The navi held back with all her might before being cast to the ground by the sheer strength of this virus— monster— [i]thing.[/i] Aki rushed to the side of the ruined navi.

[color=00FFFF]Stay back![/color]

Her voice was still broken and rusted. In pain.

[color=00FFFF]I have to keep it off the Holy Panel...[/color]

Despite her wounds, the navi creaked to a standing position, her legs spasming every few moments as she dedicated her every process to rising. A light of hope beamed through Aki. She had read the stories, played the games. She knew this was how heroes won. How despite all the odds, all the pain, they rose up to fight again. And when their backs were against the wall, that's when heroes were their stronge—

Ciel collapsed, her leg erupting into a shattered collection of blue voxels. Packets of data flitted into the air, only to evaporate into the void of the digital world. And as she dropped, Aki's newfound confidence fell with her. If a navi, a creature specifically built to kill these monsters couldn't win, what hope could a normal girl like Aki possibly have? And as she watched her lifeline buckle, a sense of dread hit Aki like a bowling ball to the gut. An intimate uncertainty of what the future held, of how she would make it in this world. Of what she would need to do to survive. Her charge of survival instincts didn't last long. A familiar, cold feeling of acceptance washed through her, a tool that had often allowed her to cope with life's shifting tides. This might be unwinnable, and there might be no way out. She might die today. That's just how life was.

Then Aki would be ready to die.