"If this information gets out, everybody will be asking how it was to meet Michael," Lyla sighs and gives a rub to the bridge of her nose."Don't worry, I'll manage. I've been training incase there ever was a case where I was interrogated with either physical or mental means." Aha! A joke!

She then in turn flicks a glance at Sonia, with a jesting tone in her voice.

"Your kind are known to br hospitable, but I do feel quite the pampered guest thanks to you, Sonia. Due to your background, I almost feel obliged for a similar favor in return at some point."

"Probably boring.  This one means- this one KNOWS that he is connected to all of the Last Refuge, but eventually it must divorce him from reality a bit, no?"

She glances at Lyla, "This one is pleased you find her assistance and company suitable.  You will not need to give this one a favor unless it pleases you.  The favor is helping Leanette and Michael in the first place."

Lyla nods, and drums the seathandle.

"Yes, it must be difficult to stay in touch with reality in his situation. Sometimes its even difficult for us, because we don't spend enough time with the so to say normal people... even though admittedly I feel more comfortable there with them."

"War and loss have made things strange," Sonia muses, "And time has seemed to crawl."

The door opens.  Leanette steps out, looking even more rattled than before.  She has a haunted, distracted look in her eyes.  Lyla knows that look.  She's seen it on people's faces enough times.  Leanette's replaying a vexing conversation in her head over and over.

"Michael will see you now,"  She says as she holds open the door.

"Crawl...yes, I guess especially from your point of view," Lyla smirks.

When Leanette steps out, looking even more rattled than before, Lyla gets up almost instantly.

"Ah. Thank you."

She takes a few steps towards the door, taking a moment for herself to think about what she should actually say. Or if she should even say anything.

"Talk to you two later, I hope," she notes, before giving a nod to both Leanette and Sonia.

"Yes, this one hopes."  Sonia smiles at her.

Leanette just looks like she's sucking on a lemon.

Inside is... well, underwhelming.  There's a chair that looks like it was carved out of a solid egg-shaped block of marble with a single black cushion on the seat.  In front of that is a viewscreen made out of a dark block of quartz-like crystal.  Light flickers behind it and then Lyla can see through it to another huge marble egg, held in place by hundreds of thousands of conduits, wires, cables...

She can't see Core.  Not his person.  But she does see his Cradle.

The whole situation feels odd, the formality of it sits unwell with Lyla. She looks around the room, and slides her fingers on the side of the chair, before taking a seat.

For a moment, she ponders if he is able to hear her just like that, and how it all works, before she just gives up on such thoughts. It was always futile to question most things that happened since Ragnarök.

"It was a surprise to get such a chance as this to meet you."

The air around the egg said. It sounded somewhere between a synthesizer and a violin, the faintest hint of vibration as the air moved of its own accord.


A green diagram of the Last Refuge appeared, rendered in precise detail and roughly half a meter in diameter.

"No need for apologies regarding your hosting, this is perfectly fine for me," she responds politely. "Also I don't mind quick briefings and cutting to the chase, even if it makes things abrupt. Spares time for saving more lives."

Lyla regards the diagram with raised brows at the detailing.

Most of the diagram fell away, the remaining portion slowly expanding. It was a set of corridors not that far from the control sections of the Last Refuge.


The diagram faded away entirely.

She drums her fingernails to the edge of the seat, while peering to the diagram with a frown. Not quite managing to relax, she leans slightly forward while listening.

"When did this all occur, or has been occuring?"

There's so much dry humor packed into the word 'timing' that it could drain oceans.

"Sorry, not a fan of riddles any kind. I have bad experiences when it comes to them. Also having excelled in sports all of my life, I rather lack the academic nature to be competent in solving most of them," Lyla blatantly responds.

Then she blinks amazed at what she just heard.

"Time travel? I knew there was a lot to be still discovered, but that is something I didn't expect to hear. No matter how marvelous a discovery this is, its also quite alarming. Especially if this someone is only learning."

Core is quiet for a moment.

"You think the time traveler is the same as the one who killed Endings? How so?"

Lyla finally leans back and crosses her legs.

There was a slight buzzing in the air.

"If they are only learning, the death of Endings might only be an accident..or maybe their hand was forced. Nevertheless its punishable. How do we catch someone who isn't necessarily even on this timeline?"

Lyla shrugs when it comes to the discussion about the punishment. Opinions were opinions.

"So any lead, where and how should I start?"

A numerical sequence appeared in the air before Lyla. Coordinates within the ship. A second set replaced them a few moments later.

"Both of the areas are large, and a bit of a pain in the ass to search through but nothing impossible. It's a good start."

"Oh, yeah, given they can move in time, any idea on how to actually catch them should the need rise? If old-fashioned talking and...or grabbing by force doesn't work."

There was probably also more to ask, but nothing really manages to appear in her mind.

Lyla gives a short nod.

"Ah, well that clears it out. I'll start investigating the matter asap."