February 2, 2000, Noon
At the First Airport of the Fate Headquarters' Floating Islands in Europe,
Theresa was taking photos with Siegfried, Cecilia, and Kiana Kaslana to commemorate their time together.
The four white-haired girls were enjoying themselves when suddenly, Theresa received an urgent order from Fate Headquarters.
"Proceed to the Babylon Experimental Base in Siberia for investigation."
At the same time,
At a U.S. military base in Arizona,
Walter Yang, leader of the Anti-Entropy faction, was finishing a simulation exercise. After effortlessly defeating the simulated enemies, he returned to the resting area on his roller skates.
Einstein approached him with urgent news: the Second Law Operator had been born.
Walter decided to mobilize the Titan Squad and personally depart for Siberia within two hours.
"Peace never lasts long. We may not be able to convince her. We must also be prepared to eliminate her if necessary."
Theresa arrived first in Siberia, joining the Fate A-Class Valkyrie, Patrick, who had been stationed locally, bringing new armaments for her.
"Thanks, Theresa. If we waited for the usual procedures, it would take half a month to get these."
"What's happening inside the Babylon Experimental Base?"
"I don't know. They activated Level 2 alert yesterday and pushed all of us stationed outside the Valkyrie units out."
"Overnight, 322 researchers vanished. Did Patrick find any leads?"
"Let's check the control room first. There are only limited clues, and even then, we can't deduce what happened."
Patrick and Theresa entered the control room.
"It's strange… why are the lights so dim?"
"Look at this. Overnight, all Corruption Energy stored in the base's reactors disappeared. Now the base is running on temporary power."
"Are the monitors still functional?"
"Yes, but there are no clues. It's as if the researchers were hunted by an invisible force."
"Theresa, we should investigate the reactor area."
"Just the two of us?"
"Yes, Lady Theresa, just the two of us."
Patrick, walking behind Theresa, imagined how cute she would look with cat ears atop her head.
They reached the reactor area and conducted a brief investigation.
"There's still no clue, only residual traces of Corruption Energy."
Suddenly, a girl's cry for help echoed through the halls, startling Theresa.
Patrick was surprised that the S-Class Valkyrie Theresa could be scared by a mere scream.
"Don't worry, Theresa, let's check it out together."
They arrived at the holding area.
"Patrick… could it really be a ghost?"
"Calm down. These are just human girls," Patrick reassured her.
"Is this a prison? Why are so many people held here?"
"These are test subjects detained at the Babylon Experimental Base."
In this world, male resistance to Corruption Energy is extremely weak, so they are rarely considered as experimental subjects.
Theresa and Patrick unlocked all the prison doors and led the girls out.
Finally, they reached a special cell containing only two young girls.
A girl with long purple hair tightly held another girl.
The white-haired girl bore deep Corruption Energy corrosion marks and was clearly already dead.
The purple-haired girl's lips moved silently, but when they leaned closer, a faint voice emerged:
"Bella…"
Seeing this, Theresa stepped forward to comfort her.
"It's alright. Don't worry, little one. You're safe now. In a few days, we'll take you somewhere secure."
"Wait. According to regulations, these test subjects can only be sent to Fate Headquarters, and they've been injected with Corruption Energy."
Patrick could not allow Theresa to take them. If she did, Anti-Entropy would lose the chance to intervene. Compared to Fate, the Anti-Entropy organization could better protect these girls.
"Secure? Where?"
Hearing this, the purple-haired girl finally responded.
Theresa smiled.
"Not long ago, I applied to the Archbishop to establish St. Freya Academy on an artificial island in the Far East."
"I will discreetly shelter these girls until they can control their powers, either returning to a normal life or becoming Valkyries themselves."
Patrick hesitated, weighing whether to hand the girls over to Anti-Entropy or leave them in Theresa's care.
"Where in the Far East?"
"It's a province in China. Perhaps this map will make it clearer."
Theresa projected a map, showing St. Freya's location.
"See, there. On a small artificial island near a cluster of islands that's St. Freya, your future home."
"So it's here," the girl said.
Theresa saw Xilin smile. Though the smile was a little odd, it brought her relief.
"Don't worry. Trust the headmistress. I'll protect you all."
Hearing this, Xilin, who had been planning to destroy St. Freya, paused her powers.
Her golden, cold eyes stared at Theresa.
"I hope you mean it."
Before Theresa could respond, a sudden whirl of motion transported her and the test subjects to the partially completed St. Freya Academy.
"Ah! What just happened? Hm… never mind! Let's settle them in quickly and head back."
Back at the Babylon Experimental Base, Patrick glared at Xilin in terror, preparing to equip his exoskeleton cannon.
"What did you do to them?"
A disdainful voice replied.
"Hmph☆, who knows? They all went where they were supposed to☆."
"And one more thing to settle☆, the woman who took my brother☆."
Patrick readied the exoskeleton cannon and sneered at Xilin.
"Now that no one else is in the way, I can take you down alone."
"Just you?☆ A Fate Valkyrie carrying countless human lives, turning us into sacrifices for Fate, what right do you have to face me?"
"By the way, I don't know where your brother went, but… your brother has great hands☆."
"You! You're asking for death☆!"
The next day, Fate Headquarters received reports:
A-Class Valkyrie Patrick Haysmith had mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind only small amounts of blood and discarded weapons.
S-Class Valkyrie Theresa appeared unexpectedly at the Far East branch.
Fate immediately dispatched the remaining two members of the Snow Wolf elite team to Siberia:
Salome Jokannen, Shab Nicholas, and Siegfried Kaslana.