It had been a long week since Frost promised to take Nav around H5.

The Black Doves were currently en route to the City of Diamonds where they’d be staying until the end of the year.

The Stars streamlined the logistics of having Frost everywhere at once, but she was always wary that the messages the Stars carried might not fall in line with what she had in mind. For this reason, she preferred face-to-face discussions when it came to major changes.

One such decision was the integration of the Eclipses. It wasn’t a formal decision, and she had planned to bring it up in the upcoming Amalgam’s Summit. Now, imagine her surprise when Eclipses trickled into the Nexus seeking confirmation from her directly.

The Receptionists had to hold their hands as they tended to get lost within the Common Hub. Eclipses rarely visited the Nexus. In fact, once a Star or Moon joined an Atelier, they became obligated to stay outside of the Nexus for two reasons.

The first was that there was no point for them to stay if their interests did not align with the Nexus.

The second was that the Stars were openly hostile to these Stars and Moons, aside from the Iron Stars who they greatly respected, for they were the very first Stars to have ever lived.

One ability that the Receptionists had was the ability to alert Frost when someone asked to see her.

They doubled as secretaries, and this ability was related to the Reception’s mysterious power. This was not limited to just reservations. Alerts like invasions, unexpected guests, and other notable information could be transmitted to Frost via the Nexus so long as she was in view of it.

This combined with Nav anchoring within the Nexus meant that she would be aware of its status at all times. Add her ability to teleport directly into the Nexus and it was nigh untouchable.

Unfortunately, the Receptionists themselves could not speak to her directly. She was only able to receive basic ‘warning’ and ‘alert’ prompts to notify her. However, Anna and Ignis acted as the mediators between them and Nav, allowing for details to come along.

The way Receptionists were created was quite controversial. They were incapable of using magic and were not physically fit for combat. Neither were they Blessed to begin with.

And yet they held the respect from both Moons and Stars. In fact, all Receptionists of the Nexus were appointed by the Stars. They had roamed the world, plucking exceptional specimens to aid the Blessed.

Frost struggled to wrap her mind around it. From what she knew, the higher-order Blessed didn’t take kindly to those that lack the Blessing. So, to hear that the Stars were the ones that effectively saved these people made her wonder just what went through their minds. What prejudices did they hold against the larger part of the world, and why were so few people exempted from it?

Frost feared that she may never know. Not at least until Time Reverberations’ Hora Therapeutical Arm became functional. In her mind these Stars probably needed to unwind and at least offer some insight, although, she wondered if Stars were just as prone to Corrupting as the Moons.

Probably not. They’re not the ones pumped full of Serum G.

That aside, Jury was well into developing her tech in collaboration with the Beholders. Time Reverberation would also be relying on some of their tech. CogitO’s Cognition Filters would help prevent Aspiring Moons from breaking down on their first encounter with the Corrupted, and the Nex Accumulator was self-explanatory.

Time Reverberation was seen as an outlet to test bleeding edge Atelier Items. Regular personnel were usually used to test dangerous products with unsurprising results. Moons were more than capable of withstanding whatever failures were prone to occur using such tech, and not to mention that they had exclusive access to the Greater Healers.

The Stars ravenously worked on all facets of Frost’s plans to a frightening degree. The Perched, Mothers and Father were the only healers that still had Inflow Direct’s name attached to them since they had the Ascelpien as a haven, and a valuable resource to help shape new healers before they were integrated into the Head.

Things moved at a rapid pace thanks to the Isolation Spheres which had quickly become a requirement for all manufactory and Workshop spaces. ImpulseWorks was curious on its application in the Sites and conducted small-scale tests in F-H5.

As one would expect, the Isolation Spheres were a roaring success when dealing with a Corrupted outbreak. They could also be put to a far more practical use by encapsulating an entire Site to produce an insane amount of Nex.

This however meant that ImpulseWorks would be relying on Time Reverberations’ Seci Response Arm in the event that a Corrupted were to hijack the Isolation Sphere. A Site-Wide Corrupted Zone was unheard of, but it became one of the risks associated with Jury’s tech.

Two to three weeks at most was the deadline Frost and Jury gave themselves before Time Reverberation would be ready. Jury just needed to finalize her products, and the Moons to return with their Aspiring Moons.

Mimicry has also seen some interesting developments. The Corrupted no longer randomly shape shifted in the middle of assuming its humanoid form. Ignis became its defacto role model right after Frost. It saw the girl as a perfected version of itself; one that was able to claim a flawless form no matter her state of mind.

As for Ignis, she had partially been able to repair Carpalis’ arm through Frost’s guidance. So far, only sensation was restored to her left arm, which Carpalis mentioned felt was in constant state of being grounded into paste.

The fact that her arm didn’t have any discoloration meant that bloodflow was not an issue. Frost theorized that it was a neurological problem, added with the fact that her arm, when touched, felt like there were a thousand shards sitting just beneath her flesh.

She couldn’t imagine the pain poor Carpalis had to endure. As a result, Ignis eventually removed all sensation from her left arm, though Carpalis didn’t say if it worked or not.

* * *

Frost quietly hummed to herself as she disappeared into the crowded streets of H5, holding Jury’s hand in one hand, and Nav’s in the other. Beautiful melodies played by bands and Bards filled the air as they took the time off for today to take Nav to sightsee.

Thankfully, the main strip in H5 was undamaged, and people here resumed life as it was before the war. Beating drums robbed their attention in one direction, as the scent of grilled meat drew them in another.

They were dressed in casual wear for the first time in public. Jury wore large, baggy pants and a midriff that exposed her glorious abs. Thankfully, the pants had a cutout big enough for her tail to fit through. Apparently, they were made for Dragonkin and Fox Demi-humans who were known to proudly sport the largest tails.

Her hair was tied into a ponytail, which flicked around as her tail towered above the crowd like a periscope. The problem with having such a large tail was that people tended to bump into it, or worse, children would come around latching themselves onto it.

Sometimes, the little monsters would get hoisted into the air.

“Look mama! It looks like a giant white rabbit!” A child pointed at Jury’s tail.

“A fluffy rabbit!” Another cried.

“Where can we get fluffy balloons like that!?”

“That’s not fair. How come big sis’ tail isn’t fuzzy like that?”

“Nah. You know the story of the White Rabbit is just a fairytale.” The child’s elder sister said, holding onto her fabulous, fox-styled tail with both hands insecurely as she passed by Jury. “… how’d she gets hers to get so big?”

Jury was strangely always the center of attention when it came to children. It also wasn’t the first time someone had called her a white rabbit. Alice was the first person to name Jury this, and Frost had to wonder just what part of Jury made them think that.

She peered close at her loved as she munched away at a giant, two-handed cookie like it was burger. Her face suddenly reddened as she wiped the loose crumbs around her mouth before suddenly breaking the cookie in half.

“Did you want some too?”

“… Oh, sure. Thank you. I was just wondering what part of you makes children call you a rabbit? Alice called you that too.”

Jury’s flush, animal ears then suddenly perked up like the ears of a rabbit, revealing the pale, fluffy undersides. They were like giant patches of cotton.

“I like to wonder as well.” She said, blissfully stuffing her face again, unaware of the state of her ears.

“Uhuh…” Frost trailed off warmly, wondering if Jury was doing this on purpose. She did tend to get a bit ditzy whenever food was involved. “They have chocolate chip cookies too in this world. I guess with healers getting the diabetes debuff is impossible, huh.”

“Thankfully a machine can’t catch it.” Nav nodded to herself, munching on a much smaller cookie nonchalantly.

Jury left no stall untouched, buying at least one of every item, shared between them all as Nav’s head darted left and right like a curious animal.

One could imagine cat-ears on her head, twitching in the direction of the pleasant songs.

Nav was dressed in a large, light blue gothic-style dress with an open coat to match. Like Frost, she didn’t want to expose her legs, so she opted for tights but for different reasons.

“In case we are attacked, I will be confident that these will prevent me from losing a leg.” Nav claimed, repositioning a loose cap worn on her head. It gave her a tomboyish appearance, and it perfectly matched her cold demeanor.

As for Frost, she opted for nothing more than black pants and an oversized sweater to match. It was like wearing a blanket for a shirt and was far more comfortable than anything she had worn prior as a man. She paired it with black-tinted sunglasses to hide her golden eyes.

She wore a tomboyish look just like Nav. Together they were easily mistaken for as residents or tourists from distant Sectors, namely because of the lack of weapons they possessed. It was interesting how prices fluctuated depending on how one was perceived. For example, Adventurers were usually charged more than regular people, the phenomenon dubbed as ‘Adventurer’s Tax’.

Not that it mattered to them. Frost was a walking money printing machine anyway.