"Eep! Twenty... twenty missed calls!"

Erica's phone buzzed over and over again as more and more text messages appeared on the screen, some old, some from today. A quick glance confirmed that every single message was from Miss Planner. Erica felt awful. Her hand flew across the keyboard, desperately typing a reply before she lost her nerve.

"I'm sorry! I volunteered for Gordon's work team, but my battery died and there's no electricity at the Grand Temple!"

A new text.
"Are you alright?!"

Another.
"Where are you right now?"

"I'm fine! I'm at my house, but I'm heading to the Tower right now! I've got good news!"

Miss Planner was worried sick about her little Erica. She restlessly paced the length of her office, fidgeting and muttering to herself, her anxiety growing with each passing moment. She wanted Erica back, now.

"Grand Temple... that damn Gordon... I'm going to kill him..."

Maybe she was a bit less patient after splitting her soul in two, or a bit less stable. Maybe she was just being clingy. Whatever the case, Miss Planner wasn't acting like herself. She knew that, but she couldn't help it. She was a controlling person to begin with, and this situation made it a thousand times worse.

The sound of the elevator opening snapped Miss Planner back to reality.

"Erica!"

The tiny Miss Planner ran out into the hall, her loafers pattering against the tile floor as she hurried towards the elevator, which opened up to reveal a very tired looking Erica in a black acolyte's robe, carrying a bulging backpack.

"Erica! I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Y-yeah, I know... I'm sorry, but I..."

"You look so tan! Did you have fun at the Grand Temple? You got some sun, didn't you?"
"Yeah... I... I did."

"You should have told me where you were going! Do you have any idea how worried I was? You know I get anxious, and you left without a word! Oh, how could you?"
"I wanted to surprise y-"

"A surprise isn't nice when the person being surprised is upset by it! You've been gone for a whole week! A whole week all by myself, not knowing whether you were alive or dead!"
"I'm sorry, it'll never happ-"

"I thought we were best friends! How could you just disappear like that?!"
"Hold on! Stop... stop interrupting me! I'm trying to say something..."

Miss Planner wrapped her arms around the taller girl, squeezing her tight. There were tears in her eyes.

"I was scared, Erica. I really thought something had happened to you."
"I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologize. Just... don't leave without saying goodbye again."
"I w-won't. I promise."
"Good."

Miss Planner wiped away her tears, took a deep breath, and let Erica go.

"So... what's this big surprise of yours?"
"O-oh! I'll show you in the office!"

Miss Planner took the lead, hurrying into her office. She sat down in her chair, looking very eager.
"So...?"

Erica walked up to Miss Planner's desk, clumsily unzipping her backpack. She fumbled with the contents, pulling out two prototype Soul Shell helmets. They weren't pretty, just roughly shaped, unpainted metal helmets with gaping holes where the glass eye protectors should go. She held one out to Miss Planner.

"What's different?"
"The... the core. Look at the core."

"The core, huh? Hmmm. It's small. Very small. But the aura inside it is bright and strong. Energetic, even. Did you make this yourself?"
"Well, not exactly... the truth is, I had some help, but it didn't really take much time..."

"This is good! No, this is really, really good! With a core this powerful, we can use lower quality metal. We could have a finished product by the end of next week!"
"Yeah! That's right!"

"So, how did you get your hands on a core like this? I've never seen anything like it. Where did you get it?"
"I'll tell you, but... you have to promise you won't get mad."

"Mad? Why would I get mad?"
"Just promise me."

"Fine, I promise I won't get mad. Just tell me."
"I used the souls from inside the God Vessels... which, I kind of had to break into the Temple's inner sanctum to do."

"What? Erica!"
"Hey, hey, it's okay! Look at how many th-there are!"

Erica waved her sack of gems around, spilling deep red rubies and sparkling purple amethysts onto the desk. Miss Planner's eyes widened, and she stared at the pile with awe.

"Wow. I can't believe it."
"The number of souls inside the God Vessels... it's effectively unlimited! We can make as many Soul Shells as we want!"

"Erica, if you got caught doing this, you would have died. Do you realize that?"
"I... um..."

"Look, I'm not mad. Well, I'm a little mad, but... I think what you did took a lot of courage. But you can't go around doing things like this. You have to be more careful. I need you here. I need you to help me with my work."
"Right..."

"Don’t get me wrong. I’m very grateful. What you've done here is amazing... I can't believe you pulled this off. Thank you, Erica. You're the best."
"Ummm... thanks..."

"We should celebrate! Do you want to go to the bars tonight? We could bring Black Smoke along, too!"
"I'm feeling kind of tired, to be honest... I didn't get much sleep last night, since I was busy doing this..."

"All right. Go home, rest. I'll call you tonight. Good job, Erica. You're amazing. I'm so proud of you."