And we're back! I decided to throw out one more chapter Of Myths and Mysteries than I originally planned on, but it's well past the point where No Longer Human gets an update.

  Still looking for someone to do a commission, but it's not being helped by the fact I have no social media accounts. I might have found something, though.

  Also, I don’t know how many of you keep up with Nikke news, but our next collab event is with Resident Evil. So I’ll likely be doing a snippet for that at some point in the future, even if the extent of it is Elen loading a heavy flamer with malicious intent.

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  *A few days prior*

  “Ma'am, this is important!” A voice shouted, Syuen’s teeth grinding against one another. Damn that stupid piece of scrap metal! She wasn't pleased with Wardress, either. How had 313N been allowed to slip her leash like that?

  What did they think she was doing? Going out on the town to get drunk?

  “What could be so important that it's worth my time?” Syuen snapped at the man, glaring at the taller scientist. She was going in the mood for interruptions.

  “It is the artifact. We managed to cross reference it with old data we managed to copy from Elysion a decade ago,” the man rasped, out of breath as Syuen scowled. It may have been before her time, but she had seen the report. Age had corrupted most of the data into uselessness. With all the security around it, the previous CEO thought they'd get something useful from it.

  But with the data being so damaged they couldn't even tell what was produced, just a handle of surviving model numbers and incomplete references to the Grimm project? It had been a steal in a way that wasn't a benefit.

  “So? That fact that you are still wasting time on that nonsense is telling. Maybe you should focus on important matters,” Syuen snapped, preparing to walk off.

  “Ma'am, it's that the identification number matches with the relic brought back by 313N during their first Chatterbox mission!” The man shouted, causing Syuen to whip around.

  That damn! Syuen felt her jaw quake in anger. “And what, exactly, is the point to all this?”

  “It's an old weapon, belonging to a Grim model. Yet, it also is infused with Rapture nanotechnology,” the man stuttered, as if Syuen hadn't read the report herself.

  “Nanotechnology that has run out of power, unless you forget,” Syuen snapped, glaring up at him. She didn't have time to waste on such matters. With everything that had happened, she was busier than ever. All thanks to that brat!

  If she could destroy 313N, she would do so in a heartbeat. But now 313N was out of her hands, and Syuen knew she was being watched like a hawk. And now with the scent of blood in the water, the sharks were starting to circle. Missilis was supposed to be constructing a new body as well, something that took Syuen’s fury to even greater heights.

  “As it turns out, Ma'am, the original finding wasn't correct,” the scientist pulled on his shirt collar, feeling the heat. “It wasn’t a lack of power, it's a lack of signal that has caused the shutdown.”

  Syuen frowned. There was precious little that could mean. Given that the nanotech only shut off after Elen’s head had been removed from her body?

  “Are you telling me that the control node was successfully implanted in 313N’s body?” They had the body in reserve, locked in a vault on the off chance it would be useful.

  “We've run tests on the body. It's not there. In hindsight, it appears it successfully managed to implant it inside 313N's brain,” the scientist looked sheepish as Syuen looked up at him, eyebrow twitching.

  Was he telling her what she thought he was telling her? That 313N had been corrupted by a Heretic? That couldn't be right. Too many missions, too many scans.

  Unless.

  313N's NIMPH oddities had the effect that was theorized. Resistance to corruption.

  “We believe the nanomachines were trying to recreate the body of the original Heretic,” the man continued to talk. Recreate the body of a Heretic. A Grimm model Heretic. Heretics were already powerful.

  It took Matis and Absolute working together to defeat a single one, and that was closer than Syuen would ever publicly admit. A Grimm model was a mythical thing, and they lacked the resources to recreate such works. Empowered as a Heretic? Such a Nikke would be unrivaled.

  “What exactly do you want to do about that? It's not like we have 313N on hand for testing,” Syuen snapped. That was the crux of the matter. 313N was no longer something they had easy access to.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “No, but we are supposed to be making her a new body, are we not?” Syuen’s mouth clicked shut. She didn't want to admit it but that was a good point.

  As much as Syuen wanted to drag her feet, something was going to force her hand eventually. It was a risky move, but if Elen was that resistant to corruption? If it could be reactivated by exposing it to the original signal?

  “I want security measures in place. All sorts,” Syuen said. She'd need a cover story about why she couldn't give 313N back to Counters, of course. But behind the scenes, 313N being a Grimm model with Heretic upgrades under Misllis employment? That was a win. And if something went wrong?

  Well, then nothing of value was lost. If the body had been converted, dissecting the result could advance Misillis's technology by decades, if not more. More than worth the trouble of cracking one annoying egg.

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  It was a shame that hadn't worked.

  Oh well, can't win them all. Nothing was really lost in the attempt.

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  “Does Cinderella mean anything specifically to you?”

  I was going to admit, I did not see Ingrid's line of questioning coming. I figured she'd be asking questions about how I feel, was everything about my new body seem fine, was I having any discomfort or pain? Those sorts of questions that someone would ask after a fairly major medical operation. Which this kinda was.

  Which, by the way, I felt great.

  “I know of the story,” I said simply. “I know that there are multiple variations from numerous cultures. Alice started calling me that, because one could consider Syuen my evil stepmother, and Wardress the evil stepsisters. One of the versions was recorded by the Brothers Grimm. But other than that? Not much. ”

  That was the truth. Cinderella wasn't a story I tended to interact with much, even among the Disney conversions. Outside of childhood? I really had nothing to do with it.

  Of course, that also raised the question of where Ingrid was going with this. Unless I misread her as a person, Ingrid was not one to waste time. Which meant as much as I did not understand where she was going with this?

  She had a reason for asking me seemingly irrelevant questions. Which was a problem. Because asking me about a damn fairytale didn't make a whole lot of sense. There was the Pilgrim that had been codenamed Snow White, which was another fairytale. But that was the only connection.

  “What does Anachiro mean to you?” Ingrid continued, her face continued to be blessed by a god of stoicism. She had a poker face with the best of them.

  “Other than that sounding something like anarchy, not particularly,” which anarchy was a fairly stupid system, but that was neither here nor there. Ingrid's expression didn't change one bit.

  She wouldn't be asking these questions without thinking they were somehow relevant. But how? How though? How were they relevant?

  Well, there was one quick way to find out.

  “May I ask why?” I asked, tapping my fingers against my knee. My nerves were not making this pleasant in the slightest. Seriously, she wouldn't be wasting time on this if it weren’t important. And if she was asking questions, I wanted to know why she felt the need to ask these questions.

  Ingrid paused for a moment, looking at me. Her gaze felt as if it was burrowing behind my eyes and into my soul.

  “During combat with the Heretic called Modernia,” I resisted the urge to bristle. It wasn't as Ingrid was wrong, even if calling her what the was pulling the Raptures strings didn't sit right with me. Marian was simply a much better name. What she actually was, without the taint and being unable to control her actions. “You were able to link and use Snow White's weapon. During this time, there was a.”

  For the first since I met her, Ingrid's pause was not a simple, measured thing. There was real uncertainty. Enough that I could notice. Which was enough to make my nerves spike like a rocket.

  What could make someone as stoic as Ingrid nervous? That was not a thought I ever wanted to have. Ever.

  “Projection around your body that was a close match to an old Nikke,” Ingrid finally said. “I am trying to figure out why, or how, that happened.”

  Projection? That was a weird way to put it. Then again, it wasn't like I even noticed it during the whole mess.

  “Sorry, I don't think I'll be of much help,” I admitted. Where would that have even come from? How did that even work? I'm pretty sure my body didn't have a projector, per or post. “I can't really think of anywhere it could have come from. If Syuen did something to me, it probably would have shown up by now.”

  And that was the only place that I could think of. While Syuen was an idiot and spiteful child, I doubted she would be able to do something like that. Especially because it at least benefited me. Even a little.

  “I will admit, the odds of Syuen being involved are quite low,” Ingrid admitted. “Are you sure there isn't anything else you can think of?”

  That is what I said. There was only one possible source, even if I doubted it. But for the sake of clarity.

  “I mean, during my first encounter with Chatterbox, I got impaled on something,” I frowned. Could that be the cause? “It was some sort of Rapture tech, so they had to detach my head. But nothing got into my brain.”

  “I see,” Ingrid nodded her head, expression still largely unchanged. “Well, if that's the case, then it would be best to maintain a checkup schedule until you return to the field.”

  That was an offer, and I kinda suspected that they would want to do that anyway.

  “Now, if you wish, you can begin running your body through the paces,” Ingrid continued. Alright, that's what I expected. And honestly?

  I was ready for it. It was well past time for me to blow off some damn steam!

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  Bang bang bang!

  I let out a breath as I reloaded, letting time return to normal. There was no pain, no burning of my spine or nerves.

  Sure, I couldn't keep it up forever, and there was a hard limit on how long I could slow things to a crawl. But just the fact I didn't have to hurt myself anymore was wonderful! And I wasn’t hurting myself, either! My body didn't creek or groan with movement. There was no grinding of joints with each landing.

  The wave of Raptures was torn to pieces in the barrage, as the digital landscape around me faded. Without a doubt, it was an improvement. A very noticeable improvement.

  I stretched, getting used to the feeling. My own body! This was mine! I let out a contented sigh. It felt great.

  I was going to have to come back for check ins, but that wasn't the biggest deal. But there was still stuff that needed to be addressed. Like Johnson. His injuries were going to put him out of action for a hot minute. And there was the fact I had a new body!

  That was a bit of a lesser issue, and an easily solvable one. It's not as if my social circle was a particularly wide one. There were few people I interacted with outside of Yuni and Mihara. Much less ones I considered to be friends.

  Speaking of which? A jingle in my pocket as I stepped out from the simulation room. The noise that came out as I checked the message?

  Not my usual ringtone. Instead, some type of foghorn blared to life, nearly dropping my phone in surprise. Dammit, Exia, what did I do to deserve getting my phone hacked!

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  Elen: You don't have to hack my phone like that!

  Exia: Stop trying to revive old memes! Congrats on the body, though. It looks cute.

  Elen: Thank you!

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  “Well, you look completely different now,” I beamed at Anis’s remark.

  “Thank you!” My smile was completely wide, going from ear to ear.

  “That wasn't,” Anis let out a noise that I couldn't quite place. Either she wasn't expecting that answer, or me being as chipper as I was had put her off her game.

  Then again, Ingrid's words aside, and the whole mess with Chatterbox and Marian? This was the best I felt in a good long while.

  “Wow, you look so much better now!” Neon's head smacked straight into my stomach. Not sure how that worked, given how I was shorter than I had once been. But I gave her a brief hug, regardless.

  I don't know what she meant by better. It wasn't like my old body was ugly. But it just didn't feel quite right. Like a gear that was getting caught during a rotation.

  “How's Commander Johnson doing?” I turned to ask Rapi. Part of her seemed a bit off. Even with her blanket

  “He's resting at the moment,” Rapi said with a short nod. Which was a good thing. He needed the rest. Frankly, we all did. We all needed the rest pretty badly after everything.

  “I can keep an eye on things while you guys finish getting patched up?” I offered. None of us wanted to leave Johnson alone right now. Sure, he just got a promotion. But at the same time?

  He just got a big promotion.

  And I didn't trust anyone outside of Anderson and Johnson when it came to the Ark’s military. Someone could get bit by the stupid idea fairy. They were pretty endemic around these parts.

  “Well, just be sure not to break anything else.”

  Alright. I see how it was. I was going to have to bite Anis, wasn't I?