] He turned and strode out the exit only to run straight into something large, hard, and invisible. He stumbled backward, falling directly on the Mountain Buster. Magpie tittered, but fell silent as the air in front of them shimmered, and a tall, dark shape took form. When Souta looked up, he recognized the familiar silhouette of his big sister, clad in the dark augmentations that earned her the call sign Phantom. [color=teal]“Dammit.”[/color] Nestled amid silky raven-black hair and the sheer black of her cybernetic suit, Otsune's pale face stood out as ghostly beyond measure. [b]”Little brother,”[/b] she greeted, her voice soft. [b]”We are intrigued by how you managed to get in, but please rest assured that you tripped over a half-dozen silent alarms.”[/b] Her eyes flitted between him, Magpie, and their new weapons. [b]”And who is this?”[/b] Silent as death, Otsune circled around Souta and reached out a giant mechanical hand toward the watcher. Silent for once, the specter shifted out of reach. [b]”I never knew you had a way with the ladies, little brother. Everyone in the security office was touched.”[/b] An angry expression overtook the smith, even as he reddened. The watcher, meanwhile, was fuming. Clutching her precious sitar with one hand, she pointed an accusatory talon. [color=cyan]”You were watching us!? That's my job, worm! Who the hell are you?! I'll wipe that smirk off your miserable face!”[/color] A vague chuckle escaped Otsune as she returned to her full height. [b]”Breaking and entering, stealing, threatening an elite operative of Gilgamesh and the heiress to Regalia Arms, not to mention coming back from the dead...this will make for quite the story.[/b] Her hands opened wide and reached to snap Souta up. Not at all compliant, Souta made an undignified retreat as he yelped, [color=teal]”Kuso! Magpie, bail, bail!”[/color] In an instant the watcher threw herself around the smith, still holding on to her sitar, and the two begin to fade away into a dark portal. Otsune's fingers closed around nothing, but she looked more amused than angry. As he receded into blackness, Souta scratched his head. [color=teal]”Talk later, sis. Very sorry about everything!”[/color] The next moment, he was gone, though for a brief instant before she followed him Magpie took the chance to give Otsune the finger. [center]-=-=-[/center] [color=cyan]“Dumbass Hammerhead! I thought you promised you knew how to avoid detection?[/color] [color=teal]”Hey, we got out, did we not? I got my tools, you got your treasure, we all won!”[/color] When the watcher ran her talons along the side of her head, a black mist spilled off. She swirled around in a huff, knocking over various bits and bobs in Souta's chamber. [color=cyan]”Easy for you to say, stupid.”[/color] she snarled. [color=cyan]”If the Council somehow gets wind that I took you on an unauthorized trip to earth, they'll banish me for breaching security. What good are my trinkets then?”[/color] The watcher seemed to deflate, sprawling out along the top of Souta's furnace. When her ethereal voice came again, it was a miserable whisper. [color=cyan]”Unlike you Agents, I'm expendable. Just another faceless slave.”[/color] Rolling his eyes at what he was about to do, Souta shook his head. [color=teal]”You are wrong. I am also expendable. Why else would they bring in a mere human, hmm?”[/color] Magpie did not move. [color=teal]”Besides,”[/color] the smith continued, hesitating just a second. [color=teal]”You are not expendable to me. I owe you for helping me out. If you get in trouble, I will speak on your behalf.”[/color] An audible [i]smack[/i] rang out as Magpie clapped her hand to her forehead. When Souta listened closely, he could hear her tittering. [color=cyan]”You're making a gigantic fool out of yourself, Hammerhead.”[/color] she muttered after a few moments. [color=cyan]”And me, too. This is ridiculous. A watcher, servant of the greatest authority in existence, taking emotional support from a stupid human.”[/color] [color=teal]”I prefer 'stupid dork.'”[/color] [color=cyan]”Shut up.”[/color] The specter rolled over onto nothing, hanging in the air. [color=cyan]”Uh...thanks for the sitar, I guess. And for saying you'll vouch for me. If I get in trouble, you damn well better.”[/color] She floated toward the door, leaving behind a dark trail for the briefest of moments. Before phasing through, she glanced back at the smith, who was still standing with arms crossed. [color=cyan]”Now that you have your stuff, if you happen to make any shiny new weapons, let me know or something. Just so I'm not bored out of my mind. Got it?”[/color] Smiling, Souta nodded. The watcher gave him a final glare before disappearing, and afterward the smith went and sat on his bed. [i]That was bizarre. She always struck me as weirdly not-malevolent compared to the other watchers, but wow. If she were human, this whole episode would have actually been pretty adorable.[/i] He frowned deeply. [i]That's...a freaky thought. Well, whatever the deal is, I have my full setup now. I can focus on making weapons to prepare for the next mission. Since I have more to do, I can take my mind off the whole business with Sevrin, Void, the seals, and so forth.[/i] At the moment, however, Souta felt too distracted for work, so for a while he lay down and mulled things over.