Danball Senki Last Re:Arise

Hints and Secrets

Haruka leaned back on her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly as she took off her glasses. There was a lot to grapple with, first most of her work had to be redone after the power surge that happened, and second, there was the pressing matter of who was behind it.

Haruka sat straight and looked at her screen which showcased the latest scans done at Tiny Orbit of Eva's Optima. Though she made them all promise not to tell a soul about the ordeal until it was all proven, Haruka was feeling worried for the girl was in the most dangerous position right now, having some kind of mind link with Mizel.

" Mom, if you keep pouting like that you will look like an old lady." Haruka snapped open her eyes as Mirai turned up by the door of her office with a tote bag slinging off her shoulder and a bento box in her hand. " I was worried so I came to check on you, I brought you a change of clothes as well." She walked in and handed everything to her mother. Haruka hastily slapped her laptop shut and reached for them, to which Mirai raised an eyebrow.

" Thank you so much." Haruka was appreciative of the warm meal and freshly laundered clothes.

" So, I take it you will be working more all-nighters," she said taking the seat across from her as Haruka opened the bento box and started on her meal.

" With how much damage done to our servers, it couldn't be helped." Haruka gave her an apologetic look. " Even though you should be returning to Paris soon."

" Don't you bother about that, I can still work from home in here," Mirai explained. " I will be happy to help around the house, so don't you apologize, more importantly. Didn't you hear anything about the power surge that happened? I mean, you work with the Cyber Information Center, after all, it should be the talk of everyone."

Haruka almost choked on her next bite." ...It's. But nothing new about the source or the objective is known." She made a point of looking at her bento rather than her daughter.

Mirai sighed. " This is really worrying. I mean, if it only happened here, but it also apparently happened in N city as well." She held her chin.

" You're curious about the whole thing aren't you?"

" Well, of course. I want to know about it, I want to find the truth about this mysterious thing." Mirai stated firmly. " I can't stand being in the dark."

" You've always been a digger since your childhood." Haruka hardly contained a small smile. " You've been always playing detective."

" Because nothing in this world matters more than the truth, at least for me," she said opting to stand up just as her mother spoke.

" Sometimes, seeking truth might be a mistake. While it's possible, it's better to avoid troubles." Haruka bore a worried look that even phased right through her thick glasses. Mirai held her stare for a moment.

" I'm not sure about that." She stood up, a determined look over her face, like someone who had grasped a faint hint. " I must go and see that dinner is ready, I have to work with what I got after all."

" Alright then. Take good care of your brother." And she waved her out of the office...

***

Contacting the boy wasn't an easy task, since he moved to Brinton to continue studying, it took a while for them to get to speak via a video call. Only to discover the shocking news. " There too!?"

" Heck yeah! I had a hard week scavenging for my lost data!" He truly looked haggard.

" Naoki, we need your help," Eva told him as he fought to keep his head up. " We need to find out the pattern of those attacks."

" Way ahead of you," the blunette said just as a file reached her mailbox. Putting it on the screen, all four of them closed on to the map of the world sent by Naoki. " So far, five countries experienced the same phenomenon, China, County A, Japan, Brinton and France."

" That many?" Elie's mouth fell into an O shape.

" What's the order?" Jin questioned.

" First was Japan, then Brinton, Country A, France and finally China."

" It doesn't seem like a pattern for me," Ban commented.

" You're very much mistaken." Naoki looked dead serious when he faced them again. " I won't blame you for not knowing this, but let me inform you. Whoever behind this attack, has his hand on most of the infinity net by now."

" Eh?"

" These attacks, what they have done so far?"

" Reboot everything in a certain country," Elie said

" Exactly. Which means, servers which were put on stop before are now functional again. Does this ring a bell?"

Jin was the first to catch on that. " Dream Future's servers!"

" Eh!?"

" Hold on, does this mean..."

" There is a possibility that the whole mess was just a cover-up for this. The attacker needs to put Dream Future's main six servers back online. And then he can easily take over the net." Naoki's brown eyes leveled with Eva's red ones.

" But they could just shut the servers back, right?" Ban questioned and Naoki shook his head.

" In this mess, many would insist there are much more important things to restore now. Most governments are trying to get back control over their own main servers and strongholds."

Eva tapped her chin in thought. " I even doubt the servers weren't reset with a stronger security to ensure that wouldn't happen."

Jin rapped his fingers on the table before facing Naoki again. " You said six servers, right? So far, only five countries have been attacked."

" Which means another country will be attacked soon," Elie muttered.

" Another server.... Another country..." Ban's eyes went wide as he realized where the next attack would be...

***

Kirito was getting some work done on Fenrir and sipping his drink when his eyes fell on one of the screens and all that was in his mouth came gashing out. A certain blunette was making it through the corridors with such an enraged face and a vigorous gait he knew it was dangerous to stay where he was.

He made for the door, wanting to get away quickly, but his escape was blocked by Kirino. " She called, and said you have some very important information to share with us."

Kirito groaned and slumped back on his chair just as Mirai peeked through the doorway. What Kirito failed to notice earlier was that her younger brother was following right behind her.

" How did you know?" He asked the blunette folding her arms crossly before her chest.

" A little bird." She snorted before covering the distance between them in a few strides. " Now if you please. Enlighten us considering the recent events."

Kirito ran his hand over his face and looked around as though trying to find an escape. Didn't seem like he succeeded in that regard. " Eva will kill me."

" If you were ever alive by then." Mirai pressed. The distance between them reduced noticeably till their noses were almost touching.

" That Kirito is being pressed on. Now this is something new." Kirino marveled over the sight before her.

Hiro laughed worriedly. " When it comes to uncovering the truth, nee-chan doesn't know any limitations."...