But, Ether is still new. Mother mentioned that there are many bugs left to sort in ESCA. In order to bust them, we, the chosen ones, were selected by Mother to enter the ETHER infrastructure on PSO2 to investigate. It is a duty and privilege reserved only for Mother Clusters' chosen people. All this is hidden from civilians. Hitsugi feels they're going in circles. Wouldn't this sort of thing happen before? Kohri laughs at this, saying she'd be the only one to drag someone from PSO2 here.

AGAIN with this plot hole!
Kohri says it's proof that MC is right about bugs though. Hitsugi is momentarily enthused about an article she sees on the laptop that she is researching upon, but nope it was cosplayers. There's also an article on people who played the game but disappeared. (This is a nothingburger because according to the plot "PSO2 is mandatory-installed on literally every device it can be, along with the OS, so then 'everyone' would have played the game at least once) Kohri comes up with a simple way to solve it. Asking MOTHER. Because it would have info. Why didn't we think of it earlier?  Kohri will contact it now on her machine, but Hitsugi stops her.

She asked us, so reporting to mother takes precedence, right? Hitsugi wants some time though...she wants to give a proper report. To investigate thoroughly and report the findings the right way on ARU and pso2. She'll do it before the break is over, so give her the chance. Kohri says she understands and trusts her. But if she gets in a pinch, just talk to MOTHER is her best advice.

NOW the plot hole is addressed to a degree:
The supposed "AI" in the game act in a spontaneous manner unlike all other conventional AI. Mother cluster gave them the duty to investigate this erratic-ness of NPCs. If it's a bug, it could  endanger ESCA if left alone too long. If she stays there she won't see or learn anything. She'll have to go there again, she decides and the scene ends.

Xiera has levitated her chair up high, but lowers it after the scene. You can then ask

Xiera are you a bug?
A world within a game?

If you ask “A World Within A Game”? She says she talked about it before, but it doesn't matter what world they think that we are in. What matters is that Hitsugi doesn't realize that she's come to a literal other world. We have to try to keep her in the dark. MOTHER seems to play a vital role in her life. MOTHER sounds like their equivalent of Xion. But, more importantly, didn't she mention wanting to go to PSO2 again? Wah wah oh no, time to prepare. Once again she says to keep the observations secret.

The Rundown:
ETHER lets everyone use it as an internet for free so everywhere on earth just has to build ETHER towers and then everyone gets as much infinite fast data transfer as they want forever unlimited.  People have their phone/pc/tablet OS “in the cloud” because ETHER never shuts off or goes down. PSO2 is pre-installed because reasons.

Fossilized PSO2 Game Developers:
MOTHER is just telling everyone PSO2 is a game and that’s why “nobody ever says ask the devs”, it’s because there aren’t any and there never were. The PLOT HOLE is that nobody ever THINKS to try and 'ask the devs', thus forcing MOTHER to come up with some BS about how that is somehow impossible. It's a worm-can that nobody wants to open because it would prevent the plot from steam-rolling forward as it is clearly wont to do.

The MASSIVE STUPID plot hole of "how does Hitsugi believe npcs are real/could be people" is finally addressed here. This SHOULD have been placed AT THE START of all this, so the plot would make a  teensy bit of sense, instead of saving it for this late. Like "When you use the mic to talk to npcs in the game you'd think they were other players for real wow! I just had a 2 hour conversation with Klotho!" or something. Because that's what they're claiming here: that every so-called "NPC" acts exactly like a PC & that's why MOTHER wants to investigate the phenomenon of this "magical AI" that somehow these "Godly Devs" managed to invent and then have no idea how they even did that. This acts as if the game devs are somehow inaccessible/absent/don't know what they did so some magical organization has to research their game like it is a fossil in the rocks with no one alive capable of explaining it.

2028 3/27 at 1200Xiera may be on to something here (for once this dirty peeping tom puts a thinking cap on)
If we assume MOTHER is like the Xion of Earth, you don't necessarily want it knowing that it has access, accidental or not, to another dimension. Xion was fairly benign, MOTHER is an unknown that is using children to test something it likely knows is not a game.Kohri & Hitsugi in: Worrying Isn't Like You

Kohri comments on paperwork regarding the entrance ceremony.  (They are probably supposed to be working on it in this class room of the school, at the large wooden table) And more is expected of them because they're boarding students. But, we do get the room to ourselves so it's not a bad deal. (She is being somewhat sarcastic here) Then, she says she's kidding, haha! But Hitsugi hasn't been paying attention to any of it. She thinks that Mother told us that PSO2 is a game. But does that mean everyone she met is fake, a rogue NPC? But then what is Aru?

He appeared here in the world and they cared for each other so is it fake? It's not just Aru, its you & Xiera too. Do they (These ‘characters’ to her) really exist? Mother told us no. All this while Kohri has been yelling her name as she thinks, but Hitsugi will not respond.

Kohri finally screeches at her, which frightens her out of her pondering. She explains how she kept saying her name but she wouldn't respond. There's work left unfinished, anyway. Hitsugi apologizes gloomily, so Kohri says that's not like her. Kohri asks if she's acting that strangely, is it someone else in a bodysuit there that just looks like Hitsugi? The one she knows rarely hesitates or worries, making decisions without caring about what people say about her. Hitsugi asks if (These comments) was from the budget meeting...but it's from the introductory meeting. She feels like a dictator. Kohri tells her she doesn't mind it, because she's always by her side. (She doesn't mind if Hitsugi IS a dictator because she's close to her she understands her actions, unlike others) But she wants to see her keep pushing forward.

Hitsugi thanks her for the talk, explaining she's not herself worrying over a simple matter. Change of pace! Lets hang out tomorrow, bring Aru & party hard!
The scene ends.

Xiera says it's great they trust each other a lot. She hasn't anything like that, so she's jealous. Then, after a bit, she frets and says she didn't mean it like that, she's not lonely...she just longs for 'that feeling' is all. It's true Xiera doesn't have a comrade. But, Kohri's squealing ways are also untrustworthy. This pep-talk is well put together, though.

She is still very unrealistically cavalier about the possibility of an entire other dimension being accessible.

She's also very cavalier about an entire sentient being/person/LITERAL ALIEN living with her. It's not just calling it 'a simple matter', she acts like this sort of thing is simply uncommon like seeing a rainbow, not an entire possible paradigm shift for the entire planet like you could easily guess this would be. The problem is that it would be extremely difficult to write a character with a realistic reaction to this situation because it is so extremely preposterous.

The Young President
2028 3/28 at 400

In town, at a cafe, Khori is happy she ate a lot of food, but Hitsugi is thinking of the way Aru ate the cake and donuts: it was the same as they did. He's the same, in all the ways as 'us' that means him & that world...as she thinks they catch her spacing out. To cover for it, she asks where's a waiter to get green tea, then to leave. However, instead of a waiter a man appears with DR-logo sunglasses & a fancy looking black business suit. He has 3 different earrings in one ear, spiky sandy tan hair and is fairly tall. He brings 4 green teas, and says that it's on him. Hitsugi asks who he is.

He says don't mind him, he should be thanking them instead of them thanking him for the tea. Young ladies with tea on a fine day stirs his inspiration. Hitsugi quietly asks Kohri that something weird has come their way, does she know him? She says of course not. He accuses them of whispering and that others can hear.
To solve the situation, he recommends the still  in development ”Tora Tora” app. It's full of confidence!  Without talking, you can start the app and it'll send your thoughts to another person. It'll make you feel like a real telepath! It's perfect for trading stories in secret without being heard by anyone, the secrets of high school students, the blooming flowers of the high school girls! He'd like the 2 of them to try it before the release, to test it while he is there. He hands them 2 small tablets and they put their hand on it. (So, this random stranger with a big attitude and big bling/brands appears & offers them tablets that he says can read their mind to each other. They then not only believe him, but AGREE and start trying to be telepathic by Ouija-boarding some rando’s magical phones. Makes perfect sense. NOT. Oh but they’re going to get worse and make even less sense…)

Hitsugi tries it with her statement of what a creepy person we have here, he even gave us these monitors to use. She thinks she's seen him before and asks if Kohri is sure she's not seen him? She thinks she did see him somewhere but says stop asking she knows no one odd like this. Is he a long lost brother? No way he's part of her family….she glowers. Kohri is offended she'd 'compare' her to such a creepy guy. (Being accused of being someone undesirable’s relative is offensive there)

Hitsugi says he was 'snooping the entire time so the app is useless', as she scowls him down. He says he's the monitor, so of course he heard it, because it was supposed to be a test, he told them that to begin with. He rage-collects back his tablets, saying that high school girls are too blunt these days…. but maybe it's for the best for feedback on a new product. He winks (which produces glitter!) & Hitsugi commands Kohri to call the police by shouting "there's a pervert here!" to make them come right away. (Because though they are offensive toward him and clearly don’t want him there, he sits back down at their table for 4.) However, notice that though he's rude by barging into strangers' conversation to ask them to test his products he's not doing anything sexual or perverted. They're both trying to stain him with the false-flag 'predator' for immideate deadly trouble with the police. It's not right for strangers to intrude, but you can't scream "RAPIST" when a salesman approaches you in the mall and you accept his free green tea, then decide you don't like his product.

Kohri starts screaming about a pervert being nearby. This makes him fret a little, though he says to not be hasty like that. However…he cautions to not waste her breath, Ether communications are restricted here so no one would come. He also says they should wait before accusing because he hasn't done anything perverted.

He claims he's too famous, and draws large crowds wherever he goes. Because large crowds can be a hassle, he restricts communication in the area around him when he's out in public. After all, he is so famous.
Hitsugi guesses out loud that he draws crowds because he's a criminal with offenses against minors? He presents his ID which is what finally lets them know it is Hagith Aine the cutting edge guy at the head of great developments. (They did see him, during the tv interview that's why he looks familiar)
Kohri is impressed because he made the clothes buying app that she loves to use. Hitsugi says he's just a military otaku so if he's that famous what's he want with high school girls like them? He says ordinary girls, really? (As if he doesn't believe they are normal) And Hitsugi baits him for a fight by saying well what of it? He says he looks forward to seeing them again.

He takes the check.

Aru says he has bad vibes. Aru hasn't said anything this entire time. Hagith never addressed him, either. Kohri agrees with Aru. Aru says its bad vibes like Kohris'. Hitsugi agrees. Kohri is offended. But who is he really? Hitsugi doesn't know, but she does know they should tip for the tea.
The scene ends.

Xiera says there's a distortion in the tech levels again on earth. Their comms and tech are on the same level as ARKS but their hardware is not. It's strange, it seems like ETHER is hiding something. And indeed it is, Hagith just told everyone he can basically ‘turn it off’ with some kind of localized suppressor to keep the paparazzi away. The suppressor would easily create the distortion Xiera sees. What she’s clawing at though, is that ETHER is too advanced for Earth, no one there should have been able to come up with it, given the level of everything else they have there.

Stupid Plot Point #1 for this single panel: So, there’s now a guy with a phablet that can read people’s minds. And nobody mentions it. They don't even care.

There is a good bit of stupid garbage to unpack here:
Hagith meets them in the wrong way, but he's eccentric/wacky so fine. Characterization.

Do you know how much it would be abused if someone could just yell "PERVERT" and the cops would come rough up any poor sap? Literally no one could leave their home. Plot hole.

Look how fixated they are on sexual predators of high schoolers, and she right away says that pedophiles draw crowds so that's what he probably is. "Pervertedness" comes up just about as often as they can mention it, for no reason.

Trash-talking the person next to you whether out loud or not is idiotic.

HE SAID IT WAS A TEST: "Oh here I'm a cell phone salesman who will give you a free phone if you test it. Ok I will call my friend on it and smack talk on you about how disgusting you are for trying to give me a free thing right as you stand here and listen! After you SAID YOUD BE LISTENING TO THE TEST! That's the LOGICAL THING TO DO!"

HOW IS SHE SO STUPID SHE CANT TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHEN SHE IS SPEAKING AND WHEN SHE IS NOT SPEAKING!

There are no capital letters large enough for the stupidity of these empty headed freaks of nature. Them being eaten by a Bal Rodos would save the earth 500 IQ points & make it smell better. Who in the fresh hell wrote this???? They LITERALLY just psychically heard each-others voices in their heads and then said "it didn't work"??????? And they WERENT IMPRESSED? And a 3rd party heard it too? WHAT.

I literally cannot understand this part. Did they both think they were talking out loud despite not seeing the lips move? Did she say 'it didn’t work' because he was monitoring the test like he said he would? Is she so stupid she forgot something someone said literally under 30 seconds previous? Have they not heard of a conference call between 3 people before? You can't even unpack this bit because it is pure nonsense. She should be too stupid to keep breathing if she can't tell the difference between talking out loud deliberately and just thinking something.

*Subvocalizing?
This is actually a real thing. A device that can read the impulses for speech as they go down the nerves toward the neck/speech parts is actually do-able in reality. This bit isn't far-fetched at all because you can make all the mouth movements of talking / act like you're talking but don't make any real noises. In that way, the taped-on electrodes or whatever they end up with would read the impulses and interpreter it as speech. It could then be played into a tiny headphone in someone else’s' ear for silent-ISH communication.

Problematic Earth Issues:
Setting it on any kind of Earth brings forth all the baggage that is easily able to open gigantic plot holes & make things look stupid. It makes it more difficult to write believable sympathetic characters in believable situations. Going from a scifi fantasy to "reality of earth" is a difficult can of earth-worms to open and be entertaining with. It's easy to get into a plot hole corner, or write into a tizzy of nonsense. A good time travel tale requires much more of a writer than a simple 2 chapter plot about puppies. Themes like that are for experts, to use with caution & a well-laid set of rules in order to suceede & create a product/story people will enjoy. You can guess who we have here, though. It also brings up real life exhausting issues that people use fantasy games to escape from, as well as things people are really offended by & trying to avoid. Opening the can of EARTHworms is a bad idea on lots of levels & this bit seems determined to go to every level.

1. Racism: Racism has been an issue in PS before, such as "Beast Women Are So Filthy" & the OPSS Incident against CASTs...but color base/place based racism doesn't exist. However here on Earth it seems everyone is homogenous anyway so it's unlikely to be encountered. (However it does open up a plot hole because Earth has more than 1 race of person & if you leave out everything except 1 single race...you're...not really representing Earth & that's why it's a plot hole waiting to happen)

2. Things people should & wouldn't know about. Authentic Earthlings create expectations of what they will & won't believe. Like people don't generally see real ghosts every day so a ghostly form would frighten an Earthling. But a modern Earthling would understand a car or a highway. An ARKS isn't surprised by a glowing sword, but an Earthling would be. This is broken here by his telepath-app. This WOULD surprise an Earthling. (And probably frighten it as well via the implications of being able to take the thoughts from someone elses' head--but we're dealing with morons who don't know what the word 'implication' means let alone being able to think ahead more than 5 minutes)

3. Under-Age-Girls: You shouldn't even have to write the word 'pedo/molester/pervert' IN ANY CONTEXT EVER FOR A PHANTASY GAME...yet here we are! Notice how that's where Hitsugi's mind goes first, after we've had such a 'good time' spying on their wet bath towels and having Aru squeeze their boobies. They keep rubbing this Earth issue in everyone’s face every chance the plot, or Xiera gets. Just stop this BS right now.

Enga in: Listen To Mother
2028 3/29 at 1000

Hitsugi’s in the hall saying there’s odd jobs and she needs to look at for the entrance ceremony prep otherwise she won’t know what to do. She couldn’t do PSO2 yesterday, but today if she finishes fast…A voice interrupts her and asks if she still plays ‘that old thing’. It’s Enga, her older brother, who says she’s an unpleasant surprise. But it’s still good to see his little sister. She tells him no guys allowed in the girls dorm.
Enga has her same dark red hair, but instead of blue, his eyes are red. He is taller than she is, and is also wearing a gray school uniform. (So, he’s not in college probably) He says family is exempt from the rule. She asks what he wants then.
He says it’s nothing from her, it’s her room he needs to check on. She gets worried, and quickly frets at him nervously that nothing’s changed. As the head of the Yasaka Family, he needs to see she’s keeping the room neat and tidy. He worries that she isn’t growing up right. But, also that she hasn’t grown up at all. He then pats her on the head to irritate her. She swats at him so he says is there nothing different about your room?

She asks why’s he need to know? It’s none of his business. He skeptically asks her there’s nothing in there, right? She says of course not.  He turns to go, taking her denial at face value. Instead of just letting him walk away normally and avert disaster, she presses him on why he wants to know. He instead changes the subject, saying she’s favored to become next student council president. It’s good she’s standing out, and having that kind of power would be nice, right? But, that said, don’t let yourself get pulled into things. If you stick your nose in before you’re ready, sooner or later something will happen to you that can’t be undone.

He’s a bit cryptic here, and even maybe a little menacing, so she asks what he means by that. He just answered the question, so all that’s left for her to do, is to figure it out, student council pres…and with that he stalks off. She’s frustrated because ‘he always leaves with something to think about’. She muses as she walks to meet Kohri and says that doing well in school, becoming SCP, taking power & helping Mother, what’s wrong with any of it? Stupid old brother…

She goes into the room with Kori, who is sitting gloomily, apologizing for being late because of her brother. But Hagith is in the room already. Hitsugi is surprised, demanding to know why the ‘pervert president’ is there. He says that’s an awful way to remember him.

Kohri is relieved, and goes to hug her, saying she believed in her, and that she would come into the room. She’s upset, so Hitsugi assumes that Hagith has done something (means molesting) her. He denies immediately, saying he’s a graduate of this school, in fact, he was SCP 5 years ago. She assumes he’s a member of Mother Cluster as well then. He agrees and says he’s no exception. All student council members must be Cluster members too. (To pretty much any organization this should be a huge red flag) He was walking by, and thought to visit. He felt like an upperclassman, but he’s gone too far, so he’ll leave. He wanted to ask high schoolers about their thoughts on the company apps, but that can wait till next time. So, see you around Hitsugi Yasaka. And so he leaves.
Hitsugi holds Kohri’s hands, asking if she’s ok really, and telling her the pervert has gone. Kohri is obviously really upset by something and seems on the verge of tears.

Kohri asks if Hitsugi remembers when Mother invited her to the Mother Cluster. It’s something she’ll never forget. Back then, she had no friends, she was all alone and mother started guiding her to the MC. And then she met Hitsugi, and Mother made sure of that. To her lonely self, Hitsugi is her first important person, because she followed Mother’s words she can meet Hitsugi and get along but not only that…she won’t go anywhere right? Her place is here? Everything will be ok if we listen to Mother, everyone will be happy then. So don’t go anywhere!

The scene ends.
Xierra comments that the sense of trust in Mother is amazing. But what is it? Can it be an overwhelming presence? Also, Hitsugi’s older brother is a lot taller. It’s like a parent and child. She may also get this odd phrase to say from his ‘head of the household’ comment. However, that was made to let everyone know their dad is either dead or missing or a deadbeat/runaway.

Xiera misses the main point here which is “What has Kohri so shook up”?
CLEARLY Hagith said something to her in the room. Her weird sadness/needyness is very sudden and unlike her.

Social Failures:
Enga has gotten the answer he needs: There’s something in her room. Hitsugi isn’t clever enough to lie well that he doesn’t need to see the room. At the mere mention of rooms she was flailing in her hot water like a fool. Anyone could easily tell she’s a liar here. Who put Enga up to asking about the room though, is the real question, because whoever it is will soon have their answer if Enga isn’t as stupid as Hitsugi.

Height Issues:
We now know why Hitsugi is sensitive and complain-ey about her height: the brother is always poking fun of her for it because he got a tall gene and she didn’t.

Mother's Voice:
What is it really? Some ghostly voice just comes into your mind along-side your usual thoughts and starts telling you things? How chatty is it? How does it explain to people it's not a mental disorder & prove itself? Like to Kohri that she'll have friends if she joins mummy's special club? Also no wonder Kohri didn't have much in the way of friends she's obsessed with tattle-tailing and ratting everyone out or screeching about misdeeds in public.

What is The Truth
2028 3/30 at 1200
Hitsugi stands with Aru in her room before the PSO2 title screen upon her monitor. She explains to him that 5 years ago she lost her parents in an accident. A voice reached out to her in the brink of despair. At her lowest point, a voice only she could hear. It wasn’t face to face, it was Mother over the ether. It was gentle warm, and always right and that’s why she joined the Cluster. Acting in an organization dedicated to Mother.

As they hold hands and she finishes the explanation, blue cubes of Ether appear all around them, and suddenly they’re in the lobby of the ship. She lets Aru know he can open his eyes, he’s amazed at coming to another world. He looks all around. By holding hands, he came too, his clothes also came along. Aru came as he is, that means he’s the same as her? But mother didn’t say anything like that. Hitsugi calls out to Xiera.

Xiera, ever chipper, says she’s here to be called upon, but sees her mood and says it’s something serious. She asks if you’re there, and wants them to take a look at Aru. Aru asks where are we going? Hitsugi only says ‘to find out the truth’. But it’s all right, if anything happens, she’s always on his side. He says the same thing to her. They hold hands and begin walking to the bridge, but Kohri sees them departing. (As her character in the game, Kohri doesn't seem to be able to 'get sucked in there' physically) She only looks on, though.

At the bridge your char & Xiera are there.
It looks like you’ve calmed down
Are you forcing yourself?

If you say It Looks Like You’ve Calmed Down , she says that’s because she’s braced herself. But to be honest everything she believed might soon be overturned because she doesn’t know anything. She hates not knowing, hates losing something important because she can’t do anything about it. So she wants the truth.

 Xiera asks for Aru’s hand, so she starts scanning him and sparks with surprise. The Ether Cubes appear, but small, around him, and some lines too. Xiera looks worried because her floating analysis screen won’t work, there’s more interference, then, both Hitsugi and Aru vanish.

Where’s Hitsugi & Aru?
Xiera, Are You All Right?

If you ask Where’s Hitsugi & Aru?
She doesn’t know, they just disappeared. In the only moment she had, during the direct contact it felt like  something was pulling back, forcing the link to disconnect…fearing our contact with Aru. Xiera looks both irritated and gloomy about this.

Speculation:
If the Mother ETHER thing has created Aru, it’s only natural that she wouldn’t want him being kidnapped by aliens, so pulling him/them out is normal. Mother is using the ARKS aliens people to do something, we just don’t yet know what. Mother can “manufacture adults humans” somehow.

Awakening
2028 3/30 at 1230
Suddenly, they’re back in her dorm room! What, how? Hitsugi is outraged and shocked. Error code Olympia, a forced DC from ether is displayed instead of PSO2 on her screen. Now, she can’t even use her phone, what’s going on? Aru starts to panic, yelling big sis the monsters from before! Sure enough, blue light balls appear in the room & dispense the cubes that form into the blue crystal zombie men. It’s the crystal zombies! There’s many of them! So they run out of her room, dodging down the hall to escape as more appear. Eventually, they run into Kohri, who is down the hall, she says this way hurry. Hitsugi asks if she has seen any monsters this way. Also, is her phone working? She could analyze them.

Kohri says we’ll talk later, but is strangely calm and gloomy about it. Hitsugi thinks that Ether should exist in the atmosphere, it shouldn’t be able to shape itself without a medium. (Meaning, materializing a zombie should be out of it’s possibility range)  Kohri says its all right though, trust her and leave it to her. She walks onward holding her hand, pulling her down the hall with Aru trailing behind.

Outside, on the school track, Histugi frets about the zombies being able to appear more now that they are outside. Korhi asks if she can hear it, can’t you hear Mother? Can Hitsugi hear the voice in her head right now? (no) Kohri told her everything. But zombies appear out here on the track too, shambling toward everyone.

Hagith appears too on the roof, saying “that child’s a traitor”. He hops down, and announces himself again, Hagith Aine. Apostle of gold, her executive! He’s the ESC-A branch.  He changes into a white trench coat with glowing blue pattern in a flash of gold light. He approaches them, as now he hates Hitsugi. She’s incredulous, asking if he's really the people chosen by MC to manage ESC-A?

Manage? But there’s more to it than that. Right now all global communication is Ether based. Using it has allowed it to spread around the world MC is deeply tied into the world. What made his company so successful was his talent as a developer, but also his advantages. Celebs, corps, even govt’s are infiltrated by the cluster. With the power of MC you can do anything, taking over school is cake, taking over the world if they wanted would be easy. He gloats about this.

Hitsugi makes an interesting point though, (is it her first? woop woop) saying MC already dominates the world, so really, what’s up with saying something like that?
Kohri says it’s not like that though… MC isn’t dominating, it’s supporting the world from behind the scenes. That’s what Mother taught us.  As she stands saying it, a yellow haired zombie with large crystal arm, half formed leg, and no upper face (it’s flat crystal) stands behind her with a gun, though he’s not drawing down on her)

Hitsugi then shouts that he’s the one manipulating the monsters & Kohri. He denies it. In response to Kohri’s Mother contact she’s trying to save Hitsugi, that’s right. Kohri then says please hand over Aru without saying anything. If you do that, Mother says she’ll forgive you for what you’ve done. Mother always keeps her promises…Hitsugi wants to know why Mother is asking something like that. (And Mother doesn't speak up! Why not?) Kohri argues that it doesn’t matter. She begs and says lets go back to how things used to be. She reaches for Hitsugi but Aru hides behind her saying he’s afraid.

She thinks of what mother said, closing her eyes. What she has seen, what she should believe…She steps in front of Aru, arms out to guard him. Kohri asks why, sadly. Honestly though, she doesn’t know. She was planning on being pragmatic (presumably, and turning him over to Mother) but, but Aru protected her when she was clueless she can’t abandon him now. (She's referencing the dive he took against the zombies when they first appeared in her room) Hagith says to back down, Kohri's job is done, he’ll take over from here. (Mother recruited both of them, Kohri was the carrot, Hagith is the stick) She argues, clinging to his arm, begs him to not, because Hitsugi is still being deceived by ‘them’-- so he slaps her so hard she falls down.

Ignoring the fallen Kohri, he says that’s enough student chit chat, because we’re talking business now, about his contract with Mother. His job is to take Aru back to Mother. He’s a smooth working type, without anything in his way it’s as easy as fiddling with an app. He pulls out a glowing phone. Hitsugi is surprised so he says, if you can see it too, it’s something you can only see glow if Mother gifted you with Ether Aptitude. Its an Emerald Tablet it gives the ability to remodel shape and summon his Phantoms.

He shakes it, and suddenly 3 military tanks appear, and helicopters appear in the sky, all from more blue cubes. Hitsugi is shocked that it created all those monsters. He says did you really think Ether could only be used to communicate? It embodies desires, when you control it, creating an army like this is nothing. He jumpes to the top of a tank suddenly and tells it to complete his work quickly and effiecently. Zombies stubmle forward, and go to hit her, so she wonders if it’s the end, does her story end here? (Because she only crouch/ducked, didn’t roll away so the zombie rod would have struck her)

Without knowing anything, will she end up losing? Aru calls out big sis, so she’s not giving up…this time…She glows blue a little herself and pulls out a katana from nowhere. Hagith is shocked at an embodied weapon at the last second. She flashes it out in an arc defeating the zombies. He feels this is building up his work load.  However…we’ve already predicted this level of ‘irregular activity’ crushing bugs like her is part of the job description.

But a reading from above disrupts him. He looks up to see…an ARKS drop ship.
The ship that appears above everybody is one of the little gunships that sometimes falls during 'code protect' & is sometimes infected by darkers in 'code destroy the darker control tower'.

Mother isn't very smart Part 1.
If she can telepath ANYone at ANYtime all she would need to do is tell Hitsugi that she just wants to meet him & everything is fine. Invite your char, Hitsugi & Aru to a Mother tea party to give Hitsugi all the answers she needs. Then stab everyone to death or launch them all into space. She's dumb for not telepathing Hitsugi a simple lie about meeting her new cool pal Aru. The plot even shows she's capable of it because she's chatting to Kohri, obviously at this same time. Or just something as simple as “I won’t hurt Aru, let’s just go.” You can’t bash Mother too much yet because everyone’s only just said she’s nice, nobody’s said she’s smart. But, if she turns out to be a ‘mega-genius-intelligence’ this 3^rd grader ploy is going to make her fall flat.

Mother Isn't Very Smart Part 2:
Mother, or SOME one has obviously known where Hitsugi & Aru live ever since the phantom zombies appeared in her room for the first time. Why not wait until Hitsugi goes to class, knowing she has to leave Aru in the room? Warp in 1 zombie, have him bear-hug the kid & warp them both out? What is preventing her from doing this? Aru can't vanish on his own. Why wait? Taking bets on if this will be explained why Mother is so limited: No.

Leave it To Me!
Wait For Me Hitsugi!

If you yell Leave It To me! You go dashing off for the door. The campship takes off for Earth, Japan. Now, you have to fight the tanks, helicopters, zombies & oddly enough, steam rollers/pavement compressors that Hagith has summoned.

Chapter 2 Illusion Dimension: Phantom Reality starts at 1300
Hagith is shocked at the ship saying they (Him and Mother) didn't consider that far into the case. If it's wise it won't approach, since his job is simply to collect the child. He commands the zombies to go forth against Hitsugi.

But an explosion smashes the zombies into their cubes because you have dropped out of the ship. You land in front of him, staring him down, and now his army's gone. He yells at Mother that this situation is not what we discussed but he has his limits and additional charges won't make up for it--- he won't even settle for new tech. (This reveals that Mother has been persuading Hagith to work with her via bribes like big payments=charges & gifting him with technology so he can use it to make more money/success at his company) So he jumps into the air onto a geometric platform he makes from the “ether pattern” lines and zombies appear.

Hitsugi wants to fight too, so you nod at her.

Tensei academy schoolyard, where there’s a big open track & field area is the scene of the battle. Of course, it is empty of students or anyone. This MAY be because of Xieras’ “Camo Field” ability, like there could be an invisible dome over all this that you can’t see students through & students just see an empty field.

At 1400
If you can beat all the snake helicopters (they’re called snake but have nothing to do with snakes, they’re just military choppers), type-15 tanks, zombie men & pavement pressing steamrollers, Hitsugi says we'll get him next. He's back on the ground and gives up because there's no reason for him to continue past his break even point. Hitsugi is incredulous, after coming this far, he's giving up? Aru frets in the background. That's right, he confirms, it's just business to him, so time to cut his losses. He gestures angrily at her but backs off. He will go away, but he won't forget any of them. The next we meet it won't be about Mother or business he'll crush everyone, holding nothing back. With a smash of a button on his tablet, he disappears into a hail of green sparkles. Hitsugi rushes at where he was.

Overstretching Yourself is Dangerous
We Have Something More Important Right Now

If you say We Have Something More Important Right Now (in hopes of learning what that actually may be...) She'll stop and everyone looks around to see Kohri approaching asking if her betrayal is really a lie, right? She trusted her, that she didn't fight but then...(oh the more important matter is Kohri) Hitsugi says she didn't betray anyone. Kohri demands “ Then why go against Mothers words, why?” Kohri screams and cries.

She begs her to take her hand and come back by her side. Hitsugi says she can't go back any more. What's right and what's wrong, from what she's seen she'll go with your character. (She's not explaining well enough that she feels Mother would hurt the innocent Aru.) Kohri begs her to wait, but she turns her back on her, while apologizing, and everybody disappears leaving her alone. She collapses to her knees crying and yelling out why why. She promised they'd be together so why why why, now that her first and only friend is gone.

But, a new girl approaches, and asks Kohri Washinomiya why she's crying.