CHAPTER 464: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF KIANA

"Yaaawn... My dearest Kiana, it’s already eleven o’clock. Can you please let me go back to sleep?"

Michael let out a huge yawn, his squinted eyes unusually clear despite his posture. Still, he complained in a tired tone, leaving no room for suspicion.

"You’re so lazy, Uncle Michael! Who sleeps this early anyway?"

With one hand on her hip and the other pulling Michael along, Kiana leaned forward while he leaned back. The sight was comical enough to make anyone chuckle.

Of course, if an onlooker knew that Kiana, who was leading the way, was actually at HQ for the first time and had no idea where she was going—and that she needed Michael, the one being pulled, to tell her which way to turn at every intersection—they’d probably be doubled over laughing.

The floating harbor didn’t have facilities like "streetlights," but there were various indicator lights along the paths, and motionless drones hovered in the sky with their lights on. They served the same purpose, didn’t they?

"I’m an old man now. I can’t compare to you energetic young people."

As Michael spoke, he instinctively put a hand on his lower back.

"Besides, staying up past eleven is for a normal day, right? These past few days have been absolutely exhausting. I fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow, and you dragged me out of bed before I could even get a wink of proper sleep... Sigh..."

"Hee hee..."

Kiana scratched her head, embarrassed. She knew she’d been impatient. She was the only one who couldn’t sleep, and she hadn’t considered his feelings at all. But admitting she was wrong was harder for her than passing a theory exam, so all she could offer was a sheepish grin.

But that wasn’t enough. They were still a ways from the archives. Kiana’s azure eyes darted around as she quietly started a new topic.

"Uncle Michael, look at those drones in the sky. How come some of them are just sitting there with their lights on, while others are flying all over the place?"

A pair of unfamiliar Valkyries walked past them, and Kiana unconsciously lowered her voice.

"Hm? The ones with their lights on are obviously for illumination. The ones without lights are security drones on patrol. HQ’s floating harbor is basically a quasi-military base. While there’s no evening curfew in most areas, for the convenience of the residents, patrols are still necessary."

"Uh... that’s not what I mean, Uncle Michael... I mean, in the movies, shouldn’t patrol drones like these have searchlights shining on the ground...?"

"Sigh..."

Michael was starting to regret this. Kiana’s questions weren’t hard to answer, but they were certainly giving him a headache.

"You said it yourself—that’s in the movies. The patrol drones have night-vision cameras, rapid facial recognition systems, and can read the identity information encoded in the chips of your uniform’s name tag. Is there any need for lights? Wouldn’t that just reveal the drone’s position and the camera’s field of view?"

"Uh, oh..."

Now that Michael had put it that way, Kiana seemed to realize how silly her question had been.

She wanted to salvage her image but couldn’t seem to find another good topic.

They continued on in silence. Fortunately, the night was quiet and heavy enough that Kiana could selectively ignore the indescribably awkward atmosphere between them.

"Take a left at the intersection up ahead. Go to that access tunnel and swipe my clearance. The archives are inside."

After another five minutes of walking, Michael spoke up again.

Kiana’s grip on his hand tightened unconsciously, and her pace quickened visibly. Before Michael could react, he went from being the one leading to the one being dragged.

"Hey, slow down!"

Two minutes later, Michael was bent over, ruefully examining the scuffed leather on his boots. When he straightened up, he gave the awkwardly grinning Kiana a light bonk on the head.

"Alright, stop the silly grinning."

He first swiped his ID card, then completed the fingerprint and iris scans. Only then did the heavy metal door slide open, revealing complete darkness within.

"This is..."

"Not what you were expecting?" Michael chuckled.

"Forgive me, I’m just an ordinary teacher from a branch campus, not an instructor at HQ. I naturally don’t have the authority to take you into the main archives. However... even though you didn’t say, I can probably guess what you want to look up. The things you want to see can be found on this archive branch terminal. Of course, you’ll probably have to become an S-Rank Valkyrie to learn the more detailed information. My clearance is only equivalent to a regular A-Rank Valkyrie’s."

"Is that so..."

"Mm. In my personal opinion, you don’t need to be in such a hurry to investigate your parents’ affairs... especially regarding the Second Honkai Eruption. I’ve seen Schicksal’s records. I can tell you that apart from a rough outline, the version of the Second Honkai Eruption documented in the Schicksal archives bears little resemblance to what actually happened. Even if you look, you won’t get any useful information."

"Eh? Uncle Michael, how did you know..."

Kiana stopped halfway through her question, realizing how foolish she was being.

She knew how famous the Kaslana name was. And her mother, Cecilia Schariac, as Schicksal’s one and only S-Rank Valkyrie—and the strongest at that—was likely even more famous. In other words, Uncle Michael, and even Auntie Himeko, probably knew who her parents were all along. And...

And Uncle Michael was right. Just like how the textbooks at Chiba Academy described the Second Honkai Eruption as nothing more than "a cataclysmic event occurred in the Far East’s Siberia in the year 2000," how much valuable information could Schicksal’s public archives really contain?

That wasn’t to say the public archives were useless, just that they were useless to her. She wanted to learn about her parents. She wanted to verify if her dream matched reality, something she thought even Michael hadn’t noticed. And she wanted to know who the purple-haired girl reflected in Cecilia’s eyes was at the end of that dream... These were questions that most likely wouldn’t be answered in any public record.

So, was there any point in looking?

Kiana hesitated.

Michael stood to the side, shaking his head slightly. Logically, at this point, all he needed to do was lead her inside to achieve his goal.

But he still offered a word of caution. Why? Perhaps it was his subconscious at work, or perhaps it was a completely opposite calculation—he seemed to be advising Kiana against it, but such a statement could, in a way, apply a different kind of pressure, pushing her to choose to do it anyway. It was the same principle as that afternoon on the Hanging Gardens, when he’d wanted Kiana to rest first so she would be full of energy at night and... act just as she was now. But he hadn’t directly told them to rest; instead, he had leaned towards the "hang in there a little longer" option.

So, which motive was driving his current advice? Michael himself couldn’t be sure. But if Kiana was "persuaded" and chose to back down now, it didn’t matter to him.

He had far too many ways to make Kiana disappear tonight; this was by no means the only one.

"Uhh... hmm..."

Kiana suddenly stretched with all her might. Michael reined in his wandering thoughts and asked softly, "So, have you decided?"

"Yeah. I’m still going to see for myself. After all, saying it’s worthless is just our speculation. Since I can’t sleep anyway, I might as well give it a try. What do you think, Uncle Michael?"

Michael glanced at her, a little surprised. Aside from her voice suddenly dropping in pitch, her choice of words had become much calmer and more mature in an instant.

But what did that have to do with him?

He nodded in satisfaction, then immediately feigned helplessness and put a hand to his forehead. "You’re right, but I want to sleep..."

"Ah... I’m sorry, Uncle Michael. Maybe you should head back first..."

"You idiot!" Michael ruffled her hair with a wry smile. "I still need to swipe my clearance card when you pull up the files, don’t I? It’s fine. A few sleepless nights won’t kill me. I’ll stay with you a little longer."

"Okay!"

Michael patted Kiana on the back. She nodded firmly, took a deep breath as if relaxing before a battle, and then stepped into the darkness before her.

CLICK—THUD!

The sound of the heavy door closing behind her made Kiana jump. But considering this was an archive branch terminal, such measures were probably necessary to prevent classified information from leaking, right?

CLICK!

Michael switched on the main lights. Kiana raised a hand to shield her eyes, and after a few seconds of adjusting, she saw the most conspicuous object in the spacious room—

It... looked like a giant culture pod. Had they come to the wrong place? Or had HQ’s technology already surpassed her understanding?

"Huh? I didn’t think this thing was already in use."

Michael’s words were a tad dramatic, but Kiana herself was always over-the-top, and Michael had his occasional moments of acting bizarrely, so she didn’t think anything of it.

"Uncle Michael, do you know how to use this thing? Uh... wait, does this thing even have anything to do with accessing archives?"

"Well, you could call it an experimental product. The old way of accessing archives was the same as reading any document—you’d pull it up and get text and a few images on a screen. But this gadget can use a special medium to interfere with your brainwaves, presenting that information directly in your mind in a form similar to ’memories’ or ’dreams.’ You’ll know once you try it."

Kiana blinked, not doubting Michael’s words in the slightest.

Michael tilted his head, clearly pleased with her choice.

"Give me your phone and name tag. Everything else should be fine."

Kiana obediently handed over her belongings, then followed Michael’s instructions and stepped into the... "pod," for lack of a better word.

Michael gently closed the pod door. Kiana gave him an "OK" sign, and almost a split second before she even made the gesture, he eagerly pressed the single red button in front of him.

An orange juice-like medium began to fill the pod. In no time, it was up to Kiana’s waist. Completely unaware of the danger, she first examined the orange liquid with interest, then lightly tapped on the pod door, making a muffled, faint sound.

"Hey! Michael! How am I supposed to search for what I want... Mmph—glug glug glug—"

Before she could finish her sentence, the orange liquid rose past her chin. Fearing suffocation, she instinctively stood on her tiptoes, but it was pointless. Before she could struggle, the pod was completely filled. All she could do was clamp a hand over her mouth and nose, coughing violently while looking at Michael with a confused expression.

"You don’t have to hold your breath. Breathe normally. Inhale the liquid into your lungs. It might feel a bit uncomfortable, but it will deliver oxygen and nutrients directly into your body. That way, your brain might even work a little faster."

That’s amazing! Wait... nutrients?

As Kiana thought this, before the question could even fully form, she reached her limit and couldn’t stop herself from choking on a mouthful of the liquid.

"Cough! Cough cough! Mmph... cough cough cough cough!"

She struggled for a moment as the cold liquid rushed into her lungs, but her mind didn’t become clearer as expected.

The overwhelming feeling of suffocation gradually stole all her senses. She didn’t even have time to wonder if this was a normal part of the process or if something had gone terribly wrong.

But her consciousness didn’t fade completely. She felt as if she were at the bottom of the sea, the cold liquid caressing every inch of her skin. And in that vast darkness, there was a single, faint glimmer of light.

"I never thought you’d dare to come here again."

A somewhat familiar voice echoed in her ear.

Who... are you?

Kiana couldn’t speak, but the other female voice seemed to hear her thoughts.

"Me? This isn’t the first time you’ve asked me that. What’s wrong? Have you forgotten all the other times?"

You...

"Besides, this isn’t the first time we’ve met. And between us, is there really a need to distinguish so clearly?"

Flickering lights and shadows moved in the darkness, and the muffled sound of voices seemed to reach her through the viscous water, distinct from the female voice that felt so familiar, yet she couldn’t place where she had heard it before.

"How should I put this? Fine. This time, I’ll just let you see the memories of the past. My past memories, which are also your past memories. Our shared memories."

A sudden feeling of weightlessness made Kiana think she’d been thrown from the floating harbor. But when she forced her eyes open, she found herself floating in the air, before her a familiar snowfield.

This... this scene, it’s like in...

All the memories were finally connecting.

---||---

"So? How does it feel, to personally push a girl who trusted you to this point?"

"What am I supposed to feel?" Michael sneered, calmly observing the girl floating in the life-support pod, ignoring Otto behind him. "We’re just awakening her memories. Besides, we haven’t harmed her. It’s just that both our plans require that authority she holds. Perhaps, in a way, this is fulfilling her dream. She’ll become Schicksal’s strongest Valkyrie after you die, maybe even the savior of humanity. Isn’t that a good thing?"

"Sigh..." Otto shook his head, looking thoroughly bored. "You’re no fun at all, Michael."