Welcome to Gaia! ::

With the bump from Hikari he flinch a bit. After recovering he responded with a smile. "Morning." He chuckled for a bit when she apologize. "Okay, I will try and not make a sound." Was his response to her request. As soon as she headed towards the kitchen, he headed inside and spotted the fridge. He noticed the temperature changing, but did not affect him for he preferred the cold than the heat any day. He also noticed the Pepen on the other bed. He walked towards it, but shook his head. ' Must not interrupt'
With that thought in mind he made his way to the fridge and saw a white box, which contained the double fudge surprise. As he grabbed the box he imagine the flavor it, making his mouth a bit watery. He close the fridge and made his way to the kitchen.

Naomi awoke to a sharp knock on the door. Apparently she'd fallen asleep upon mountains of research documents. She removed her glasses, massaging her temples, trying to fight the immense headache that she was experiencing, but to no avail. "Ugh... who is it?"

"Ma'am!" A security guard opened the door and stepped inside. "The president requests your presence."

"Oh... all right," Naomi said. She gave a longing look back at her research. She hadn't planned on falling asleep amidst the research and felt that she'd cost valuable time for both the innocent civilians and the F.P.D.'s alike. Her mind kept drifting back to Gannon and Hikari. She worried about the two of them. Mostly for Hikari, for more reasons than one. First, Hikari had been under her supervision since she was a young child, and though she'd been warned time and time again to only view the girl as a test subject (Goddess know she'd tried, too) unfortunately Naomi had to admit that she worried for the girl, almost as a mother would. Then there was the little issue of that girl having the power to save mankind. As far as Gannon went, well, it was a little complicated. Anger mixed with other emotions. She hadn't wanted to give the order to shoot him down. However, she was torn. The recovery of Hikari was of top priority, no matter what Naomi's personal feelings were. On top of that, Naomi was concerned about Hikari's mental state. She wasn't sure that she trusted things to Gannon. If he made a single mistake, which she was certain that he would, the virus would completely shut down Hikari's Cosmosphere, and that would be the end of it. Hikari would die. A wave of anger flared up within her. Gannon, you idiot! You haven't changed a bit. You never learn... It would have been safer for her here, with us. Now I know that I have to find that Debug Mode crystal soon... If I don't, we run the risk of you screwing up and destroying that girl's mind! She made her way down to the office of the President and stood for a moment in front of the doors. She took a deep, shaky breath before knocking.


"Naomi. Enter." The man coldly regarded the door as the woman entered. "Good. You've come. I would like to inform you that I've decided to pursue the Weapon myself. It appears that I am the only one who can be trusted to secure her after all. It seems that you've grown too soft. Your reluctance to kill the intruder is proof of that. And what have you been researching?" He lifted up a few stray pieces of paper. "Missing these? Hmm... let me read this. It says, 'Research on the Fau Pira. Ancient Dialect of the Fau Pira. True Abilities of the Server. Configuration for the Server?' Please don't tell me that you've been wasting your time with this garbage? Naomi, you're wasting your time and efforts on a Server that isn't long for this world. That Server is merely a substitute to us. A stepping stone until we control Ar Tonelico itself. Why must you trouble yourself with trying to save that hunk of refuse in the sky?" He sighed, head in his hand. "It's all right, I've already taken the liberty of seizing your research. It's pointless to continue that research on it after all."

"Sir! That was done on my own time," Naomi protested. "You can't-!"

"How exactly would that benefit you, Naomi? Obviously you've grown attached to those girls. Too attached for your own good. Therefore, I'm relieving you of this assignment for awhile until you can get your priorities straight."

"Sir, you can't just cast those poor girls aside like garbage! If you do that, then everything about equality that we've been fighting for is..."

The man laughed. "Equality, you say? Those that you seek to defend have suppressed us themselves. Those blasted Reyvateils who reside in that city! They keep the power all to themselves. Our land crumbles beneath us and yet they offer us no assistance. And you would defend them, Naomi?"

"But these Reyvateils... these girls... they aren't like those Reyvateils. They suffer just as we have! Can't you see? They're half-human! They are part of us! How can you cast them aside like that?!"

"They are nothing like us. They are no different then those that call themselves Gods from above, Naomi. The only difference is that down here in this hellish place, we have the upper hand." His eyes glinted dangerously as he stared at the woman before him. He nodded to the Reyvateil behind him that was bound to the machine. "We control them down here. And so we will use them against their own kind and bring the rest of them down. Including that so-called 'Goddess.'" He cleared his throat. "Naomi, your transfer back to H.Q. is affective immediately."

Naomi fell silent, glad that she'd stored away most of the researched documents the night before. Hopefully the guards hadn't found those documents, so she wouldn't have to completely start over. She stared at the man she once had been so in love with. It was hard to imagine anymore. His mind was so twisted it sickened her and she felt ashamed of herself suddenly. How could I ever have allowed myself to love someone such as him? Fine. He wants to send me away? I will use whatever I can to research the Fau Pira and find that Debug Crystal. "...Yes, sir." She finally spoke, turning on her heel and exiting the room furiously.

The man stared after his assistant after she took her leave. When he was certain she'd left, he paged one of the officers waiting outside. Once the soldier came in, he smirked. "So, you've checked all the nearby cities, have you? If I were fugitive scum... hmm... where would I be...?" He chuckled darkly.

"Sir? There were reports on our former mechanic in Daila. He left in quite a hurry with a Teru girl. Our informants told us that they were going to fix some diving machines in Behdla. Coincidence?"

"Would you think it to be a coincidence? The dive shop in Behdla is seldom ever needed. This is why I always keep tabs on my former employees. Especially ones that try to steal company property." The President's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I think we should pay the little town of Behdla a visit. I shall accompany you, this time. Prepare the army."

"Yes, sir!" The man saluted and immediately rushed out to comply.

Mana~


Slowly opening an eye to the light streaming through the window, Mana groaned and rolled over into her pillow. "Ugh. Din't wanna wake up yet..." She sighed and finally rolled out of bed, yawning. "Aw, well." She noticed that her sister was gone. "Guess Miko's up already so I s'pose I should get up." Just as she stepped out, her stomach let out a loud growl. "Hmm... wonder what kinda grub I can find in a place like this?" She asked herself as she headed to the kitchen. There the half-Teru saw her sister and Nereus. "Mornin' ya two."