Ocean raised her hand tentatively, her perpetually cheerful expression clouded with concern. "I don't mean to be indelicate, but... Exia, when Triangle Squad confirmed the kill, they specifically mentioned head trauma." She swallowed. "How could you possibly have survived that?"
Exia's fingers stilled over her keyboard. The silence in the cramped sublevel stretched uncomfortably. Arthur watched her delicate features shift through several micro-expressions—embarrassment, reluctance, calculation.
Finally, she began typing on her tablet, the words appearing more slowly than usual.
*It's... complicated. And somewhat classified. But given the circumstances, I suppose you deserve to know.*
She pulled her oversized headphones down further around her neck and took a breath before continuing to type.
*As members of Protocol, each of us has specialized safeguards installed in our cranial cavities. Not standard Nikke architecture—these are custom defensive measures designed to prevent two specific threats: corruption by Rapture influence and unauthorized extraction of classified data through forced neural scanning.*
"Safeguards," Miranda repeated, her biotic specialist mind clearly working through the implications. "You mean physical barriers? Redundant systems?"
Exia shook her head and typed again.
*More sophisticated than that. Think of it as a shell within a shell. My actual brain—the organic neural tissue that contains my consciousness and NIMPH integration—is housed within a secondary protective casing. The outer layer contains decoy neural material that registers on all standard scans as authentic brain tissue. When I triggered my emergency protocol, the outer layer incinerated while the inner layer remained intact within its shielded housing.*
"That's why Triangle Squad's scans confirmed brain death," Rapi said quietly. "They detected the destroyed tissue and assumed it was your actual brain."
*Correct. The safeguard is designed to be convincing enough to fool even military-grade medical scanners. Otherwise, it would be useless as a defense against forced extraction.* Exia paused, then added: *When Central Government medical teams retrieved my body, they found the protected core still viable and initiated standard revival protocols. From their perspective, I suffered catastrophic but recoverable neural damage. They don't know about the safeguard architecture.*
Anis let out a low whistle. "Protocol really doesn't mess around with security, do they?"
"But that doesn't address the other problem," Rapi interjected, her composed demeanor sharpening with tactical concern. "Even if you survived, the Central Government cannot overlook the fact that you attempted to hack their most secure databases. Regardless of Protocol's importance, that's a capital offense."
Exia's lips curved into the faintest suggestion of a smile—something Arthur had rarely seen from the reserved hacker. She typed with more confidence now.
*Let me clarify something about Protocol's position within the Ark's hierarchy. We are not simply another specialized squad. We manage every data stream that flows through the Ark's networks. Every communication, every surveillance feed, every logistical calculation. We support and maintain Enikk—the AI that literally keeps everyone alive by managing life support, power distribution, food production, and defense protocols.*
She paused to let that sink in before continuing.
*Central Government can posture and make threats, but they know the reality: we are functionally irreplaceable. Training a new Protocol member takes years, and losing even one of us creates critical vulnerabilities in the Ark's infrastructure. They need me more than they want to punish me. So they'll file reports, issue reprimands, and ultimately do nothing substantive because they cannot afford to.*
"Privilege has its benefits," V observed dryly.
*Privilege earned through indispensability,* Exia corrected. *But enough about my survival. Let's return to the actual problem: Vapaus.*
She turned back to her primary terminal and pulled up her coded message to Novel, displaying it on the main screen for everyone to see.
"You said Vapaus is the key," Arthur spoke, his goddesium fingers drumming against his thigh—a nervous habit he'd developed since the prosthetics had been installed. "But the key to what, exactly?"
Exia's typing accelerated.
*I can only infer from the message I left myself. The fact that I considered it important enough to encode and preserve suggests I discovered something significant about Vapaus's function. Given the context—Marian's corruption, the crimson substance in Snow White's bullet, the systematic erasure of all related data—I believe Vapaus is designed to interact with NIMPH itself.*
"How?" Scarlet pressed.
*Based on pure speculation and the urgency of my own warning, I theorize that Vapaus can destroy or disable a Nikke's NIMPH permanently. Think about the implications: no NIMPH means no neural backups, no memory redundancy, no cognitive maintenance. It would make a Nikke's consciousness as fragile and irreplaceable as a human's. Memory wipes would become impossible—you can't erase what isn't being backed up in the first place.*
The room went very quiet. Arthur's mind raced ahead, connecting threads.
"Chatterbox," he said suddenly. "When we fought him in Sector Forty-One, he regenerated from injuries that should have been fatal. His entire body restructured itself in real-time." He looked at Exia. "Could that be related to nanomachines? An advanced NIMPH variant?"
Exia's eyes widened slightly. Her fingers flew across the keyboard.
*That's... actually a brilliant connection. Raptures don't use NIMPH—they have their own synthetic repair systems. But Chatterbox isn't a standard Rapture. He's sapient, verbal, tactical. If he's been modified or evolved to incorporate Nikke technology, he might possess a hybrid nanomachine system. One that doesn't just maintain—it adapts and reconstructs.*
"And Heretics?" Arthur leaned forward, his voice tight with barely controlled hope. "Could Vapaus affect them the same way? Could it disable whatever nanomachines are sustaining their corruption?"
Exia's typing slowed. When she held up her tablet, the message was brief.
*I don't know. We have almost no data on Heretic internal architecture. I can't confirm or deny the hypothesis without more information.*
Arthur's jaw clenched, but before he could respond, Novel stepped forward. The petite detective-styled Nikke had been quietly observing from the corner, her tablet clutched against her chest.
"Actually," Novel said aloud, her voice soft but clear, "I may have relevant research regarding the Heretics."
Every head in the room turned toward her. Arthur gestured for her to continue.
Novel opened her tablet and began scrolling through files. "After the Sector Forty-One incident, I became interested in documented Heretic encounters. Most squads that face Heretics don't survive, but there are exceptions—"
"Novel," Exia interrupted gently, holding up her own tablet. *Stay on topic. Who survived and what did they report?*
"Right. Sorry." Novel refocused. "There are two squads with confirmed successful engagement against a Heretic and documented survival: Absolute and Matis."
"Absolute?" Flower's musical voice carried a note of recognition. "They're Elysion's premier combat unit, aren't they?"
"Correct," Novel confirmed. "Absolute is Elysion's strongest squad. Similarly, Matis holds that position within Missilis Industry. Both have encountered a Heretic and survived. Their combat data would be invaluable for understanding Heretic capabilities and potential weaknesses."
Nyx's eyes lit up with enthusiasm. "Then we should go talk to them! If they've fought Heretics and lived, they might know something about—"
"Nyx." Anis's voice cut through the excitement with practiced skepticism. "You can't just walk up to the Ark's most prestigious combat squads and strike up a casual conversation. They're elite. We're... well, we're us. Different circles."
"Anis is right," Scarlet added, though her tactical mind was clearly already working through possibilities. "Absolute and Matis operate at the highest levels of their respective corporations. They answer directly to CEOs and Central Command. Access wouldn't be simple."
Rapi had been silent throughout the exchange, her blue eyes thoughtful. Now she spoke, her voice measured and deliberate.
"Our recent mission to the munitions facility exposed a critical vulnerability in our operations," she said. "We were compromised by CEO Syuen, ambushed by Raptures, and nearly killed—all because we operated without official support from the Ark. Even with our privileges as Special Commandos, our capabilities are severely limited without institutional assistance."
She looked directly at Arthur.
"Commander, I understand your desire to maintain operational independence. But consider this: if we had worked with Deputy Chief Andersen or even CEO Ingrid from the beginning, we would have had access to proper intelligence, secure communications, and backup forces. The mission would have had significantly better outcomes. Regarding Vapaus and the possibility of helping Marian... I believe we need allies within the power structure, not just our own determination."
The statement hung in the air. Arthur felt the weight of ten pairs of eyes on him—his Monarks waiting for his response, trusting his judgment even as Rapi gently challenged his approach.
He was silent for a long moment, his goddesium fingers still drumming that nervous rhythm. The hum of Exia's servers filled the space between heartbeats.
Finally, he looked around the room—at Scarlet's fierce loyalty, at Rapi's thoughtful concern, at Exia's brilliant defiance that had nearly cost her everything, at the others who had followed him into danger again and again.
"I want to hear from all of you," Arthur said quietly. "Not just Rapi. Andersen has been an ally, yes. Ingrid helped Scarlet and Lyra when they needed upgrades. But bringing them into this—into Vapaus, into Marian's situation—means losing control of the information. It means exposing ourselves to political maneuvering and corporate agendas." He paused. "On the other hand, Rapi's right. We almost died today because we tried to do this alone. So I'm asking: what do you think we should do?"