“… By the way Nav.” Frost began, wanting to lighten the suddenly darkening mood. “Find anything on the Beholders yet?”

She shook her head sadly, holding her hands by her lap. “Nothing. Anna only remembers what they were like in the past. Nothing specific. Everything has been gibberish so far. Frost. I thought you were here to discuss Time Reverberation.”

“I am. I just wanted to hear it from you.” Frost hummed, passing Nav’s cup to her.

“You can always hear me from anywhere.” Nav cocked her head again, causing Frost to reach up and pat her head.

“I meant your voice. I want to hear as often as I can. And besides, I don’t want you to feel lonely. You’ll be stuck in the Nexus for a while once we’re back on our feet. None of us can see your stats but it’s easy to tell that you’re easily hurt.” Frost tenderly spoke.

Indeed. Nav’s Stats were nonexistent. Even Frost was incapable of seeing it. Nav made a sad joke that it was because machines are not supposed to have a soul, but that wouldn’t explain the violin and piano Ara heard, or the two Atelier Items that Kissaria managed to pull out of them.

“Hmm… Loneliness.” Nav held a finger on her chin. “… It would be strange if your stove suddenly missed you.”

Nav’s very existence was an anomaly. Almost as much as Frost’s. Then there was Jury.

Nav suddenly leaned into Frost, their noses just inches apart as she tried to discern something from her eyes. Anna’s slurping was all that played as the Library’s ambience before suddenly:

“My. Heart. Is. Fluttering. So. This. Is. What. Love. Is. like” Nav said in the most robotic way possible, causing a chill to run down Frost’s spine as Anna spat out her drink. “Cer said that to use this line anytime you look like you’re in a daze. She tried writing a theory in the sands to prove that if she said this to you then you were ‘totally’ going to eat her. A shame that she waves washed it away.”

“… Thankfully your delivery made me realize it was a joke ahead of time.” Frost quickly recovered, reeling backwards as she quietly sighed. “Nav. You almost gave me a heart attack so please don’t say that unless you absolutely mean it. Besides… I do love you Nav. Just not in the same was as I love Jury.”

Frost placed a hand on Nav’s head again.

“I find it difficult to wrap my head around the multiple interpretations of a single verb. I’m aware, nonetheless. Still, it does make this tin-heart of mine happy to hear that.” Nav fondly smiled as she opened both arms invitingly.

“Of course~ Anna, wanna join in?” Frost warmly hummed, turning to the girl who turned a slight shade of red.

“E-Er…”

“Join us. Become one with us. You have no choice.” Nav coldly ordered, and this for some reason convinced Anna to waddle over. She was squashed between Nav’s cold flesh and Frost’s irresistible warmth. “Amalgamation complete.”

“You say can some funny things sometimes. I think we should limit the kind of books you read.” Anna muffledly spoke, her face barely able to peer through their chests. “They’re a bad influence on you.”

“More like Cer’s the bad influence. Haaaaah. Well. Should we get back to business? Or do you want to stay like this a little longer~?” Frost didn’t mind.

They had all the time in the world thanks to Jury’s tech.

“As a machine I function better in the cold. But since Anna desperately wants to be hugged, I suppose it cannot be helped.” Nav stated.

“H-Hey d-don’t use me as a reason to stay like this.” Anna groaned, pouting up at Nav before breaking into an adorable smile.

* * *

Anna helped finalize the internal structure of Jury’s Atelier with some input from Frost. She had been brainstorming for some time now, evident by her little cozy home in the Eternal Library filled to the brim with diagrams and floating, glowing writing left behind by the Star Child.

No one understood what they meant of course, aside from Nav. She could be seen thoroughly going over every equation, nodding to herself with impressed eyes. Either that or she sold it well because when Frost asked her what they meant she’d look over her shoulder and say:

“I’m shocked that you don’t understand it.”, or “You don’t?”, or even “It’s elementary, my dear Frost.”

Frost hoped Nav wouldn’t become a walking reference machine in the future. She now took Anna’s consideration about limiting what Nav could read to heart.

That being said, the structure of Time Reverberation was their current focus.

They didn’t want a strict hierarchy of operations like the other Ateliers. With Moons as their personnel, they’d all be on the same level more or less. Power wouldn’t be the deciding factor of who gets to sit at the top, although, a hierarchy naturally came with the inclusion of the Aspiring Moons.

Still, Frost sought a more flexible approach.

She came from a background where workers were able to override decisions made by those much higher than them at their own educated discretion. This meant that every single person was a leader in their own right. If the decision coming from above seemed wrong or too dangerous, then members at the tail end could work around it as long as they could rationalize it.

Within reason of course.

Having things too ridged meant that losing people above would plunge everyone underneath into chaos. Frost could only imagine what was going on in distant Atelier branches now that their communications were lost. The best way Frost could put it was to imagine it as the mythical beast – the Hydra.

When one head was severed one or two more would regrow. Nipping any head in Time Reverberation would therefore be a futile effort. The quality of the personnel also justified this approach. They had a small number of Moons, and they were more than capable of handling themselves.

What eventually resulted from their hours of brainstorming and planning were multiple branches connected to one core branch. The Head, where Time Reverberation’s administrative personnel would reside, and the Arms which would represent the several Branches of Time Reverberation and serve as an extension of the Head’s metaphorical hands.

What Frost had in mind was a clock, with each hand representing the emergency and priority of each Branch, which would be called Arms.

Hora; Time Reverberation’s Therapeutical Arm – focusing on mental and physical trauma. Healers would also find themselves here too.

Minu; Time Reverberation’s Auditing Arm – intended to investigate the Ateliers and abnormalities, and finally;

Seci; Time Reverberation’s Responsive Arm – designed to dispatch Moons when a considerable threat, such as the Corrupted, arises. They would be armed with Isolation Spheres to minimize the damage and equipped with only the finest of arms.

The easiest way to remember them was to go by the arms of a clock: hour, minute and second.

Nav was proposed to be the heart of all communications, as Aspiring Moons would be able to directly speak with one another through her without relying on CogitO’s technology. This of course depended on how well Nav could handle the traffic. If she couldn’t, then CogtiO would be necessary unless the Stars were faster than telepathy.

That being said, they had the foundation set in stone. All they needed now was to fill Time Reverberation with eager personnel, and Frost had just the right people in mind.

The Demi-Humans they saved from Grandis!

Better yet, the cat-girl that survived Serum S was a major candidate. Frost had planned a trip back to the Golden Index to check up on Stella and Sana, as well as the sleeping Realized Aster.

Depending on how things went, Time Reverberation would be populated in no time.