The laptop screens the footage of Castiel, Loli Vampire and their muscle huddled around the bed that has the Hero strapped down on to it. The angle of the video is bad, probably because the feed is coming not from a stationery camera, but the spider drone The Voice had left in Ascension Tower earlier. Nevertheless I can make out the Hero frenziedly jerking up and down on the bed, struggling against the restraints.

Once the Hero quietens down, a heated discussion breaks out between Loli and Castiel, but the audio is too indistinct for me to clearly make out what they are saying. Another shortcoming of using the spider drone as a scout. What is clear though, is that the two of them are arguing over what to do with the Hero. Words are traded back and forth between the pair until Loli finally seems to reluctantly agree to what Castiel is saying. She is then ushered out of the room by a bald headed guard whom I recognize as one of Naiberg's heavies when I was detained at SOPO HQ.

I take a quick look out of the SUV's window and see that The Voice has left Red Perch Cape behind. The SUV now cruises down the highway that links the districts together, one vehicle out of hundreds.

"What was going on back there?" I ask The Voice, "The Hero was struggling like crazy and all of a sudden he just chilled out."

"Passive defense system." The Voice rasps, "Whenever the Hero is incapacitated, any threat to his safety will forcibly awaken him in combat mode."

"Handy." I remark, "That means he almost never vulnerable. What a broken skill."

"A necessity, given the Hero's circumstances." The Voice agrees, "He would otherwise have been assassinated in his sleep a hundred times over."

"Hero man was growling like an animal just now." I comment, "He didn't seem to have it all together."

The Voice rumbles, "That is because the Hero only loads the integrated battle protocols I provided him with. His actual mind is not engaged with the process. In that state, the Hero will blindly lash out at any target classed as a threat to him or his mission, eliminating it without hesitation."

"Its not working though." I observe as the group surrounding the Hero leaves the room, with the drone following stealthily behind, "Castiel and Loli both look very not eliminated."

The group makes their way to a large open space with machinery scattered about everywhere in various stages of assembly. Several pyramids of metal drums are piled along the perimeter of the space and technicians are busy installing a huge screen that extends across an entire wall. Banks of computers lie inert awaiting to be hooked up and rows of control terminals have been set up at the far end of the room.

"The Incarnate is not stupid, Transmigrator." The voice remarks, "He removes the threat endangering the Hero just before the battle protocol fully loads, causing the process to automatically terminate."

Yeah, the Hero wasting the lot of them would have been way too easy. If anything, Castiel has shown that at the very least, he knows what he is doing. He did manage to subvert the Idol through her desire to kill the Hero after all.

Baldy leads Loli Vampire to the center of the room where an odd metal stand has been set up, with massive cables surrounding it. The spider drone's camera pans about, showing the cables originating from a large glass coffin. Baldy jabbers away excitedly, as Loli Vampire listens with suppressed intensity.

"Damn. Wish I could hear what they're saying. " I grumble.

"Not a problem." The Voice rumbles, "Let me turn the subtitles on."

....

"And here it is. The soul smasher array." Theo proudly announces to the Marshal, "The key to unlocking Salvation."

St Clair scoffs derisively, "Representative, I admire your man's enthusiasm, but he is not the Professor. If a commercially available soul smasher array was all it took to open Salvation up, we would have rid ourselves of the Tyrant ages ago."

"Marshal, finish listening before passing judgment." I reprimand, having lost almost all my patience with her, "Theo, please continue."

Theo nods and points at the glass containment unit, "Ordinarily, a soul smasher array would use raw spiritual energy to accomplish its task. However, we have a superior tool of destruction at hand."

"Which is?" St Clair asks, this time sounding somewhat interested.

"Tensei of course." Theo beams, "Or more accurately, the curse laid on him by the Tyrant. The curse allows Tensei to generate waves of pure entropy, heavily disrupting anything spiritual in nature. And Salvation is layered in defenses made from pure spiritual energy. Its what prevents any of us from accessing it."

I supplement the explanation from Theo at this point, "That curse is what allowed Tensei to easily defeat the Perfecta. I have tasted its bite as well and can confirm its effects."

Theo nods gratefully at me and continues, "From what we have gathered, the trigger for the curse is emotional distress and high levels of adrenaline. We have subjected Tensei to a constant regimen of aggression boosting drugs and electric shocks, guarantying that he will be in the right, heh, state of mind. Give us a few more days and Tensei will be generating all the entropy we need."

Theo then raps the containment unit triumphantly, "We hook the boy up to the soul smasher and channel the entropy against Salvation. Salvation's defenses are strong, but will eventually succumb against a blessing of this strength."

"Blessing?" I scold Theo gently, "It is a stain on this world laid by the Tyrant. Don't make it out to be more that it is."

"Of course. Apologies." Theo lowers his head in contrition, "There is only the goddess."

St Clair gives the containment unit a look over before saying doubtfully, "Salvation was forged using methods beyond our understanding. The pure spirit guarding it would only allow the goddess passage. And you say that Salvation can be opened with brute force alone?"

Theo smiles happily, "Infinity Marshal. Nothing, no matter how mighty, can hold out against infinity. And we have infinity strapped down on a bed right now."

"Watch yourself." St Clair growls, "The only being of that level is the goddess. The Tyrant and his works are nothing before her."

"Regardless," I quickly cut in before a quarrel breaks out, "The point stands Marshal. Thanks to Tensei, we have the means of accessing Salvation."

St Clair turns to look at me critically as she replies, "Your method would damage Salvation as well. It is no better than outright failure."

Theo pipes up again, "I believe Marshal. I believe that the goddess is guiding us and that she will provide. We ride the red thread of mother to our final victory!" Theo clasps both hands in prayer fervently.

St Clair is completely speechless at this outburst and goes back to examining the soul smasher. From the corner of my eye, I see a trace of a malicious smirk flit across Theo's face. I am going to need to have a talk with him later. He has been acting strange lately.

"Your drugs and electric shocks can bring Tensei to the desired state?" St Clair finally asks.

Before I can answer, Theo starts talking again, "Of course. But if that fails, I have been arranging for a contingency with the rest of my colleagues."

Contingency? What contingency? Why wasn't I informed of this?

"Someone I know once talked about the relationship between eggs and omelettes." Theo continues, "If the drugs and shock therapy fail, we always have Tensei's friend."

"What are you talking about?" I inquire worriedly, not liking the direction this conversation is taking. St Clair raises an eyebrow at me, realizing that I am losing control of the situation.

Theo explains, "What drives Tensei to the required state is his desire to protect his friends. If Tensei is not willing to cooperate, we bring the idol girl out here and break her legs in front of him. We keep breaking bones until he gives us what we want."

"No." I snap.

"Pardon?" Theo asks innocently, "What is one girl compared to the glory of the goddess?"

"I said no!" I bark angrily, "I am in charge here not you! No one hurts Kira!"

"Silence." St Clair says flatly, "And Representative? You are using my men, my supplies and my money. That makes me in charge, not you."

"Marshal, remember where you stand." I glare back angrily, "You're not in Legion territory now."

A sneer from the vampire is all I get, "Theo, is it? I agree to your plan and my men will provide all the support that you need. Glory to the goddess."

The demons surround us menacingly and I lower my flushed face in embarrassment, my fists clenched in impotent fury. Theo bows deferentially to the Marshal as she sweeps out of the room to return to the helicopter.

How did things end up this way?

....

"As you can see, Transmigrator," The Voice rasps as the spider drone retreats back into the shadows, "time runs short. Fate has decided to throw caution to the wind and force the Codex to activate, regardless of the risk."

"Will Fate succeed though?" I frown, "Its literally trying to force open a lock. Like Loli says, the Codex will be damaged."

"Unknown." The Voice says, sounding uncertain, "The instability we have caused has made this entire route spiral out of control to the extent that the route may even backfire on Fate itself. What is clear is the next step we must take to save ourselves."

"Yeah. Attacking the tower and finishing things with Castiel." I look back out of the SUV's window and see a familiar clock tower looming in the distance.

"Back at where we started huh?" I comment, "Welder's Bay wasn't it? Real blast from the past here."

"It was not that long ago." The Voice scoffs, "We will launch our attack against the Tower from Welder's Bay."

"There's a problem though." I point out, "I can't actually hurt Castiel. We would just get bogged down against each other."

The Voice laughs mirthfully, " I am aware of that. That is the reason why I am providing assistance of the more direct sort for this mission."

"Upgraded powers?" I ask hopefully.

"Even better." The Voice rasps, "I will be fighting by your side."