"What do you mean you can't perceive the Hero?" I ask, "Its obvious that he's in the hospital. The receptionist all but admitted it."

The Voice remains silent as the SUV overtakes a bus and makes it meandering way through the streets of The City. After some consideration, The Voice finally rasps, "I know for a fact that the Hero is in the hospital. That issue is not in dispute. The problem is that my connection with him has been tampered with."

The laptop begins booting to life again and I place it on my lap to see whatever The Voice intends to show me. The laptop proceeds to display the status screen of the Hero, but there's something very wrong with it. All the bars representing the Hero's stats have been replaced with lines of constantly changing junk data. More disturbing is the fact that the entire paragraph representing the Hero's objectives has been grayed out. Right at the bottom of the paragraph in cool blue letters is a short sentence, "Updating In Progress" that is flanked by the image of an hourglass running down.

As the digital sand of the virtual hourglass continues flowing downwards, bright red letters slash across the screen, screaming "ERROR ABORT". The hourglass then resets its progress and the update begins from scratch again, until its aborted once more. This fruitless to and fro continues without an end in sight.

"Fate's doing?" I query.

"Most likely." The Voice confirms, "A ham handed attempt at altering the Hero's directives. Unfortunately for Fate, my instructions have been baked into the Hero's body. No matter how much it manipulates the Hero's soul, his body will summarily dismiss any instructions that clash with the existing mission."

"Hey, when the guards changed shifts, I managed to peek into the ward the Hero is in." I say after some thought.

"What did you see?" The Voice rumbles as it drives on through the traffic.

I frown while replying, "Red thread. It was all over the ward. The whole place looked like a giant spider had taken up residence there. That can only mean one thing."

"An Incarnate." The Voice grimly agrees, "Almost certainly the servant, since Prince Enma is accounted for and Castiel has no doubt been reborn in the body of an infant."

"Damn. That makes abducting the Hero doubly difficult." I remark, "Is there no other way for you to shut down the termination protocol?"

"I need physical access to the Hero," The Voice explains, "and I need to cut his soul off from Fate's interference while I perform the operation. So we have few options available to us, Transmigrator."

"I could go in guns blazing?" I offer, "The servant is using manipulation rather than just murdering the Hero. My guess is that this Incarnate's combat strength is poor."

The Voice says unhappily, "If only it was so simple. You forget, this Incarnate is capable of disrupting my link with the Hero."

"And?" I dumbly shoot back, "I go in, kick the Incarnate's ass and bring the Hero in for a spot of maintenance. Job done."

"If the servant can affect my connection to the Hero, it is likely that he can do the same to you." The Voice wearily says, "How long do you think you will last without access to the artificial core?"

Crap. I scrunch my eyebrows in consternation. If the servant is weak at combat, I could just be able to rush in and blow the Incarnate away with the revolver or grenade launcher. But the Hero is never alone. There are always a pair of guards with him in the ward and another pair loitering just outside. Fighting all five at once with no powers would be a suicide mission. A sudden thought comes to me.

"You said Big Tits suddenly disappeared despite the fact you were keeping an eye on her." I question, "Could she have been intercepted by the servant while roaming about The City?"

"Possible, but to what end?" The Voice wonders, "Although I lost track of Inspector Scott, she has turned up safe and sound at the von Amsterg manor. Both the Inspector and Heroine Naiberg have acquired shelter and protection there."

"Yeah, I would have thought Big Tits would be in more dire circumstances if an Incarnate caught her." I grunt, "Still, the Incarnate has to leave the Hero's side sooner or later."

"Do not get your hopes up Transmigrator." The Voice rebuts, "I have lost effective contact with the Hero for several days already, and I doubt -"

The Voice's words are cut off with a harsh hiss and the laptop begins squawking in protest. I look back down at the laptop's screen and my stomach sinks at the sight before me. The Hero's status display tells me all I need to know.

UPDATE ABORTED

ADDING SECONDARY OBJECTIVE

PERFORMING CONFLICT CHECK ... CONFLICT CHECK PASSED

INSTALLING SECONDARY OBJECTIVE PACKAGE ... PLEASE WAIT ... ABORTING ... ABORT CANCELLED PRIVILEGED ACCESS REQUIRED ...

"I cannot stop it!" The Voice shouts in frustration, "I have been locked out of my own creation!"

"Will you just relax?" I grumble after a few moments of thought, "Whatever it is, the Hero is still going to get his harem pregnant right? And he's still going to claim his inheritance. There's nothing Fate can do to override the existing objectives."

"Yes, you are right." The Voice agrees after calming down, "As long as the Hero completes his mission, there is nothing Fate can do."

....

"Irene Scott." the old demon states flatly. A simple declaration, no more, no less.

"Master von Amsterg, a pleasure." I give a bow and Tensei's uncle gestures to an empty seat before his desk. A uniformed butler steps into the private study buried deep within the depths of the manor, bearing a tray loaded with tea and pastries. As the butler sets out the refreshments, I note that he pointedly does not provide me with either a plate or a teacup.

"The proper form of address is 'Your Grace.'" the butler murmurs disapprovingly before standing deferentially behind Tensei's uncle. Gustav merely raises his hand to quieten down the butler and keeps gazing at me expressionlessly with his flinty eyes. Minutes pass with neither of us saying a word. The silent treatment in other words.

I learned about this during my time with SOPO. Its a soft interrogation technique, meant to put pressure on suspects and make them more inclined to start talking. Now that I am on the receiving end, I don't know whether or not its a good sign or a bad one. Gustav giving me the silent treatment shows that he at the very least, does not like me. But if he's showing his displeasure through a relatively mild form of coercion, that also means he's not inclined to treat me too harshly. I keep my expression carefully neutral and submissively lower my eyes. I need to tread carefully from here onward.

Gustav's composure wavers slightly and he begins to chew on his lip, contemplating something. There's a slight flicker of doubt in his eyes which quickly vanishes and his expression regains its former steely resolve. He begins speaking to me without preamble.

"I do not approve of your liaison with Tensei." Gustav pronounces. I lower my face as the musty smell of the old books scattered around the study begins to invade my nose. My cheeks burn with embarrassment, but I hold my retort in. The one thing I am grateful for is the study's heavy door and drawn curtains preventing anyone from spying on us. Gustav thankfully has decided to humiliate me in private. I hate it, being forced to accept whatever he dishes out, but I have no leverage or standing here in the manor.

I am nothing.

"When you and your friend first came here, I thought this was an attempt at extortion," Gustav continues, "that you were taking advantage of Tensei to secure benefits from my House. I initially intended to have your baby done away with and to throw both of you out after that."

I instinctively grip my stomach at Gustav's almost offhand admission. But a ray of hope is opening up regardless. Gustav admitted he no longer intends to do that. Things might not be so bad after all.

Gustav snorts with laughter at my reaction, "Thank your friend. She never gave up on trying to persuade me to let you off. I never thought that one day I would be swayed by the words from a mere slip of a girl."

Celeste did it. She actually managed to persuade Tensei's uncle. I don't know how she managed it, but she had just worked a miracle and probably saved my child's life.

Gustav continues with his speech, "Then there's the issue of Tensei's friends. He takes after his father more than I expected. If I drove you away, the same problem would keep repeating, just with some other woman. Do you know the circumstances of Tensei's birth?"

I nod. Tensei's background was provided to me when I accepted the assignment to keep watch over him.

Gustav grunts in approval, "Then you know what is going to happen to you. I cannot let you go free, not when you carry the blood of the von Amstergs. Like Tensei's mother, you will be detained, probably for life."

I almost jump to my feet in outrage but the butler gives an urbane cough and a wave of spirituality hits me. I spend a moment considering whether I can defeat Gustav and his butler, but quickly slump back into the chair. Fighting now would be pointless, there are plenty more butlers lurking around the manor. Gustav smiles politely at my realization of how powerless I am.

"Don't panic." Gustav consoles, "I intend to do right by you regardless of how you took advantage of Tensei's lack of circumspection. While I will merely tolerate your presence, your child will be a full member of the House."

I look up hopefully. At least the baby will have a future. Anything I go through will be worth it if Gustav is being sincere.

"You will marry Tensei." Gustav says with distaste, "And the child will be recognized as Tensei's legitimate issue."

I whisper nervously, "And the others? Sera? Kira?"

"Mistresses." Gustav dismisses, "Tensei is free to do what he wants with them, but they will receive nothing from the House."

Tears run down my face as relief and elation flood my body. My child has a future. A bright one, as a member of one of the greatest noble families in the world.

Celeste, thank you.