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Reassessing. Biological safety of operating theater now at permitted levels.

Surgery may begin at any time.

Hunters, just as before, you will be kept in a deep sleep during the automated surgery.

I will also be manually repairing your outdated internal auto-adaptive junctions.

This room filled to the brim with specimens, and these lab tables are all rather familiar. How long has it been since we last laid down in such an environment?

Five years, Laurentina.

I should really be waiting for your medulla replacement surgery to finish and your cell-Originium assimilation rate to stabilize before I handle any of your Hunter-related issues.

But time is short, and I have no choice but to restore you to stable condition to the best of my abilities.

My apologies, Laurentina.

Sentimental as always.

Ah, right, as usual...

A candle will be lit by your side, so our little mermaid won't look so pale while she sleeps. I've asked my staff to prepare it for you.

I knew you'd remember.

Please maintain a comfortable position and stay still while the regen gel fills.

This isn't so different from back then. Except there's a lot less Hunters now.

Clear a trench of scum, close your eyes, listen to some advisor prattle on, then sink into the regen gel and take a nap.

And once you wake up, all the nauseating smells left on your body will be gone without a trace.

While you were in the adverse, fickle environments of the land for long periods without care, your bodies became extremely unstable.

The auto-adaptive junction can monitor your Seaborn genes, but five years of wear can render even the most precise instruments dull.

Moreover, your immune systems have also fallen into disorder thanks to their long struggle against the Seaborn genes.

I will do my best to restore you all to peak condition, but anything lost during those five years is out of my hands.

Okay.

Gladiia, our reunion at the tribunal was less than cordial, so I would have liked for us to consider this our first meeting since your return.

But you haven't said a word since we started.

Is there anything else you need to tell us in regards to the surgery, Blandus?

If not, then save it for after the procedure. We can discuss the changes we've felt over the past five years, as well as the changes you've felt.

Please stay still. Anesthetic procedures will begin in ten seconds.

Well then. Sweet dreams, Hunters.

Advisor Blandus, some things have come up that need your reconfirmation.

Did I not say that once the operating theater doors have closed, I would be mending the Hunters' auto-adaptive junctions and must not be disturbed?

Central Control has discovered some abnormalities. You should personally check them over, just to be safe.

...Hold on then. I'll get the door.

The monitoring units in the dome were performing an emergency scan. We noticed a concentration of algal bio-signatures here.

Thanks for informing me.

Not a problem.

Since you're already participating in Tullia's case, there was no reason to cut you out partway.

A place where the dome and the ground meet... This former experimental field for road-side coral.

Though it can't compare to the specialized setups at the Institute of Ecological Art, it's much better for seaweed breeding than small-scale hydroponic tanks in a room.

Whether it be in her nature, or out of an ulterior motive, Tullia did not apply for authorization to use this space. She found it on her own, without telling anyone.

Tullia...

We can't say for sure if there is a Church hideout here, or if Tullia is still within... In short, stay alert.

Team 1 has already formed a defensive perimeter around the neighborhood, and will monitor the roads. Irene, go with Team 2. Enter via surface roads.

As for the roads connecting the dome and the mezzanine, leave them to me.

Got it.

Move out.

Who's there?

Have you found something, Praefecta Secunda? Do you need reinforcements?

Somebody blocks her path. Or more precisely, prevents her from leaving.

The one in her way lurks in the shadows formed by the angles of the buildings, their entire body blending into the darkness save their eyes. Eyes that Secunda are all too familiar with.

...Stick to the plan.

Secunda cuts her comms.

...It's been a while, 'Magister.'

Blandus, the weapons technology advisor for the Waterway Program, and an expert in Class IV weapon R&D, correct?

...You're not from the lab.

No sudden moves. If the bristles of this longbeard combtooth grass pierce your skin, you'll quickly fall into a tormented dream, where you'll sense your consciousness being slowly torn apart.

The variety used for euthanasia has been bred to be milder, but wild ones are still plenty cruel.

You may look half-dead, but I know for a fact that you're the sort who really cares how they die.

Church of the Deep?

Don't you dare touch the anesthetized Hunters!

What an odd fellow. Even as your life is threatened, you think of them first?

You may care for the Hunters, but you've never trusted the Abyssal Hunter project itself. You question its rationale, its damage to the nature of humanity, and all the sacrifice it requires.

You took part in it, but only so you could personally control all the risks entailed.

You experienced its demise firsthand; saw the extensive project, interlinked with so many others, come to a hasty end after an uncertain failure.

So I doubt you'd want to send these survivors, freshly returned to Ægir, back onto the battlefield.

No, you don't understand. What I do is only to protect them from further harm.

So why not halt the procedure? Stop them from joining the battle for the Waterway Program?

The surgery is fully automated, I can't just stop it.

Sever the oxygen pipeline below the operating table, and it'll cut the procedure short. Don't think we don't know that.

If you won't do it, we can do it for you.

After you finish 'handling' the Hunters, Advisor, come take a walk with us. Explain the principles behind the Class IV weapons, as well as how to shut them down.

Stop! If the operation is forcibly terminated, the Hunters will be irreversibly harmed—

Scum.

The 'researcher' stops in his tracks. He dares not step forward, yet dares not move back, for a lance has pierced his torso, his blood dripping down its shaft.

If you do not wish me to ram this straight through your chest, let go of your hand.

What are you doing here?

Don't ask pointless questions, Secunda.

You're investigating Tullia, too. Did you find anything?

She is simply an ordinary data scientist who got caught up in this. She discovered something she shouldn't have. Attempted to warn the authorities, but failed.

You were too slow. What she encountered has nothing to do with her past.

The battle outside the city, the abnormalities within, the Sea Patrol staying uninvolved with the Waterway Program. You've noticed many oddities, yet at the same time, your attention was so easily diverted.

You mean... Cassia?

Precisely.

You were once so focused, and keen as well.

So the day you decided to leave the Abyssal Hunter Lab to join the Sea Patrol, I believed you had reflected upon yourself and chosen a more suitable path.

It seems that was not the only time you have allowed emotion to cloud your decisions.

...Aside from your clothes, you haven't changed a bit in five years. Especially not how you talk.

Whether as a researcher or a Hunter, you'd never refuse to hear a student's questions, but would refuse to answer if you thought the question itself was wrong.

There are no worthless answers. Their worth lies in the questions.

Questions are the most effective means of tempering your thoughts, and your questions were always most pointed, Secunda.

Then there should be no fault with my original question. What are you doing here, Ulpianus?

This is the scene of a Sea Patrol investigation. A fugitive Abyssal Hunter like you should be laying down his anchor and making clear his position.

Gladiia and the others have proven an effective force in the battle for the Waterway Program, while despite also surviving, you chose to return to Milliarium like this.

...That's more than enough grounds to attack you.

Their return will only make the situation more volatile. Even through Tullia's case, it's clear that the so-called 'Waterway Program' is riddled with issues.

Ægir has learned nothing from the failure of the Abyssal Hunter project.

What are you going to do?

Prevent this nation from sliding into the abyss.

I'd say you're looking awfully like our enemy now, though.

Doubt me as you will, Secunda.

(Shrill crying)