As Ares and Dolos approached a locked containment room, like a prison cell in the middle of the forest, they dusted a familiar looking helmet off. "I was told, if not for simple vanity, that these resemblance this mask holds would shake Ishmael in some way." Ares says, rubbing more dirt off of the helmet. "Chronos wants him to wear this."
"How is the new drone coming along?" Dolos asks. "This one has been a particular hassle. I hope he's worth the efforts." Ares looks down and thinks to himself silently for a moment. "Ares? Ares? Are you listening? What's gotten into you?"
"Just wondering what worth it even means at this point." Ares replies.
"Do we really have a choice?" Dolos asks.
"I suppose not." Ares replies in a depressed tone. Dolos opens the cell and the two of them walk into this dark cell where a man sat on his knees, sweat wetting his long black hair as it hangs over his face. Ares lazily puts the helmet on top of his head and pushes it down over his face. Afterwards, the helmet becomes powered from endo, and lights up with the same digital pattern and design; down to the smallest detail; of the helmet Siran wore when he took on the guise of The Sniper long ago. "This one is special, so I think a codename is in order. Trying to wash over this one's mind was lengthy, and drained me. So, you think of the codename for the drone. I'm too tired to think."
"How about... Foxhound?" Dolos suggests.
"Foxhound?" Ares asks.
"A tool hunters use to hunt down pesky little foxes." Dolos says.
"You're a real jester, Dolos." Ares says sarcastically as he lays his forearm over his eyes and lays against a rock. "I'm going to sleep while I still can."
"Okay, let's see if you're responsive yet..." Dolos says as he inspects the Foxhound drone for visible wounds. "You're tasked with seeking Inari and Ishmael. Do not engage. I repeat, do not engage. Tail them. They're planning on closing up the streams, but we have something much more to worry about. Make sure those two and their whole crew are together before coming back to us. The plan is to instill as much confusion as possible." Foxhound, the drone, stands up obediently like a soldier standing at attention. "Good, you're responsive. Then we can soon begin. The streams have almost finished serving their purpose. We want the masses stirred up and at each other's throats. War is optional. But one thing must remain instilled upon the world. No more heroes."
"And what if they close all the streams and turn out to be the heroes?" Ares asks.
"It'll be fine." Dolos say. "The world already blames them. We just need to keep that crew occupied long enough to set the stage. They will die this time, for good. We finally exhausted Gaia for good, this is the last time they will ever reincarnate."
"I don't know." Ares says. "This seems a little too... Chronos for my tastes. Just call on me when something important comes up."
"After all this time, you still lack imagination, Ares." Dolos says, then looks back over at Foxhound. "Go, now. We will watch through your eyes."
"So, where is your ride anyways?" Zia asks as they walk out of Omnium Guild territory.
"Ride? What ride?" Thor asks. "We ran here and found you by chance. The truck we did have was torched in the crossfire between us and several of those militants. Besides, it's not like us gods to use vehicles of any sort for travel. We simply joined the kids out of concern. Don't you have a vehicle?"
"... shit, I really wish we could walk into somebody like Tanya again right about now." Zia says in disappointment.
"So... no ride?" Dana asks.
"Not unless we find someone who happens to drive in the middle of a revolutionary war, no." Zia replies.
"It's going to be a long walk home to Pilloa." Carl says. "Isn't Pilloa literally on the opposite side of he country?"
"Don't remind me." Zia says in disappointment.
"Heh, I thought we'd need contact with HQ before we left." Dana brags as she reaches in her back pocket and takes out a phone. "Borrowed it from Benjie. Feds took it off of me, but I got my stuff back when we broke out."
"I had no idea you were hiding that!" Carl says in excitement. "Oh man, I could hug you right now!"
"I had no idea you had that either..." Silas says. "That was pretty slick."
"You guys just need to be more inquisitive and aware of your surroundings." Dana replies, then suddenly gets interrupted by Carl picking her up in a hug.
"You're a life saver!" Carl adds.
"You- uh..." Dana says, confused. "You okay there? You're kinda getting too excited."
"Oh!" Carl says, then drops Dana back onto her feet. "Sorry."
"Yeah... i-it's fine. Just a bit of warning first?" Dana replies.
"You really didn't want to walk today, did you?" Silas asks with a short laugh.
"After the day we've had?" Carl asks. "Are you kidding? I haven't been able to feel my legs and my arms have had this burning sensation, probably from being tied up by that asshole McNamara."
"We need to get all three of you checked up on at the infirmary." Zia says with concern.
"I'm just gonna sleep it off." Carl argues. "It'll heal on its' own."
"Let's at least get to the nearest landmark before asking for a pickup." Zia adds. "That way they can actually find us when they do come."
"Good idea." Dana says.
"So, what about your father?" Zia asks Silas. "He didn't come with you?"
"Ah, no..." Silas says. "Dad went with Holly, Tanya and Blake to Japan."
"Holly, Tanya and Blake are back?" Zia asks. "Wait, what about Robin?"
"He's back at base." Carl adds. "He was too injured to go with."
"So they went to Japan?" Zia asks. "Did the conflict escalate? Are they okay?"
"Well, they went to get the crew back home to Pilloa." Silas answers.
"There's a bit to catch up on." Dana says. "But that will have to wait until later. It would be best if we discuss that at HQ where we will find any news or updates on what's been going on from Benjie."
"So, I understand you want to make this as quick as possible." Holly says as their group rides on a specially developed plane to relies on radar rather than sight, for low visibility conditions. "So, going to Egypt from China is just the safest bet for getting the crew back together as fast as possible. What I don't understand is, why the hell is the old man tagging along with us!?"
"I'm going to see my daughter." Chao replies calmly.
"If you get in our way even a little bit!" Holly argues.
"It'll work out." Mikoto says. "Look at the bright side; we have more hands to make this a faster venture."
"What I don't understand is, how is everything so... so..." Chao says as he tries to think. "Alive? How are we all alive? If we've been stuck in perpetual night, how is the world going on?"
"We have mostly the genius engineers from the Philippines to thank for that." Haru adds.
"Yeah, some people we previously worked with have their hands on some blueprints of our tech." Holly says. "One of our members, Benjie, has connections with people like that. Benjie also helped establish the blueprints. They took some syphon tech and converted it into converter tech. Similar to how endo generators work, but instead of an electrical output, it facilitates directly into a climate control system."
"Sounds like a really big and really fancy machine." Chao says.
"Not even." Holly says. "It's small, easy to mass produce, and cheap. Was handed out like candy after the first couple of months into the black skies incident. the climate control system works on small scale, as it's only really intended to keep mostly trees alive."
"Trees?" Chao asks.
"Yeah, the sun isn't visible, but it's effect on the planet is still relatively the same, aside from direct radiation level on the surface. Mostly photosynthesis dependent plant-life was suffering due to that, as weather hasn't changed much."
"That sounds like too much for me to handle with my old age." Chao says. "What is the short version?"
"Most of the endo is located within the troposphere layer of the atmosphere." Holly says. "It seems farther away than it really is because it's a haze. The closer you get to fog, the more it disappears and seems farther away. Same concept. To this degree, it's really only blocking the sun's radiation and direct light reaching the ground. This creates a lot of problems, but with small adjustments to plant-life, we can maintain an unstable balance. It's a temporary fix, but it's the only thing keep all of us from starving to death. It's a small system that can fit in a small box that feeds synthetic radiation supplemented by endo itself. These small systems can cover large grounds. Some cities even went as far as to make giant factories that replicate this effect over vast areas. If I remember right, Egypt is one such place. You should be able to get a good look at one soon enough."
"Interesting." Chao replies. "So if it's all in the atmosphere, then how are we not choking to death?"
"It's in the atmosphere, but not filling the atmosphere." Holly replies. "At least, not yet. That's what we're trying to prevent. It seems to be filling from above, moving towards the ground. Endo doesn't have any mass, its' properties are strange and often unpredictable. That's what makes this genius engineering so genius."
"I don't understand most of any of that." Blake replies.
"I can kinda understand some of that." Tanya adds. "But I'm not so great when it comes to the tech stuff. I just leave that up to Holly."
"A wise decision, really." Holly replies.
"Are we in danger being this high up with all of that endo around us?" Chao asks.
"No." Holly replies. "These planes actually run on, and filter, endo. Planes have already had climate control systems for centuries. These ones have been developed for endo long ago too."
After a couple hours of flight, the crew of Siran, Chao, Holly, Tanya, Blake, Mikoto, Satomi, and Haru arrived in Egypt. All that was left now was to find a clue as to where Finn, Rose and Shelby. "Where would be the best place to start looking?" Blake asks.
"The Great Pyramid of Giza." Siran replies. The crew begins to walk across the city of Cairo. Traveling by foot for a long while towards the pyramids. When they get there, Siran and Holly show the rest of the crew to the hideout. When opening the door to go underground, they could see a feint light of a fire. Upon entering, they're met with the faces of Finn, Rose and Shelby, staring intently at the entrance. At first in worry, then in disbelief, then relief.
"Oh my- Siran!" Rose says as she jumps up and runs to the crew. She tightly latches onto both Holly and Siran and hugs them both. "You're okay! You're both okay! Thank God! I was so worried!"
"If you were worried, why didn't you contact us at all?" Holly asks with disappointment.
"W-well!" Rose says, then steps back. As she steps back and stops holding so closely to Siran, he can see how well her face aged while he's been asleep, and how much she's changed. Her hair grew out longer and the hair that used to be pink now looked gray and faded, while her roots were exposing her naturally black hair that she was born with. "We had lost contact with HQ after hearing Zia went missing... sorry, Siran."
"What happened?" Siran asks.
"I dunno!" Rose replies. "I wish I could go look for her now, but we haven't had any contact!"
"What happened to your ability to contact us, you idiot..." Holly interrupts.
"Oh... sorry." Rose apologizes. "Well, all of our phones were fried. We don't have other methods to contact you guys. The types of weapons the middle-eastern countries are deploying are wild! I mean, electric mechs!? Why does Israel have such crazy defense methods!?"
"Have you tried other forms of contact?" Holly asks.
"I've tried." Shelby interrupts. "Since I know it's... beyond her capacity." As Shelby speaks, Rose's face shifts from excitement to annoyed. "We're restricted in many ways, what with Israel trying to run the show. They pull us every which way, sending their guys to give us orders by word of mouth. They won't provide us with even simple communication devices!"
"It's true." Finn says. "I'm honestly not sure about helping out here after all that's been happening. Though, I'd feel bad for abandoning Egypt like that. This place is Rose's home..."
"Thanks for considering my feelings first..."Rose says as she feels guilty. "Look, we'll give you a full explanation. Just come and sit down, we'll try to explain all the details."
"Also, who's the new guy?" Finn asks.
"This is Ying's father." Siran answers.
"Ying has a father?" Finn asks.
"Does Ying still have a mother too?" Rose asks.
"Unfortunately, no." Chao replies.
"It's a complicated story." Siran says. "What do you say to an exchange of stories? Your story for his and Ying's story?"
"Sure!" Rose agrees. "We could certainly use something to lift the mood."
"Then prepare to be disappointed." Holly says as she sits down.