"It's completely unreal. It's like she was never even hurt. I didn't realize the Symphogear could do this much..."
"I'm not totally surprised. Washington never did fund Project #63 for me. Tch, they really need to get into the 21st century, especially if they want to keep asking stupid questions about why we have an 'estrogen budget'."

Mmngh...that was a weird dream, huh. It felt stupidly real, for the woman - for 'Fusion Syndrome Patient #2' - still slowly rousing from her bed. Maybe it was a bad idea for her to let her mother talk her into Irish coffee after dinner. Or maybe it was the shawarma, actually?

"Seeing her up close, she's so pretty...she's the kind of girl you could call a 'prince'!"
"You've been reading too much manga, Kiri-chan. Besides, she might not appreciate being called that."
"Ooh, good point."

Actually, it was more likely to be the fried chicken. Or the edibles. How was she having more weed now than she was at Dastravi's place?

"Where's Mom? Shouldn't she be here?"
"Oh, you know...politicians. The Prime Minister is berating us as we speak. Like it's our fault an insane woman stole a sacrist and murdered a bunch of people. Honestly, the Canadians should've let us supply them with our new Alca-Noise, then they might've stood a chance."
"Uh, sure Doc."
jiiiiii

Mind you, it was a pretty nice dream by the end, but she woke up before she got to the really good part, and she also had the part where she felt the excruciating pain when her arm was ripped off, and -

wait, this isn't her room. It's way too comfortable to be in her Mom's basement! Where -

"I thought being in charge meant we didn't have to care about this stuff, dess!"
"It's never so simple, Kiri-chan. Mom is fighting hard enough keeping FIS open and all the White Orphanage kids who want to stay here."
"Tch. Like the President has never done any war crimes before -"
"Shut up, Doctor."

...wait, is that Maria?

"Either way, I'm glad I don't have to deal with the politics. Ooh, look at me, I'm the Prime Minister of America's Hat! I was a vtuber in the 2020s and I keep saying the word 'poggers'! For legal reasons, I'm definitely not the illegitimate granddaughter of Margaret T-"
"Shut up, Doctor. She's coming to."

Wait, are those boobs? Ooh, they feel pretty nice, too, especially when she touches them with the silver arm -

"Aaaah!" the fusion patient screams in an unfamiliar voice, as she realizes she has a mechanical arm, and also breasts, and -

"Oh, you're finally awake!"

"Aaaaaah!" she scream, instinctually covering her chest with the sheet of the bed. She's woken up in some kind of hospital, with some creepy old guy, a couple of Asian kids, and...

wait.

"M-maria?!"

"...welcome to the White Orphanage," says the woman the fusion patient could never forget as long as she lives...

Maria Cadenzavna Eve.

Song of the Successors
Symphogear F
"An ancient relic and a melody to save the world!"

Episode 4: Don't Stop! Carry On!

The fusion patient immediately decides that if this is still a dream, now would be an incredibly stupid time to wake up. (And despite everything, she's pretty sure that it isn't.)

It...could be worse, honestly?

"Ahem, I'm sure you have a lot of questions for us. And about this situation! Please, take your time, but you might want a mirror, so..." The creepy doctor passes his patient a small hand mirror. "Here you go!"

"Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" she asks.

"Absolutely not! Why, we've never met before this moment!"

The patient shrugs, lifts the mirror up, and...

Wow.

She immediately starts preening herself, because in her eyes, she's pretty fucking gorgeous! Well, maybe not quite Maria's kind of gorgeous, but definitely a pretty face. It looks kind of like her mom's, actually -

right, this is probably where she would start panicking normally, huh? Eh, maybe save that for later.

"To explain," says Maria, who seems to be averting her gaze from the patient, "this is the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Headquarters of the Federal Institute of Sacrist."

"Project Y, huh?" The fusion patient keeps preening, adjusting her hair, kiiiiind of wishing she had privacy for this bit. Seriously, wow. "I'd heard rumors, but no one knew for sure. I guess it makes sense, since the other two got here so quickly when that maniac attacked the concert."

"Oh, you remember us!" The blonde girl grins brightly - the patient remembers her as the one with the scythe. "My name is Kirika Akatsuki. I'm one of the Symphogear wielders here at FIS, alongside my partner Shirabe!"

"Pleased to meet you," the tiny brunette says, bowing deeply - she looks pretty different with normal, hair-based twintails instead of the armored ones. "I'm Shirabe Tsukuyomi."

"I'm happy to meet you," the patient says, extending her hand...and then quickly switching hands because she's not sure if her arm will like, blow up or something. Either way, the girls happily shake it! Nice. "Thanks for saving my life. Ah, but you too of course, Maria!"

"...sure." (Why is Maria so awkward, anyway?)

(...maybe the patient should be asking herself why she isn't.)

"Now, Miss Metea, this might be a bit of a difficult question to just spring on you like this, but it might be a bit hard to just keep saying 'Miss Metea' or 'Fusion Syndrome Patient #2', you know? In which case, you wouldn't have happened to conveniently already chosen a new name for yourself in the intervening weeks prior to this concert, even if only in secret or to a select group of confidantes, or simply whispering to yourself at night or told to you by a friend in a way that was strangely fitting, right?"

...how, uh, specific?

"Uh..." Shit, that's right, 'Elias' won't really do anymore, probably, and she's pointedly ignoring that she's not freaking out, but this is awfully being put on the spot, and yet the patient feels a bit happy that it's something they care about? "Just 'Eli' will do for now, I guess? I, look, I don't know how to put this, but I really didn't see this coming."

She should be terrified of this, huh? All of...all of this. She might not have seen it coming, but still.

Then again, Eli always did prefer just going with the flow. And so she'll just try to roll with it, even now, with her memories slowly coming back to her.

One moment, Eli was in the snows of the Canadian wilderness, following up on evidence of a secret sacrist research facility not far from the capital. The next, a Symphogear wielder came out from the fog, and tried to fucking murder her by ripping off her arm and, she's pretty sure, blamed her personally and specifically for everything bad that has happened to women since the Salem Witch Trials, inclusive.

(Which makes the 'fake Symphogear' bit even less comfortable in hindsight, oddly enough.)

Then, uh...

"You belong to me, sayonara -" Eli blinks, stopping herself. Suddenly her karaoke voice got a lot better. So then, everything after that...

A voice calling at her from the other side.

A rebirth through the power of the Symphogear, her strength to face hardship.

And the arrival of three more Symphogear wielders, the same ones from the battle at the Crosby Theatre in Santa Fe.

Including Maria, and her Gungnir...

All of that was real.

"Believe it or not, this isn't the first time this has happened," says creepy-doc. "As the Airgetlám Dana Haughton was wielding shattered - it had already been damaged, to be clear, so don't worry about that! - fragments of it entered your body. We call it 'fusion syndrome'! We're still studying the effects, but suffice it to say -"

"We can't change you back," says Maria. "I'm sorry."

"Ahem. Yes, that. I was trying to be more polite about it..."

Eli looks down at her arm. The gaps with glowing, violent blue energy have closed, leaving it a smooth, silvery white color. It feels just like her real arm, but it certainly doesn't look it - there are some pretty impressive prosthetics these days, but nothing like this.

"Airgetlám...a silver arm?" Bit redundant for Eli to say it when she can see it right here.

"Just a codename," says the doc. "Its true form was the arm of one of 'those who came before' - the Custodians."

"The...what?" Eli remembers coming across that term on the dark web, but frankly there was so much noise there on the origins of the Symphogears that she wasn't sure what to believe most of the time. "Right, the Sakurai Theory document mentioned something about precursors or some shit, but...it's pretty dense. It's made for scientists, and I'm just an ordinary gu-" Eli coughs into her silver hand. "Uh, girl, I guess."

(It doesn't feel too bad calling yourself that, though, honestly.)

"You can't be that ordinary," says Kirika. "You faced down a Symphogear wielder like a gallant heroine, a fearless warrior! Anyone else would be scared to death!"
"...'dess'?"
"Yeah, that's what I said! Death!"

"There's a lot you don't know," says Maria, who still seems pretty awkward. "But Mom is busy, so it's not like we don't have the time. Doctor, would you do the honors?"

(...you know, when Eli heard it was called the 'White Orphanage', she didn't realize it was quite such a literal name.)

The creepy doctor coughs, and the lights dim, a convenient holographic projector showing some kind of...ancient writing? Uh, Sumerian, maybe? Eli doesn't speak Sumerian, she wouldn't know.

"Ahem. While we don't have terribly complete knowledge of the matter, this is our best working theory about the origins of the heretical technology used in the Symphogear! I will be your host, Doctor John Wayne Vercingetorix!"

"Bless you! ...oh, wait, that's your name."

The doc grumbles. "I'll have you know, the Vercingetorix family is a long line of experts in heretical technology and fictional history! It's a perfectly cromulent surname!"

"Just call him Dr. Ver," Shirabe mock-whispers. "Everyone else does."

"Ahem. Long, long ago, at the beginnings of human history, humanity was united by a single culture and language! In this era, there was no war, no conflict, and it is said that this language facilitated perfect communication and mutual understanding - no one could lie or misspeak, and one's feelings could be perfectly understood."

"That sounds...uh, impossible, frankly. No offense, doc." Eli swears she read about this in some novel somewhere, though. Something about Sumerian being the programming language of the human brain or something?

"Yes, I know it sounds quite unbelievable, even compared to much of what you've seen, but we have ample evidence that this was the case. However, it was not a natural phenomenon - in that era, humanity was under the protection of an extraterrestrial species we now call the 'Custodians'."

"We don't know a lot about them," says Kirika. "We're pretty sure they looked human, but the Airgetlám was originally one of their arms!"

"...what? An alien's arm?" The hologram changes, to show footage of a silver arm in strange clothing - the opposite arm to yours, but definitely a human (or at least human-looking) arm completely turned to silver.

"Yes, yes, we'll get to that. You see, our latest running theory is that the Custodians established this universal language as a way of nurturing humanity. It's well within their power to do so - each and every relic in Finé's document is a creation of the Custodians, a piece of so-called 'heretical technology' with capabilities, pardon the cliche, totally indistinguishable from magic."

"The timeline doesn't totally add up for that, doc. Some of these names are a lot newer than ancient Sumer."

"Some of them are just codenames," says Maria. "But most of these relics would appear and reappear throughout human history, being used by humans in their conflicts, inspiring myths corrupted by time and names with which to refer to them."

"Just so," says Dr. Ver, adjusting his glasses as pictures or artistic representations of every relic on that list appear, including the Claíomh Solais. "Daniel in R&D has been running on a theory that the Custodians have an inherent control over energy - the Airgetlám has control over energy vectors, regulating and distributing pure energy! Even with your damaged relic, altered by fusion syndrome, you are capable of maintaining control over the vast amount of energy within you! Most impressive."

"Clearly something went wrong somewhere," says Eli. "No aliens, thousands upon thousands of languages, war and misunderstanding..."

"Correct." Dr. Ver adjusts his glasses, as the hologram changes - a blonde woman bearing some resemblance to the footage of Finé from the Kadingir Incident is screaming as an ancient city floods, an impossibly vast ancient tower crumbling as people take up arms and begin to wage war. "This is the Curse of Balal - the curse of language and misunderstanding. The Custodians disappeared from the Earth, leaving only relics behind."

"Though she was only human," Maria explains, "Finé - yes, the same woman who built the Kadingir - had perhaps the greatest understanding of heretical technology of any of us in that era. That's how she was able to keep reincarnating, by inscribing her seal and her soul on the genes of her descendants. Every one of us here at the White Orphanage is one of them...a 'Receptor Child'."

"So that's what that means..." Eli nods, brushing her chin with her silver hand. So smooth... "We had a bunch of running theories on that on the dark web."

"Oh, I see, you're one of those conspiracy weirdos!" Kirika says, cheerfully piping up.
"Don't be rude, Kiri-chan," Shirabe replies. "It'd only be natural to be curious about us after what happened."

Huh. To Eli, it feels like whenever one of those girls says anything, the other is always ready to -

ah.

Kirika and Shirabe are holding hands. She's not entirely sure they've stopped since she woke up, actually.

So it's like that, huh? She can practically see the lilies from here.

"You mentioned Finé...reincarnates, Doc?" It's in line with what the Symphogear is known to be capable of, and some conspiracy theories about the Zwei Wing incident in Tokyo even mention possibilities of regeneration - which would certainly match Eli's own experience. "Heretical technology really is just magic..."

"Don't let anyone else in R&D hear that, they've got a big rivalry with the Bavarian Illuminati." (Eli briefly wonders how many of these conspiracies there can be.) "I will be magnanimous and forgive your misconception, for the moment, but 'magic' is the realm of alchemy, not science!"

"Uh...sure." Sounds like Eli might strike a nerve if she doesn't choose your words carefully with the scientists here.

The doctor flips through a bunch of slides about relics and human history, and appearances of Finé through the ages. "Finé used her limited knowledge of heretical technology to fling herself through time - to bring her soul and her memories into the future, that she might find a way to break the Curse and, as you may well be aware, reach an entity she refers to as 'God' on the Moon."

"We've been up there a bunch of times. Is there something up there Joe Public doesn't know about?" Eli swears she's seen a movie about that once. Something about a bridge in space and the needs of the many?

"Actually, no, that's the strange part." Dr. Ver makes a theatrical fanning motion. "Even the shot from the Kadingir didn't really clear it up. Our best guess is that there's something up there, but current technology is incapable of finding it."

"The Custodians..." Shirabe frowns, and for some reason, she clings tightly to Kirika, who holds her and strokes her hair. "The 'Annunaki'. What they can do, from a human's perspective, would be indistinguishable from 'God'."

"Finé was a priestess," says Maria. "It's entirely possible her relationship with 'God' was something deep and personal, on a level impossible for us to understand. Something like lovers, or even greater."

(...God, huh?)

(Eli has never really been the praying type, but for some reason, the very mention of 'God' makes her shudder a little, for just a moment.)

---

At that same moment, a couple of miles away, elsewhere in the Los Alamos National Laboratory...

"We've got the simulations back, sir," says one of the researchers in R&D.

"Ah...mm." The new deputy head researcher - answering directly to Dr. Ver - pushes his glasses up, glinting in the light over his violet eyes. "What did they say?"

(He already knows, of course.)

"You were right on the money. If we proceeded with the probe as initially planned, we'd have blown up everything within two hundred metres, to put it mildly. Your hunch saved a lot of lives, Dan."

"...mm."

Daniel pushes up his glasses, looking at the specimen in isolation. A beautiful golden vambrace, found upon a mummified corpse that defied all analysis and was suspected to be the first truly intact Custodian yet discovered.

...around the time of the release of Finé's documents, her so-called 'Legacy', elements of the vast American political system quickly acted of their own accord before the public truly came to terms with the existence of FIS and the White Orphanage. One relic, lacking any kind of codename and considered far too dangerous to approach, even by Dr. Sakurai, elements of the United States government keen to deny use of any and all relics within disputed and neutral territories performed tactical nuclear strikes upon Lake Vostok. At the cost of irreparable ecological damage and the potential destruction of archaeologically valuable findings, as well as the lives of foreign agents attempting to battle the guardians of this coffin, they had claimed the vambrace and its wearer for the FIS, in the name of America's defensive mandate against all forms of divine mystery.

Like most of R&D at this point after Nastassja's purge, Daniel is a Receptor Child - one of the same generation as Maria, in fact. Raised to revere the power of the relics and the Symphogear, and crave it for themselves. Raised with the knowledge that any one of them could be the next host of Finé, and continue her never-ending battle against the Curse of Balal, gifted with the knowledge of six thousand years.

"That's our Dan for you. Ever since the Kadingir Incident, he's been making one huge discovery after another."
"They should call you Doctor Okuda when all this is done."
"It's like Dr. Ver says, who needs Dr. Sakurai now?"

Perhaps anyone else would have been satisfied with this. Admiration. Genius. Discovery. A burgeoning understanding of heretical technology and alchemy that some would go their entire lives pursuing and never reach.

But it's not enough anymore.

There's something more, something far more, that Dr. Sakurai had grasped - something just at the distance, if only he had the bravery to claim it.

What could be calling at him? What is it, that can fill the emptiness, the gnawing darkness in his soul?

And could that vambrace be the key, to achieving the impossible, and claiming the Symphogear's power - the power of the Custodians?

"...I want some time to determine a safe way of interfacing with the relic," he says. "Until then, it's off limits to everyone but myself and Dr. Ver."

"Got it, boss. You tell us to jump, all we ask is how high."

...it wasn't a lie.

(But even if he didn't realize it yet, it wasn't the truth, either...)

---

Back in the medical bay...

"Under unknown circumstances involving, in part, the appearance of an Aufwachen waveform from a relic," Dr. Ver continues, "Finé awakens within one of her descendants. Though her understanding of the sciences is undoubtedly inferior to Custodians themselves, she has played the role of countless inventors, scientists, and researchers throughout history in her attempt to - strictly metaphorically, of course - build a tower to reach Heaven.

"In the process, she embarked on various ventures to try and recreate the nature of the world before the 'original sin' of the Curse of Balal. Music, itself, seems to have been her first creation - a means of communication by which a person's emotions can be directly expressed and felt in ways our modern words cannot replicate."

"I can understand that," Eli says, smiling to herself, eyes briefly flicking toward Maria. "Music really is a kind of magic, huh?"

(Maria frowns to herself, and inwardly, she feels a cold anger at how naive this person is.)

"The Symphogear seems to have been her primary goal - a way of interfacing with Custodian technology directly. Along the way, she also inspired alchemy, but she herself appears to have abandoned it fairly quickly for one reason or another."

Eli lookes down at her silver arm. "It took her thousands of years to get humanity that far, huh?" The Symphogear seems like something even Finé doesn't totally understand - and the document on the Sakurai Theory that she herself wrote is full of speculation and mystery.

All the science types Eli knows online, both in public and on the dark web, say that Dr. Sakurai was a uniquely gifted scientific mind, but that she still didn't know all the answers.

The Symphogear system - more formally, the 'FG-Type Revolutionary Specialized Armor' - contains within it over three hundred million 'locks', each of which releases some form of the relic's full potential. The eggheads on the forums worked out that the way the Japanese wielders 'awakened' during the final battle of the Kadingir Incident is probably something Finé, who obviously didn't have time to update her document in the middle of a fight, speculated upon; the theoretical 'X-Drive', resulting from unlocking all of the limiters on the Symphogear.

That must be why she was willing to release this contingency - to try and speed things up for the next time around.

"The key is that Finé needed an Aufwachen waveform to awaken - and before the Symphogear, that meant a complete relic." Dr. Ver sighs. "There are a lot of relics out there, but it's still almost entirely random chance."

"Because of that, until FIS, Finé had no way of predicting or controlling when and where she would awaken," says Maria, as Eli looks back up on the presentation to see a timeline of known or suspected Finé incarnations. "As you might expect, this rather limited her ability to plan ahead. She might once have awakened in Mesoamerica, refining the use and production of obsidian...only to then awaken in the Chinese Middle Kingdom, developing gunpowder weaponry, unable to make use of any of her prior advancements."

"This isn't gonna be a 'Chariot of the Gods' kind of deal, is it?" says Eli, snickering.

"Don't be so ridiculous!" Dr. Ver's face shrivels in disgust. "Finé had an immense impact on human history, but countless humans following in her wake have made advancements in the sciences without any direct help from her, thank you very much."

"In fact," says Shirabe, "most of the benefits Finé brought to society were means to an end. Either to make herself more comfortable, or to further her goals."
"Imagine she's like, ooh, I'm in a guy's body this time!" Kirika says, excitedly imitating (you assume) Dr. Sakurai. "There's all this...hair! And there's this thingie between -"
"Kiri-chan, don't you think this is a bit rude with our guest here?"
"We've known a lot of girls like that, right, Shirabe? It's one of the few times Dr. Sakurai was actually nice to us."

(...so it's like that, huh...?)

"A-hem. Point being, Finé would come on and off the stage of history, through various bodies and identities, until she finally reawakened in Dr. Ryoko Sakurai, a Japanese researcher." Dr. Ver changes the hologram again - it's showing footage of a blue-haired Japanese girl, probably around five years old, awakening a relic. Observing is Dr. Sakurai (who Eli notes, based on the video's date, didn't age one bit since 2030!), an older (Russian?) woman, a massive, tanned, red-haired beast of a man, and some living fossil Eli recalls seeing somewhere as the head of some nationalist group involved with the Gears called the Kazanari Agency. (No relation to the recently reappeared idol Tsubasa, hopefully.)

"I hear Dr. Sakurai was really smart," says Kirika. "The basics of the Sakurai Theory were all her, no Finé needed!"
"You can see here," says Shirabe. "The moment it awakens, you can see a change in Dr. Sakurai. That's Finé."

"With modern technology and science, Finé finally had the chance she needed. So, playing America and Japan against one another and releasing the Noise, she was able to construct the Kadingir - but she needed a contingency! Why, that is us, of course, the modern FIS and the White Orphanage, including myself." Dr. Ver spins around theatrically - he should be in ballet, clearly. What a dangerous twink! "Dr. Sakurai was very convincing. Superhumanly so, in fact. And if that's not enough, she had no remorse in destroying anything that gets in her way."

"It almost sounds like she spent so long trying to achieve her goals, she forgot what they were," says Eli. "She wanted to reach God and have a world without conflict, but she was willing to do nearly anything in pursuit of that, even if it meant creating more conflict and misunderstanding."

"Like take us in," says Maria. "We endured harsh lives in exchange for the possibility of wielding the Symphogear, or one day having the 'honor' of getting our personalities subsumed by Finé."

"That's...something I really don't get," Eli admits. "Okay, so Finé was born, what, six thousand years ago? And from the sound of it, she had a lot of kids back then." She quickly counts on the fingers of her silver arm, doing the mental math. "Now, I read it somewhere that one in two hundred me-" Eli quickly corrects herself. "One in two hundred people with a Y chromosome are descended in some way from Genghis Khan, right? Shouldn't Finé be way, way higher than that?"

"In terms of genetics, yes," says Dr. Ver as he shrugs. "The selection of the Receptor Children was performed directly by Dr. Sakurai, though."

"Which means she probably had some criteria we don't know about," Maria adds. "All the Receptor Children here are candidates for the Symphogear, certainly."

"There's only so many people that could be held here." Shirabe nuzzles gently into Kirika's side. "Even the American government could only get away with so much."
"Shirabe and I were born in Japan," says Kirika. "We don't remember anything about it, we lost our memories before we came here. Apparently Finé spent a lot of time there, so lots of the Receptor Children are of Japanese descent."

"And...none of you are Finé now? No one at Los Alamos, the place she specifically set up to revive herself in?"

"Not as far as we know," says Dr. Ver, scratching his head. "It's very odd. Of course, it's entirely possible she awakened and we didn't know about it - we can't read minds, after all. But since FIS was entirely set up by her, wouldn't she just tell us?"

"There's still a lot of problems. With Symphogears all over the world, what if she awakened in more than one place? Would they just all have one chunk of her soul? Can she choose where to awaken, or is it just random? And if her memories are inscribed on her genes, and we assume a dualistic model of consciousness, what if only part of those memories survive in the person she awakens in?"

"All very excellent questions, my good woman! That I have absolutely no answer to."

"Figures." Eli sighs. "I guess it's not really worth worrying about if she's not here."

"The Finé loyalists here have all been exiled, so you don't have anything to worry about!" Dr. Ver laughs heartily.

"But then, why are there still kids here? Shouldn't you send them all back -"

and then Eli realizes, too late to stop herself, that there's a very good reason for that.

"Because a lot of us don't have a home to go back to," says Maria, looking distinctly more upset than before. Eli knew she had no family, she really should of thought that through...

"Sorry," she mutters.

"It's a reasonable question," says Shirabe. "Any ordinary person would ask the same thing. We've been trying to get a lot of the Receptor Children back to their families if we have them, but a lot of them don't..."
"Don't worry," Kirika adds. "We won't force you to stay here. I'm sure we can see your family once we're sure you're okay!"

"So, with all this in mind, for the moment you'll be within our care, E~ li~ sa~" The doctor makes an emphasis on each syllable with his finger.
"...you can't do that, Doctor!" Shirabe puffs up her cheeks cutely. "All you did was switch two letters around!"
"In katakana, it'd be from アス to サ, dess!"

(You must still be out of it - you could've sworn you saw Kirika speaking in katakana letters.)

"...my apologies," says Maria, frowning. "We shouldn't let the good Doctor impose strange names on you. I'm sure you've got a lot on your mind -"

"It's fine," says Eli - or rather, Elisa. "...I like it, actually."

Yeah...

Elisa. Elisa Diana Metea.

Feels real nice, actually. Why not? Hell, now she doesn't even have to be named after her deadbeat dad Danzig anymore, so that's an extra benefit.

"Eli-chan...Elisa." Shirabe nods. "If you like it, then, it's fine. It's not a bad name for a Symphogear wielder, I think."
"Or even an idol!" Kirika adds cheerfully. "Elicchi, maybe?"

"Either way, I'm glad to be here," says Elisa, shaking Dr. Ver's hand happily. Honestly, this is pretty good, actually! "Just one question - does this arm get 7G?"

"...no," Dr. Ver says, with a distinct look of disgust.

"Relax, doc, it was just a joke." Feminizing 7G radiation...there's a thought. (Eli should definitely leave testing if it has a vibration function for later, though.) "And, I'm glad I'll be able to keep my promise to Maria!"

"Oh, that's right, Maria did tell you something..." Kirika smiles. "She's super gallant! And she's really strong, too! Her Gungnir can even kill gods!"
"Maria-sama is the best of us," agrees Shirabe. "She has protected the Receptor Children against Dr. Sakurai, and fought valiantly against Japan's Gear wielders."

"So Maria-sama watches over you kids, huh..."

Elisa looks over to Maria.

...Maria Cadenzavna Eve. Not just an idol, not just a performer, but a defender of humanity against the Noise and rival wielders. In that moment, wielding the relic Gungnir, she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Seems like she regrets how this turned out - but, if it's something like the Symphogear, the song in a wielder's heart is said to be a fundamental truth of one's soul. Elisa doesn't really know if that's true, but that's how it felt when she sang for the first time.

So, really, it's okay, right?

Elisa flashes a 'V' for victory with her silver arm at Maria, and she momentarily thinks of following her usual instincts in a situation like this - which is to say, flirting, which is how she ended up dating Rebeka in the first place - but something calls out to her. Proooooobably her conscience or common sense.

She needs comfort. Now more than ever.

"It's okay, Maria," Elisa says instead, offering her hand. "I promise I'll do my best to live up to your sister's Gear."

Maria is surprised, and she still looks a little uncomfortable, but she nods ever so slightly.

"...sure," she says, awkwardly shaking Elisa's hand.

It's not as bad as I was expecting, Maria thinks. But someone like her...

While on the plane back, they dug up a dossier on their patient. Elisa has lived, by Canadian standards, a completely unremarkable life. Unremarkable grades, abandoned community college program in a subject hardly worth mentioning, a variety of dead-end jobs, a string of short-lived relationships. The kind of low-effort life Maria would expect of someone who sacrificed life and limb to see her in concert rather than value her precious (if uninspired) prosperity.

And when she was saved by Maria, Elisa broke that promise from the start, by pursuing the Symphogears...

Is this really someone who she can accept bearing her late sister's precious Airgetlám?

...though, there is one other thing that bothers her.

Wait, did Dr. Ver show footage of Serena with her Gear?

"Now, we have a lot to think about right now, Elisa. I'm sure you've got a lot on your mind, so we'll give you a bit of privacy. There's a change of clothes when you're ready, and we can start getting you acquainted with Los Alamos," Dr. Ver cheerily rattles off. "Shall we go, girls?"

"Yeah! We need to talk to Mom about the new enemy wielder anyway," says Kirika.
"Not to worry. Los Alamos is a lot more comfortable these days after we started expanding the orphanage into some of the offices and labs."

He really is just planning to recruit her, Maria thinks. What is the Doctor playing at?

"See ya later," Elisa says, waving as Dr. Ver and the girls walk out, leaving her alone.

...it's all a lot to take in, really. And it's pretty scary. But it really is a dream come true, and if they can't change her back anyway, Elisa may as well just go with the flow. Right? That's how she's gotten through life so far, it hasn't steered her wrong that she's willing to admit to.

There is, though, one thing she's a bit curious about.

Craning her head around to make sure no one is watching and the others have left, Elisa slowly, hesitantly, lifts the sheet up and looks down at her body -

"Elicchi!"
"We just have a quick question -"

"Aaaaaaaah!"

---

Meanwhile, at the beginning of May aboard the Nymphaeaceae...

They said they were going to recruit Miku, but that's still pretty far away from being able to actually fight alongside Hibiki. Without the safe LiNKER formula, and given Shénshòujìng's instability, Genjuro decided to err on the side of caution and wait until it's reverse engineered.

On the plus side, he let Miku know they were planning on reopening the Lydian Academy in a new location soon, so that meant Hibiki didn't need to hide anymore! And they could have some of their ordinary lives back, and even a new dorm room...

(Hibiki was quite eager to explain the new ones had bunk beds too, just like the old ones.)

Chris will be attending, so they'll need to make sure to be welcoming and patient! And Tsubasa will be busy too, revealing her survival without revealing she's a wielder. It'll be hard, but it'll still be good to see Kuriyo, Shiori, and Yumi again after all this distance learning.

...actually, about Chris.

Chris had only just decided to switch sides before the three of them disappeared. Judging by the scars and bruises on her back, it wasn't the most difficult decision, especially not with Hibiki's encouragement - or Miku's own, for that matter - but it still felt like she'd need a long time to adapt to life outside of Finé's shadow.

And yet.

"You'll love it, I promise! In the shopping arcade, there's this nice lady who makes amazing okonomiyaki!"
"Okonomiyaki? Never had it before. Sounds messy."
"If it's you, wouldn't it be messy anyway?"
"Oi, what's that supposed to mean, dummy?!"

And yet, here she is. So close to Hibiki. Someone else who can run by her side.

Miku could even say they're even closer than Hibiki and Tsubasa are. Sure, Tsubasa's a bit more aloof in general, but you're sure that's not the only reason. To see someone this close to Hibiki...

You're not jealous. Hibiki is yours, after all.

"So, how did you two get so close, anyway?" Miku asks Hibiki and Chris.

"...ah, are we really that close?" Hibiki asks, looking a bit confused. "We're definitely friends, but -"

"I agree, you two are very close," Tsubasa says, smiling. "There's less distance between you two than between me and either of you." She doesn't seem to be too bothered by it, at least.

"You keep saying these embarrassing things," Chris mutters. "It's nothing special. This dummy Hibiki needs close supervision, so I'm just taking care of her!"

(For some reason, Chris can't help but feel like there's something a bit different about Miku...)

"Is that why you asked about the bunk bed?" says Hibiki.
"H-hey, what are you bringing that up all of a sudden for?!"
"You were wondering about the boarding arrangements for the new Lydian, weren't you?"
"You don't need to say that in front of Miku and the old man, though!"

It'd be a shame to get between them, Miku thinks. She'll have Hibiki all to yourself, where she belongs, before long. Chris had lived a harsh life, although of course she has two hands...

Just bring it up gently. Ease her into it. Chris is going to be overwhelmed before long if she's attending Lydian with the rest of you, Miku should just give them a gentle nudge...

But is that really enough?

Is it? It's true, it would be so easy to just -

"Ah, Miku!"
"H-hey, what's the big idea, Miku?!"

- slide between the two, take both of their hands, and lay a claim on their affections right then and there.

(Huh. It's never been this easy before...)

Hibiki is familiar, of course. Warmth, strength, healed-over bumps and scrapes and a bit of callouses. Hibiki isn't the sort to fuss over her appearance, and her hobby of saving people shines through so easily with her fingers in Miku's.

Chris is...shockingly delicate. No doubt Finé would never tolerate a servant who was anything but flawless in her twisted eyes. But it's also easy to feel the vulnerability inside her, that need to be held and guided...

(It's a bit out of character for Miku, isn't it? But, compared to the gloominess that consumed her earlier, it's not bad.)

Just a little more.

"...do you think the bunk bed has room for three people?" Miku asks, like it's the most normal thing in the world.

"What?! That'd mean two of us would have to share a bunk!" Chris shakes her head. "I've already got my own living arrangements -"

"Oh, that would mean we couldn't use the bottom bunk for storage." Hibiki frowns and furrows her brow. "Three on the top bunk would be a really tight fit..."

Can you feel her heart pounding?

"Y-you can't be serious." Chris huffs, but even as it trembles, she doesn't pull her hand away. "Tsubasa told me and I thought she was joking."

"I would never joke about bunk beds," Tsubasa jokes, nodding to herself and grinning. "The beds at Lydian are quite large. Although, I thought there was plenty of storage space..."

(Any excuse to be closer to Hibiki. Any flimsy, transparent excuse.)

(She's so trusting.)

Can you feel it?

"I think we could make it work," says Miku. Her hand grips tighter. "You could always just do a sleepover if you get tired of living alone -"

"That's enough out of you!" Chris yells, grumbling as she draws her hand away from Miku's. "You two can do that at home if you want, just leave me out of it! Don't you have any shame?"

But she wants it. Can't you tell?

"...I guess we'd have to see what the beds are like at the new dorm, first," says Hibiki. She's quite the opposite - where Chris pulled away, Hibiki comes closer, and eagerly accepts the chance to be close to Miku. To have the skinship she was so denied.

Hibiki hates it, that she's so selfish that if she were ever allowed to, she'd choose Miku over everything.

But Miku? Miku would always make that choice. Every single time.

...Chris and Tsubasa, on the other hand. Walking behind the two lovebirds, Chris blushing madly and Tsubasa feeling more than a little jealous...

They might not know it, but they're thinking the exact same thing:

There's something different about Miku, isn't there?

---

"Ah, here we are," says Genjuro as Miku and company stop in front of a rather menacing looking blast door. "We've had to set up our laboratory facilities on board the boat, to try and protect them from enemy reprisal. But we had a harder time finding a new head researcher..."

"My grandfather ended up poaching a lot of Japan's experts in the rush of the release of the Legacy," says Tsubasa. Miku does remember hearing about that; a lot of people, rightly or wrongly, don't really trust the idea of SONG. "We did eventually headhunt someone suitable to replace Dr. Sakurai, if only just, but it took us quite a while."

"You'd think more people would want to work with us after we saved the entire planet." Chris rolls her eyes. "It's not like we pay badly."

"...oh, I probably should've asked about that," Miku says, furrowing her brow. The thought of whether superheroes get paid didn't really cross her mind yet.

"Just, um...just be careful, Miku." Hibiki seems a little nervous coming here - maybe she still associates it with Dr. Sakurai. "She's a little...eccentric."

...oh dear.

When Hibiki tells you someone is a bit odd, you know you should start worrying.

The door takes an annoyingly long time to open, going through some kind of overcomplicated process involving lots of pistons and shifting armor, and Miku briefly wonders if she's accidentally gotten into a bit of stock footage.

Eventually, though, with a faint haze of cold air escaping, there's...

a woman.

A foreign woman, a Westerner, with a big lab coat and frazzled brown hair in a loose ponytail and faint bags under her blue eyes. She seems a bit bottom-heavy, and looks a lot closer to Dr. Sakurai's age than Finé did. Big golden glasses and...

wait.

Is that a cigarette?!

"...are you sure it's okay to be smoking on a submarine?" Miku asks.

"Oh - oh, it's you! Little lady, named after a singing computer. The idol of the future!" The woman grins.

(Tsubasa mutters to herself, "What is she taking about?")

"It's fine, it's fine." The scientist(?) flips around her supposed cigarette, showing off an obvious blue LED. "See? It's a vaporizer!"

"Ah, Dr. Kaplan, that's no good!" Hibiki exclaims. "Even if it's not smoking, tobbaco and nicotine can still cause a ton of health problems!"

"Oh, it's not tobacco. Seriously, kid, never start that shit." The woman pulls on her vaporizer. "I'm partaking in medicinal substances in international waters. You should be happy, otherwise I'd be bitching about my back the whole time."

"...sir, I don't mean to seem disrespectful right after signing on," Miku asks Genjuro, "but don't you think she's, I dunno..." And of course, she has to think carefully how to put it. "Out of place?"

"She's certainly eccentric," Ogawa pipes up (it's easy to forget he's a ninja before he pops in out of nowhere), "but Yuina Kaplan is one of the world's best experts on heretical technology, such as it is. We need her help to keep up with the Americans."

"Their Dr. Ver's a real piece of work," Yuina says, slamming down a cup of what Miku really hopes is water. "These days, at least. Back at MIT, he really knew how to party. Heh, the faculty were always like, 'I want that twink destroyed!'. Good times, good times."

Chris sighs, and looks annoyed as ever. Dr. Kaplan isn't exactly the kind of person she likes, but...

(inwardly, she looks over at Hibiki.)

(knowing how "Dr. Sakurai" was like toward her, what she did, what she was going to do...there's not a lot of people on the planet she would say is worse.)

"Listen, kids, it's fine. I'm one of the few scientists you'll meet who's written more papers than she's read." Dr. Kaplan spins around and adjusts her glasses. "If the FIS and Kazanari Agency won't recognize my genius, and the Bavarian Illuminati won't return my calls, then I don't mind helping you girls out."

"How heroic of you," Chris quips, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey, it's just a joke, yeah? Besides, last I heard before all this, Europe's alchemists are all fighting one another these days over relics and territory. And I am not in any condition to be doing that shit." Yuina pulls again. "Back pain is bad enough, I swear."

"Alchemists?" Miku asks.

"Section Two has been telling me all about that," says Hibiki. "It's kind of like magic, but not really?"

"We'll be catching you up, Miku." Ogawa waves cheerfully. "If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to ask any of our staff, including Dr. Kaplan."

"It is getting pretty late, though, isn't it?" Hibiki looks up and thinks to herself. "Miku doesn't even have a room yet. I should show her to ours -"

"Afraid not, kid," Yuina says, her voice going serious all of a sudden. "Hate to do this to you two, but I'm afraid I need to borrow Bikky for a while. And she'll need to be under observation tonight."

"Ah, is something wrong?" Miku looks over at Hibiki, who rubs the back of her head.

"Sorry, I guess I forgot. Dr. Kaplan has been checking up on me a lot."

"You know how Hibiki is fused with Gungnir, right?" Dr. Kaplan brings up an X-ray, showing...

is that the chunk of Gungnir under the scar on Hibiki's chest? And her X-ray looks quite strange, too.

"We're calling it 'fusion syndrome'. Your Dr. Sakurai seemed pretty obsessed with it, and we've been following up on her research. There's a lot we don't understand about the Sakurai Theory, and Finé didn't seem to know anything about this, either. We have no idea what effects this will have on her body long-term.

"So I've been having regular sleep studies and medical check-ups for Princess Tachibana here. With luck, we'll have a better understanding of her condition and any health risks it might pose to her."

"It's alright," says Hibiki, bowing profusely to Miku. "I'm putting you through this again..."

"Mm. If it's for your health, it can't be helped." Miku can't say she isn't disappointed, but Dr. Kaplan seems shockingly responsible in her work -

"So, kid," Yuina says, wrapping her arm around Hibiki's shoulder and mock-whispering, "while we check you up, why don't I teach you how to swear in Yiddish?"
"B-but I don't even swear in Japanese!"
"There's never a bad time to start, you know! You girls are queens! Damn hell ass queens!"

Never mind.

---

Back at Los Alamos...

Most of the big FIS facilities were underground - it was easier to hide their research when they were making nukes here in the 20th century, but as the years went on, they needed to hide from scrutiny more and more, especially as the more public research lost relevance over the past couple of decades.

Which is to say - it's stupidly ridiculous how much room they have down here. Elisa is realizing how Finé managed to build the Kadingir under Tokyo now.

That's not the funny part, though.

No, the funny part is - and Elisa has been pointedly trying to ignore how Dr. Ver would've known what her size is - that she's wearing a tank top labeled with the US Space Force.

Seriously? People have been mocking that thing since before Elisa was born! Well, maybe less so in the States, but still. Someone clearly thinks pretty poorly of the FIS.

...or it's just more American exceptionalism. God, now Elisa really wants the Japanese to form SONG so she doesn't have to wear this thing.

"Alright, Elisa, are you ready?" Dr. Ver's voice calls out from an observation platform above. This test chamber is pretty damn big - Elisa thinks you could have a fantastic robot battle in here. Panzer vor!!!

But what kind. Scopedogs? Armored Cores? Probably a bit big for mobile su-

Oh, right, this is reality. Apparently. Honestly, being recruited into the US Space Force because FIS is now part of it is somehow the least plausible thing that's happened to Elisa today.

"Uh, ready as I'll ever be, doc. But, you know, I don't really know how to transform." She knows her Holy Chant, at least, but it feels like there needs to be something more than that...

"Oh, right, I guess we need to put you into danger." Dr. Ver's voice suddenly sounds quite sinister - well, more than usual, anyway. "Ahem. R&D? Release...the Alca-Noise!"

Wait, what?

Tiny little crystals that remind Elisa of when the blonde vampire chick teleported drop from above, and from them emerge...

Yep. Those are Noise. But just like the time with Dana Haughton at Santa Fe, they look a bit different - but even so, they're fucking Noise!

"Doc, what the fuck?!" Elisa yells up at the observation deck. "There are civilians here!"

"Not to worry, not to worry! These are Alca-Noise! We reverse engineered them from the Santa Fe incident. They're much weaker than normal Noise, and crucially..." All around the battlefield, autocannons unfold from the floor, aiming themselves for the Noise...but it's not exactly reassuring. "They're vulnerable to conventional weapons!

"...doc, those are 40 mm Bushmasters! That's pretty fucking big for a 'conventional' weapon!"
"Nothing a Symphogear can't handle!"

Right. Elisa knew Dr. Ver was crazy, but she didn't think that he was nuts.

Alright, okay. It's fine. She saw that footage of Dana - the Symphogear can take tank shells without a sweat. So all she needs to do is cry out her Holy Chant, and transform!

"Ahem." Clearing her throat, Elisa holds out her arm in the fashion of many henshin heroes before her, facing down the altered Noise bearing down at her position. "Uhh...klaatu barada...niktu?"

Uh. What were the words again?

"It's no good like that, Elicchi!" Kirika yells, the mic above briefly picking up some feedback. "You have to have a song in your heart! A feeling to fight for!"

A feeling to fight for...

Right. That's what gives a heroine strength! It's no good to act like a Symphogear is any ordinary weapon of war! Elisa just needs to focus...

on a feeling important to her! On a feeling she wants to express!

After all, she's still alive.

...

Elisa is still alive!

As long as she's alive, she can keep that promise! And she has the strength to live up to it, now! The strength to face hardship, to stand up for herself! Elisa can keep her promise to Maria, she's alive!

There's so much she wants to see! So much she wants to do! So much -

Oh, right, those Noise are kind of getting close, huh.

"Guess it's now or never then," says Elisa, as the Holy Chant comes to the forefront of her mind. Even so, she first strikes a heroic pose with her arms and shouts: "Henshin a go-go, baby!"

balwisyall nescell Airgetlám tron

Elisa Diana Metea is enveloped in light and in song.

Her heels step firmly onto the ground, demonstrating their harsh point. She twirls as her leotard forms, coating her middle in shiny blue, showing off just a little of her new breasts, little spots of white and black showing through the shine as she winks toward the Noise and a glove melts into place on her 'old' arm.

Elisa twirls again, and a white cape emerges, billowing behind her proudly as she flourishes it. Her silver arm opens up, panels shifting and venting immense amounts of blue energy emanating from what remains of the ancient Custodian, and her headset forms, bearing Elisa's unicorn horn on the same side as her new arm.

Maneuvering onto her heeled feet, she raises her arms carefully to strike a classic henshin heroine pose, with her finger pointed right toward the Alca-Noise...

"In the name of humanity, I'll punish you!"

She's alive.

She's alive!

In fact, she's never felt more alive!

(Above, FIS watches Elisa's transformation. Kirika and Shirabe get excited, Dr. Ver grins madly at the data he's reading off, Mom rolls in and nods in approval, while Maria simply stares in abject horror at what she's done.)

(...and in the corner, hidden in shadow, a certain someone from R&D feels a profound sense of awe...)

Elisa's segmented rod emerges from her arm, the whip-like instrument that serves as her Armed Gear, as the Symphogear's systems play the instruments and set the stage for Elisa to sing.

"Amazing... Airgetlám's properties are far different than our records of Section Two's White Gungnir! She can even use her Armed Gear..." Dr. Ver gleefully yells as the Alca-Noise start to approach Elisa, and she lashes out with her whip, cutting a Noise in two instantly.

(...Dr. Ver should probably have mentioned that Alca-Noise are more dangerous to Symphogears than the regular kind.)

Elisa Diana Metea
(CV: Mitsuishi Kotono)
Don't Stop!Carry On!

Kurushimi shika mienakute
utsuro ni tada sugita hibi.

It's so easy, to fight like this! Elisa's body is so light on its feet, it feels so wonderful, so much better than what she had before...

Down na kimochi ga tsuzuku machi de,
kimi dake yasashiku kagayaiteru!

Maria was so beautiful. She was a beautiful idol, but when Elisa saw her wielding her Black Gungnir, she was truly captivated, in a way no mere idol could do. And now, same that power Maria holds, that same hope...

ＶＩＯＬＡＴＯＲ

is her.

But Elisa can't just rely on one attack, right?

Don't Stop! Carry On!
Akiramenai!

Her hand opens up, and the spines of her whip release themselves, separating from one another charged with blue energy.

Don't Stop! Shinin' On!
Kowasarenai!

They fly out, and seek out targets, glowing blue energy blades appearing from each.

Ai ni, naru yo

They slice apart the weaker Noise...

Sora wo tsutsumu yô ni

Embed themselves in the larger ones...

Daki-

Elisa reaches out with her open palm, and upward...

shi-

She reaches out...

me-

closes her first...

te iru!

And explodes!

ＷＨＥＮ ＤＯＶＥＳ ＣＲＹ

The remaining shards explode, and the noise are reduced to a red dust, the second fusion syndrome patient's power clearly demonstrated to the world.

Elisa Diana Metea, wielder of Airgetlám...

is alive.

"Woah! You're amazing, Elicchi!"
"Their White Gungnir can't even make an Armed Gear..."

Kirika and Shirabe may be easily impressed, but the adults in the room take a more balanced outlook.

"Our understanding of the fusion syndrome is poor, but the numbers say...Elisa, was it? Her raw power is nowhere near that of Tachibana's," says Mom.

"Ah, but Tachibana's skills are so focused! Even a superior gear can fall to the talents of a superior wielder..." Dr. Ver giggles. "Airgetlám's ability stabilizes her broken Gear. Lacking the single-minded focus and raw fury of Gungnir, it appears Elisa is capable of fighting in a wider variety of situations."

(Maria listens, and clenches her fist.)

"If that's the case...then we should partner her with Maria," says Mom. "We can't keep relying on Maria's strength and the Unison system alone. This should help prevent a repeat of the Solomon situation -"

Maria slams her fist against a monitor, and growls, walking off in a huff.

"Hey, Maria! What's -"
Shirabe takes Kirika's hand, and holds her back. "Leave her be, Kiri-chan. It's only natural she'd be angry in a situation like this. Give her time."

Maria walks off, and pounds against a wall.

She told that person to value her own life. To appreciate her precious existence, and not throw it away. It's a luxury few truly understand.

So why...

Why did Elisa instead pursue the Symphogears?

And how can everyone here at FIS be okay with drafting an untrained civilian into a life of endless war? How can they make use of Elisa as a weapon? Someone too much of an idiot to realize what's really happening here?

"Mom...how can you say we're better than Finé now?!"

---

In one of the Nymphaeaceae's berths, Miku lays down alone.

In an observation room inside the medical bay, Hibiki lays down alone.

Both of them, reach out toward the ceiling, toward the stars, with their hands. Both of them want to see their most important person again, at last...

In the lab, Dr. Kaplan and her assistants watch a readout of Hibiki's vitals. At the way Gungnir has overtaken her body, from the scar outward.

You're pretty scary, you know that, Princess? Yuina thinks to herself. We don't have a lot of options, I know that. FIS won't hesitate to use anyone and anything they can.

But does Kohinata really understand what she's getting into? And can we really keep using Tachibana without understanding the fusion syndrome?

Two girls, hearts united, beating as one. But still, distance and the Curse separate them, time and again. Can they ever hope to say what's most important to them, under the shooting stars?

Song of the Successors
Symphogear F
"An ancient relic and a melody to save the world!"

---

Miku's path is filled with hardship. Tomorrow may prove her decisions foolish. But for today, she has a chance to reconnect - wait, Kazanari? What are you doing here?!
I could ask you the same question, Eve.
Bad enough I have to deal with the fangirl.
You'll have a lot more to deal with soon. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging me to polish your Gungnir.
K-kazanari, that's completely inappropriate!
Don't tell me you don't have the guts. If you want to survive in this world, live! Kill to live!
I didn't realize Kazanari could be so threatening...
Listen up, suckers! Next up on Symphogear F: The Girls Who Killed Adolescence! Don't you dare miss it, or I'll know. I'll know.
(She is strangely attractive like that, actually...)