(Remaster) The Ship of the Tempest

To Hell's Heart

The rest of the day had passed rather eventfully, what with 73 returning home to several eyes glued to paper in muted shock. Even as she entered they didn't change, nor did they look her way.

"So, as surprised as I was huh?"

Z1 was still looking at her sheet, mouth limp where her tongue tried desperately to cling to words. "What...you're...I-I can't believe there was..."

"Yep, turns out there's another. It's also funny that it's her fault I'm even here now...honestly, it's a little ironic."

"...Guess so." The eldest sister could only flop back and sigh, her mind reeling from how everything seemed to uproot in their lives these past few months.

"Say..." Z73 looked around, a little confused on the absence of a particular hyperactive child. "Where's Marco?"

"Up in her room, she said she was going to wait for you and Adapter to come back."

"I see...well, keep combing this through your heads, I gotta go see her."

With a little grunt from Z1, she went upstairs to go find her adoptive daughter and give her the...unfortunate news of what's to come with Adapter. Even as a child, it's clear she's still got the relative knowledge of what war and death is, so it's best to break it softly instead of throwing her into the deep end.

As expected though, her door was closed, so she just knocked a little. "Marco? It's me, can you open up?"

...

Another few knocks. "Marco? Do you have headphones on again?"

...

She sighed and opened the door herself, heading in to...nothing. That left her in a brief freeze since she expected Marco to be here, but there was no one and even the window wasn't open, meaning Marco didn't sneak out.

"What the..." She finally entered and looked around, seeing how the room was truly spotless and without a single sign of her presence being here. It was almost like Marco up and disappeared.

Though, there something that was off...

Z73 looked to the bedside nightstand, where a tiny piece of paper was placed and held down by the lamp. From a distance she couldn't read it, but she can at least see the writing was neat and tidy, something Marco wasn't capable of yet.

That alone developed a pit of worry in her, where each step towards the paper left invisible molasses to slow her feet on approach. It wasn't hard to see the writing at this distance, so all that was left was to see if her fears were truly confirmed or not.

Sorry 73, orders were orders. As promised, she's safe and sound, but she is in our hands. I know you won't take this lying down, and so, I'll help you one more time.

"...Adapter..." Her final words before she left finally clicked in her mind, and while she felt anger and rage at what she had done, she knew one thing above all else, and it's that she loves Marco just like she does.

She knows Marco will be okay, at least for now.

My final helping hand to you is this. Go to Antarctica, to it's true center from the farthest reaches of the ocean, there you will find us. Our last bastion and final citadel, take it down and the war is won in the arms of humanity. But I won't lie to you, we know you'll be coming sooner or later, and all our forces remaining are ready. Please, come at your absolute, it would be a shame to see my sister fall before we can settle the score.

...

"Heh...you rotten bastard." At the very least, she had directions.

Crumpling the note in her hand, she dropped it into the bin before leaving the room, her eyes a calm yet heavy red shade. She needed a replacement arm fast, and so, there was only one person she knew that can deliver on this.