Eous was overlooking the notes Wise had taken about Belobog's scandal and its records from the old capital.

Wise was going over the data of Eous' spatial manipulation when the Hollow mutated, working alongside Fairy to discover any consistencies in his method of traversal through the Hollow that would allow it to become a permanent ability.

Belle hummed as she looked at the payment they received for the first three commissions— of course, the new split making her shoot Eous' smug glances at his new pay raise.

Eous yawned as he flipped through Wise's notebook, still finding a weird lapse in the PubSec's verdict on Belobog's case.

"Incoming call from: Zhu Zhu." Fairy announced.

Wise and Belle slowly looked over and saw Eous staring into space with a blush.

"Answer." He tried to slip out of Wise's room but Belle stood up and threw him back to the couch.

"H-Hey, Eous!" She sounded like she was in a great mood.

"Hey, Zhu Yuan. You're up late. What's up?"

"W-Well, you're the first... non-work related contact I've had in a long time, but I wanted to check on you. How was work today?"

"Successful. Lax day all around. Thanks to you and those hot cakes, my day was set on the right path."

It was Belle's turn to blush, tugging on his shirt to try and understand exactly what he meant by hot cakes.

Wise struggled not to burst into laughter, throwing his mouth into his sleeve as he lurched over his desk.

"It's no problem, Eous. I'm glad you're feeling better. You're up late too, though, why's that?" Belle shook her head and grinned out how enamored she sounded.

"Um, i-inventory. Lotta rentals today, so we've gotta see what stock we need next." He had to lie about investigating an old civilization case of course.

"That's great to hear!"

"What about you? Catch any ne'er dowels?" He teased.

"N-No, no. It was a paperwork kind of day. I was going to handle more in overtime, but they forced me to clock out."

"Oh, real workaholic, huh?"

"So they say... I like to call it earnest. A job well done is a good one." Eous melted into the couch hearing how proud she sounded of herself.

"I hear you there. Ain't nothing to it but to do it." He smirked. "Right. Do it right of course."

He proudly made Zhu Yuan chuckle. "That's the truth."

"I won't hold you any longer if you're doing inventory. It was... n-nice talking to you like this. I hope we can do it again sometime." The meekness in her voice compared to when she was on duty made Eous clutch his chest.

"Of course! Anytime." He replied with a grin.

"G-Goodnight, Eous."

"Night, Zhu Zhu." He swiftly replied.

"Stop that!—" he hung up as she whined, setting down his phone with a blank stare.

"Damn, I might need him to teach me. You didn't even meet her a week ago." Wise slumped down beside him on the couch.

"What did you mean by hot cakes?! Is that where you were this morning?!" Belle shook his collar in horror.

"What? Breakfast. We had breakfast. I ran into her on the way back from Hollow Zero." Eous explained with a glare.

"Get your head out of the gutter, Belle." Wise plucked her forehead.

~•~

"Thanks for coming, Nova. Belobog Industries has decided to officially start the search for the prototype." Koleda greeted him with a smile.

Eous wanted to give his name at this point, but he didn't want to risk them using it while in the Hollow.

"Sick. Happy to help." He switched from casual to Bangboo outfit in a flash, a wide grin on his mask's face.

"Ive matters to attend to before we leave, so I'll leave it to Grace to explain the situation. Excuse me." Koleda strut away, but it was clear she wasn't in the best mood.

'A1 professionalism.' Eous thought with a nod.

"Let's begin, Proxy." Grace asked for his hand. He placed his hand in hers as she addressed the tablet in the other. "After carrying out a careful inspection, I found their logic cores were functioning properly and showed no signs of Ether corruption. They changed because they were receiving this signal from the Prototype."

With a beep, Fairy received the signal. Eous gave a thumbs up to acknowledge he had it, allowing Grace to drop his hand.

"I'll skip the details, but the gist is the operating power of their logic cores has been improved. That is to say: the children became smarter by communicating with the prototype. But of the three, only the pike driver, Friday, received a clear instruction."

"Something about fixing a seal?" Eous asked.

"Yes. It still doesn't make any sense to me, but I guess that's what we're here to find out. Our smart machines automatically send a single-byte confirmation signal when the communication module receives a message. Using this, we can have each of the three children contact the prototype to triangulate its location alongside you."

Eous smiled. "Oh, love to hear that. Won't turn down helping hands."

"Time is of the essence. We'll leave navigation to you." Grace pat his shoulder.

"Let's get it done." Eous nodded.

•

The Hollow between New Eridu and the old capital was as bleak as it was vast. The murky, dull colored sky was a far cry from Eous' attitude as he led everyone to the prototype's signal.

With it finally pinpointed with the help of the other smart machines, It was a straight shot to find what exact secret the Hollow hid.

The group knew how high the stakes were since even with the Metro Project Belobog Industries took on, access to the Old Town Hollow had yet to be granted to anyone from PubSec.

"Never thought we'd end up back here..." Anton mumbled.

Koleda voiced her confusion. "You've been here before...?"

"This was a thriving new development area before the fall of the old capital. The government and TOPS invested huge sums of money in construction— even Belobog was working in a big project in the area." Ben explained.

Koleda and Eous looked around at what felt like near-ancient architecture. It was a semblance of what it was now, so it was unnerving to see it in ruins.

Eous rubbed his nape in confusion as he looked around.

Something about the place felt a bit familiar to say the least, but he assumed it was just how he was beginning to feel with Hollows in general.

"You're still picking up the signals, right, Proxy?" Grace questioned.

"Yeah, but since this place is super old, the map we've made is based on old street camera footage from years ago. It's much different back then than it is now." He explained, the hologram in his peripheral being a mosaic of different old civilizations images to form a route to the signal.

God bless Belle and her genius.

Fairy too for being capable of her idea.

In the distance, the group began to see a clear sight of a massive, towering monument. It was sleek and sharp, standing the test of time despite the Hollow's corrosive nature.

"The Pioneer's Memorial Plaza..." Ben murmured.

"You know it, Ben?" Eous asked.

"Just before the former president disappeared, Belobog was awarded construction rights for a project in a new development area."

"So the prototype is located in the plaza that old man never finished..." Koleda's leer at the memorial spelled only disdain.

They were only being given more questions than answers.

"It's like the former president is trying to tell us something." Ben wondered.

"Didn't Friday say Khors was calling it?" Anton recalled.

Koleda wanted to refute, but with all signs pointing to some sudden resurgence of the former president, she kept quiet.

Grace glanced over at her solemnly, hoping that whatever they found here gave them all peace.

Eous suddenly stopped as the star-shaped monument in the middle of the half-finished plaza. Ether crystals littered everything in sight but the four-legged, two-armed machine propped up against the monument in the center.

"That white thing... is that the prototype?" Anton questioned.

Grace skipped forward in delight. "The slick colors, the handsome lines! Yes! That's the prototype!"

She suddenly stopped and scratched her cheek. "But why is it in that bizarre position?"

"It's a bit unnatural... Like it's clamping down on the monument." Ben observed.

"Ben, Anton, you two go take a look around the monument. I'll take Grace and the Proxy to take a look at the cockpit." Koleda ordered.

"Roger!" Anton rushed off to look for clues with Ben jogging after him.

•

Eous was quick to hop on the machine and crouch down, extending his tails down for Koleda to grab on to. Feeling her weight, he reeled his tails back before helping her onto the hull.

"You two be careful in there. The prototype has been in the Hollow for so long that it may've been corrupted in some places!" Grace warned from below, analyzing the exterior.

"Don't worry, the cockpit was well-sealed!" Koleda peered into the hatch Eous carefully opened.

It didn't take the two very long to spot a bullet hole in head rest of the chair when they landed inside.

"That's... a bullet hole." Koleda held her breath and looked to Eous.

It didn't end there. Several bullet holes were all over the cockpit. "Analysis: There is indication of a struggle involving a firearm." Fairy announced.

"Inside the cockpit. The casings are all over the floor. With how much time's passed, we've no luck telling if anyone was actually injured." Eous added.

Koleda slowly tugged on Eous' sleeve, making him stand up and look at the files and clipboard in her hand.

The two quickly left the machine and hopped down safely.

"Ben, Anton, get over here! We've found something!" Koleda jogged up to Grace as Anton and Ben met up with them.

"What is it, President?"

"Ben, look at this!" She handed the clipboard full of files and stick notes to him.

"Th-That's a bill for the prototype! Not only does it have President Khors' signature, it has the date and amount on it too..."

"The amount is the same as what disappeared from the company's accounts, and it matches with the time of Khors disappearance. So... Khors took the money to pay for the prototype manufacturing!" Grace deduced.

"AHA! Yes! I knew a guy like Khors would never do something like running away with company funds!" Anton cheered, slinging his arm around Ben with a grin. "His name can be cleared with this ass evidence!"

"Could it be possible that Khors was the one that drove the prototype here?" Ben mumbled.

"We can't be sure of anything just yet... But with all those bullet holes in the cockpit, something terrible must've happened." Koleda didn't want to get her hopes up after what they'd seen.

She clenched her fists in regret, guilt slowly welling up inside her as she thought of the possibilities— until Eous ruffled her head with a grin.

"Don't worry, dude, we'll get to the bottom of it. No stone unturned." Eous held out his fist.

"He's right. We'll get our answers." Grace smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I just checked the external memory unit and it's intact. It must still have records from back then. I'll start analyzing the data the moment we bring the prototype back."

"That's right, president! We'll find a way!" Anton and Ben walked over with grins too, overwhelming her with positivity.

Koleda's frown slowly lifted into a smile back before she slowly bumped Eous' fist with her own.

"You guys are right! As president, I can't keep feeling sorry for myself. Let's get this prototype back!"

~•~

Greta and Friday slowly paced towards the prototype with cables latched to their legs, gently pulling it away from its position underneath the pointy structure.

Hans used its excavator and grappling hook to catch the fallen point it was holding up.

With a laugh, Hans tossed it aside. "Job done!"

Anton and Ben oversaw Greta and Friday dragging the prototype back the way they came, making sure they didn't run into any issues as Koleda and Grace slowly followed behind.

Eous slowly stopped walking after everyone as a heavy and dark presence began to leak from behind them all.

His body trembled as he felt something sinister. Something familiar. Something—

Like him.

A burst of Ether erupted from the monument, forcing everyone to stop and jerk around in shock. A grey hand clawed out of the stone in an animalistic manner.

Eous slowly paced back, with even Fairy fluttering with him in disbelief seeing a humanoid creature with steel and electricity coursing through its body alongside Ether crystals. The helmet clamped over its head gave an eerie linear glint of malice.

"What... is... that...?" Koleda muttered in horror.

"It's... Ether levels are off the charts. Is it an Ethereal?" Grace wondered.

As if on instinct, Eous roared into the sky with a scream so primal he felt as if he'd lost his mind.

The group turned to him and saw his body suddenly erupt into Ether as well, forcing Grace to look at her tablet it in disbelief.

"Their Ether levels... th-their Ether levels... How is he matching it?!" She shouted.

The creature crawled out of the monument completely to reveal its dull, shard-covered body, leering eerily down at Eous' pillar of light in curiosity.

"Warning: Ether levels reaching corrosive levels. Further accumulation will result in mutat—"

Fairy suddenly went quiet amidst Eous' screams as the Ether died out and revealed an Ionized Eous.

"What... the hell?" Anton muttered in shock.

Without a single word, Eous and the creature flew at each other with intent to kill.