Story Reader / Festival Event Story / Once in a Blue Moon / Story
Joint Investigation Headquarters here. Confirmed no sighting of Ayla around the dorm.
Are you sure you want to call it that? It sounds like a mouthful to say.
I think it sounds okay, but if you find it too long... Hold on, I'm seeing the guys from WGAA collecting people's cards.
I'm going to get every last one of them!
Hi, excuse me. Do you have a moment? See...
In the blink of an eye, Nanami manages to stop the gang from WGAA.
Any update?
Nope. Negative!
Negative, huh... Well, keep looking, then. I just need to make a few quick calls now.
Roger that!
Joint Investigation Headquarters here calling Agent Kamui.
Capt... Ahem, I mean, yes, Agent Kamui speaking.
Any update from you, Agent Kamui?
Well... I don't know if this is worth mentioning at all... but I feel like I've been followed around.
What do you mean?
Kamui turns around—and sees the white silhouette that disappears in the blink of an eye.
Shh...
No. 21 and Co-Bot stand right around the corner. Pressing her index finger to her lips, No. 21 gestures for Co-Bot to stay quiet.
Then, poking her head out from the corner, she trains her eye again at Kamui.
...Hey!
Kamui turns around again hoping to see who's behind him—but sees nothing except for the white silhouette that once again disappears in the blink of an eye.
...Hey! ...Hey! ...Hey!
(In!) (And out...) (In!) (And out...)
Repeating what they do, Kamui and No. 21 gradually form an electrical circuit where the light bulb is turned on and then off repeatedly as the switch is flipped.
When Kamui turns around, No. 21 moves back to her side of the corner; when Kamui turns the other way again, No. 21 emerges from around the corner.
...Hey! ...Hey! Hey!
Then, Kamui turns his head around twice in a row—stopping the seemingly endless loop.
Kamui doesn't see No. 21. He does, however, see Co-Bot, which is just standing there not doing anything.
Then, a hand appears from around the corner and pulls it away.
I have the distinct feeling that Cerberus has their eyes on the letter in question now.
How in the world did they even catch wind of that, though...
There is probably someone out there making the whole situation known.
Anyhow, we should try to get our hands on it before anyone else does. You probably want to hurry up now, Kamui...
Welcome to the Joint Investigation Headquarters. You'll be in charge of that area over there!
No problem.
Have you tried to get more people involved in this by any chance?
Of course. Together we're strong, right?
I came across Vera, Yata, Simon, and a whole bunch of other people along the way, and we really have the festival to thank...
If you ever run into people you know, can you ask them to give us a hand, too?
Of course.
I'll be on my way, then.
And remember to give the letter to me when you find it. Don't open it yourself.
...
The Construct keeps its eye on Nanami—until she's completely out of sight. Then, the Construct turns on his own terminal.
The Gray Raven Commandant has sent out all these people to look for some letter without the knowledge of the higher-ups. There seems to be more than meets the eye, and I'm going to look into it now...
...Hey, what are you doing back here?
Oh. My. God. Just heard from Headquarters that some evil people have their eyes on the letter now.
The maintenance tunnel. Let's see... You wouldn't happen to know where the closest maintenance tunnel is, would you?
With the infinite universe itself as their backdrop, the Engineering Force is afloat around Babylonia maintaining its home with all sorts of tools.
Looking out into the universe, a man from the Engineering Force finds the world quieter than usual. He can't help but wonder if it's because it's the Mid-Autumn Festival today.
Taking advantage of his break time, he opens his coffee can as he looks into the universe.
It's so quiet and I don't see the Punishing Virus here. It's so different from what it's like on Earth.
PheeEEeeeewWWW—!
A gigantic being swooshes past with a girl sitting on top.
Standing in bewilderment for a few seconds, everyone in the crew shakes their head in unison, apparently trying to forget what they just saw.
Oh boy, who am I to slack off when everyone is hard at work?
PheeEEeeeewWWW—!
A gigantic being swooshes past with a girl sitting on top.
...
Sorry, but is this some sort of rehearsal?
Oh, it isn't. I was just looking for the entrance to the pad. Would you happen to know where it went?
The man points behind himself.
Oh, right behind the drone, eh? No wonder I didn't see it.
Alright, Power. Speed up!
And with it, the gigantic being swooshes past the man again.
The man slowly raises his coffee can and, with the device at the end of the can, tries to push the weightless coffee into his mouth...
BANG, BANG, BOOM—loud bangs come from the other side of the line.
And with it, the man splashes the coffee straight onto his own face.
Oops! Sorry, but I just knocked down a few things here...
Guess I'll just leave them here, then? Now, Power. Ready, set, go!
Waving the coffee away from his face, the man gazes long and hard at the deep sky.
Then, sealing the can, he decides to get back to work ahead of schedule.
Way ahead!
Power falls through the skylight before the door is pushed open.
Nanami?! That was fast! How did you do that?
Hehe, I came here full-throttle around Babylonia.
The other doors are opened one by one.
Any update?
Has anyone found the letter?
People arrive one after another, eventually bringing Gray Raven together again.
Might I ask who you all are?
We're the Joint Investigation Headquarters!
Seeing Power coming right up, the WGAA member raises both their hands in surrender.
??
Knowing what's going to happen next, Lucia and Liv rush up to get Nanami off Power.
Wait, didn't you say...
...
The three carry on with their conversation until the pose of the WGAA member—which he's been keeping up for quite some time now—turns into what appears to be a complimenting gesture.
Oh, uhm, she was just kidding, sir.
We just wanted to ask you to see if you'd seen Ayla back here.
Ayla, huh... Well... I've been here for the entire day today, but I don't remember seeing her at all.
Would you happen to know where she put all the cards she's been going around collecting?
She left them all in the Temporary Archives Center... And speaking of which, a member from Ayla's team applied for an Earth-bound transport craft a while back.
And Ayla wanted to take all the cards with her on her trip to Earth so she could go through them on the way. Guess she has a little too much on her plate these days.
What's the craft's ID, if you don't mind?
With a few taps on his own terminal, the WGAA member sends the craft's ID to Lee.
Let's see... Doesn't seem like we'll ever catch them in time. Could you ask the guys at the pad to let us know when Ayla and the crew are back?
Are we going back to prep the mooncake ingredients?
Hey, I've collected all of them already. I stored them away somewhere, though, because I knew we'd be out on this mission here.
I marked it down on a map, but let me try to dig out the map first...
...
Yes? Is there anything else you'd like to share?
It's not anything important, but...
I did come across a male Construct that asked me about Ayla and the cards, too.
A male Construct? What does it look like?
Well... His hair is pink, and he looks quite sturdy.
And the way he smiles is very unusual... It's almost like looking at a great white shark smiling at me.
...
Wait, what?!
