''... huh?... where am I?''


    The world was painted red. The sky was the color of blood and the ground was covered in molten rock.


    Looking from above, the scene looked like it''s the end of the world.


    ''Isn''t this…''


    [New enemy spotted! Prepare fo-]


    Hearing the voice that was suddenly cut, hear eyes opened as she remembered where she was.


    [... R6…]


    Another voice reached her ear.


    ''... no…'' she thought. ''Don''t look…''


    Though she tried not to, her head moved on its own pointing her in a certain direction. Her eyes refused to close forcing her to watch as that thing erased one of rherpanions.


    "I would say an eye for an eye but… We are enemies, right? Killing each other is what we do."


    She couldn''t see it''s face for some reason, however it''s lips were visible, spilling those words before curling up into a sinister smile. Watching it brought nothing but terror.


    "So? Who wants to die next?"


    The enemy disappeared. The next thing she heard was another scream.


    [K9!!!]


    One after the other, her allies fell without as much of a resistance. Her limbs shook uncontrobly, a foreign feeling locked her movements, as if her joints were stuck.


    ''... no…''


    "You are thest one."


    Suddenly the enemy appeared in front of her. Knowing her end was near she swung her weapon with everything she got. However the enemy barely reacted. It raised one arm, effortlessly stopping hernce without it doing any damage.


    "This is the end for you."


    Saying those words, the Cmity reached out with its left hand. Its pitch ck fingers slowly wrapped on her neck, their surface cold despite the nuclear disaster in the surroundings.


    ''... no…''


    As she felt them slowly press on her she tried to scream again and again. The world around her began to darken and thest thing she saw were the purple lips smiling at her.


    "No!!!!"


    Three''s eyes snapped open and her body shot up. Her force field was charged to its maximum output as she surveyed her surroundings. After a couple of seconds she began to realize she was inside her room, however that only seemed to add her confusion.


    Realizing there was no immediate danger she breathed in relief, however a momentter she noticed that her bed was destroyed. Probably because of the glowing blue barrier encasing her.


    As she got up to her feet images from a what she saw in her sleep shed inside her mind. A strange sensation filled her, making her entire body grow cold.


    "What''s… wrong with me…" she muttered in a low voice, staring down at her shaking hands.


    Valkyries weren''t humans so they had no need for something like sleep, however since they were programmed to behave like humans going to bed at night was something they had to do. Once their eyes close their core would cease most of its functions, which meant they don''t process any information of any kind, especially the visual kind.


    However Zero Three was sure she saw something. Though it looked like the battle against the talking Cmity at first, the events were different from what she remembered.


    The Valkyries aren''t humans. They don''t require sleep and they surely didn''t know what it''s like to dream. Zero Three had no idea that what she experienced was a nightmare and that only served to feed her fear.


    ~◇~


    The next morning Sam left his apartmen with bloodshot eyes. The words Miku left him with kept him awake the entire night and even though he spent the entire time thinking in the end it got him anywhere.


    He couldn''t even be happy that he got to add another Valkyrie to his collection. Hearing her confess to him like that was truly shocking as he had never experienced it before.


    He already had Five and Nine but neither of them said anything about having feelings for him. Though that made him start doubting his position as their master, what worried him the most was something different entirely.


    "Shit…"


    Remembering the cute blond Valkyrie from the previous night, a horrible feeling spread through Sam''s chest. She was an AI specifically created to be a virtual lover with a shell that''s designed to be as appealing as possible. Knowing that one would think that the three magic words are the first thing to be added to her vocabry, however when she whispered them into his ears an irreversible change happened inside Sam''s head.


    He was no longer able to think of her as a weapon. To him, the petite Valkyrie with longgolden hair and dark blue eyes had be nothing more than a young girl.


    Unlike the previous day only a few soldier had gathered to see the general off. They were mostly the division leaders in addition to him and Alice which made the number of those present less than twenty.


    "It''s only a month, however one can''t possibly tell what might happen in that amount of time." Wolf spoke addressing his own daughter. His eyes seemed to drift in Sam''s direction for a short moment as he added "Make sure to keep your guard up and carry your duties properly to the very end."


    "Yes." Alice replied, holding her hand to her head as she saluted. "We are grateful for your visit, general Schneider."


    Wolf stared down at the white haired woman, a different expression on his face. A second of silence pass before he moved without a warning and wrapped his arms around her.


    Watching the scene shocked most of those present, only the Doctor was unfazed as he saw something like thising. As he rolled his eyes with a sigh he found himself looking at Miku who was standing behind the old man along with Elina and the other Valkyries. As they exchanged nces her cheeks began to redden despite her trying to maintain a deadpan expression which made the horrible feeling in his chest grow stronger the longer he looked at her.


    When he tried to avert his gaze he ended up locking eyes with Elina who seemed to jolt up for some reason before beginning to blush herself.


    ''What''s wrong with her?'' Sam thought, trying to distract himself from his own feelings.


    "Be safe, Alice." Wolf said, bringing his emotional moment to an end.


    "You too, father." Alice replied with a smile.


    The two saluted at each other one more time. The old man then turned around and walked away without looking back. The engines ignited and the aircraft soon took off.


    A few secondster everyone walked away leaving only Alice and Sam standing there.


    "He sure didn''t change at all." Sammented.


    "Yes." Alice said. "I just wish he would stop treating me like a little girl."


    "That''s impossible and you know it."


    "I guess you have a point."


    Wolf was so much of a doting father that Alice had to fight for him to allow her to reach her current rank. He was the one who pushed for her to be themander of the forty sixth base since it was in the region with the least Cmity attacks. He was so concerned about her safety it''s actually a surprise that he''s even allowing her to stay one second out of his sight.


    "I was afraid he was going to demand I go back with him." Alice let her shoulders slump for a moment as she exhaled in relief. "But I guess it doesn''t make a difference with the whole base being relocated."


    "Well, it was only inevitable." Sam let out a sigh and turned around.


    There is a lot of work to be done until they''re ready to depart. He on the other hand would be busy until the veryst day working on the Valkyrie''s heart the old man had given him as well as the other task he left him with.


    Having skipped breakfast Sam went to the cafeteria and got himself some coffee and bread. He then went back to his room, put on hisb coat then made his way to hisb with the copy of Valkyrie Smash he had gotten from Miku the previous day.


    Sitting down he ced the book in front of him and stared at it for while, however no matter how much he tried he couldn''t bring himself to open it.


    The book contained a code just like the first one. Knowing what he had discovered from solving itst time he was sure that the secret this one leads to is something big as well, however for some reason he no longer felt excited about solving it.


    As he continued to stare at the small paperback minutes passed and soon it became hours. After a while he noticed that his eyelids had gotten too heavy so he decided to take a short nap, however a momentter the door slid open and a familiar face barged inside.


    "Five?" Sam spoke the Valkyries name, taking his sses off and slowly rubbing his tired eyes.


    "Doctor…"


    She seemed to be short of breath and from her anxious expression Sam got a feeling that whatever made her brought her there it can''t possibly be anything good.


    Taking a second to catch her breath the ponytailed Valkyrie looked him in the eyes.


    "It''s Three… she…"