[The episode begins in Area One where Neru is facing off against the wave of enemies that were putting the Game Development Research Department in danger. After the last enemy is dispatched, the enemy stop coming in and the students emerge victorious thanks to their savior.]
Neru: Is that all? Come on, I was expecting a challenge.
Everyone: Neru!! (surround Neru)
Neru: (embarrassed face) O-Oi! Get off of me!
Yuzu: (teary eyed) You... You came to save us!
Arisu: Bum bum bum! A random space maid has joined the party!
Neru: Hey! Who are you calling random space maid!?
Momoi: (sparkling eyes) Cool! Is that a real spacesuit? That's awesome! Did it let you breath through space just to reach us?
Midori: (curious expression) And the design looks... unique...
Neru: (embarrassed expression) Grr... I didn't ask for this! That "other Arisu" shoved me in this!
Midori: "Other Arisu?"
Arisu: ...?
[As everyone was busy talking to Neru, Arisu's face is reflected on the window to outer space. Suddenly, the reflection begins moving independently, looking at Arisu then teleporting away as if someone with Arisu's face was in outer space...]
Arisu: ...! (notices something moving at the window)
[Before Arisu could catch a glimpse of who or what was moving outside the Ark, the figure vanished out of view. The only ones who knew something was out in space was Arisu and Neru...]
Yuzu: Arisu? Is something wrong?
Arisu: ...Unknown. My sensors detected something outside the station. (sweating face) Could be... A-A trick of the light?
Yuzu: (nervous expression) Eh!? You mean a-another g-ghost?
Neru: (looks out the window) ...
Midori: Neru? You were saying?
Neru: (snaps out of trance) Oh. Mmm... Never mind, forget what I said.
Midori: ...?
Momoi: Say, how did you get to the Ark? It couldn't have been easy...
Neru: I hitched a ride on a rocket ship that someone made. Sensei and a couple of students came along so we can bail you guys out of trouble.
Momoi: (sparkling eyes) What!? A spaceship! Like the galactic space battleship the Engineering Club were making? Wow! I knew space travel was possible. Hey, that gives me an idea! We should make a space-themed game next!
Midori: (cheerful expression) After we beat the final boss, then our club can go back brainstorming new games all day.
Neru: Heh, you guys rebound quick. Come on, we need to get to the ship. Sensei will give the details later. (realization) Oh, before I forget. (pulls out a robot trinket from her pocket) Here, take it.
Arisu: ...! Is that?
[A flashback occurs in Neru's mind where it took place minutes before the Spear of Siduri launched in the waiting quarters...]
Mili: ... After retrieving her body, I put Kei's saved data inside this storage unit. (Pulls out a Keychain of a little robot) It should be familiar, it's the same one she was in based on her memory banks. Whatever you want to do with her, it's up to you. ...Hmm? Why am I giving Kei over to you? Hmm... Call it a calculated hunch. I ran through all possible scenarios and found a Mili-percent chance Neru-san would hand Kei over to where she belongs, sooner than later. That's all. And before you say, "how would you know?" Hehe... (smug face) Let's just say I've been studying student behavior for some time. I'm not a real prophet, but I can tell what students will do to a certain degree. The next thing you'll say is, "Yeah right, I'm not that easy to follow." ...Ha! Gotcha! *chuckle* At any rate, you'll make it happen, I know it, because it's a Mili-years too early for anyone to fail my expectations...
[Back in the present...]
Arisu: (cheerful expression) It's Kei! She's safe!
Neru: Yeah. She was pretty banged up from getting the Sword of Light to transform and fire at the Ark. I don't have a clue about her condition, but I was told she's okay.
Arisu: You brought Kei back to everyone. Thank you!
Neru: I... (hesitant expression) Mmm... No problem. (I'm not the one you should be thanking though...)
[At the same time in Area Three, the fight continues between the Foreclosure Task Force and Shiroko Terror. The battle is in Shiroko's favor as she defeats her opponents with relative ease...]
*Gunfire*
Nonomi: (receives damage) Ahh!
Serika: (receives damage) Ow!!
Shiroko Terror: (stops attacking) Face it. Each of you have reached your limits. Give up.
Hoshino: (sweating face) Darn... She's not giving a single opening...
Shiroko Terror: This outcome was inevitable. It will keep repeating no matter how hard all of you may try.
*Rustle* *Vent echoes*
Shiroko Terror: ...?
[Suddenly, a figure pops through a ventilation shaft and lands in between Shiroko Terror and the Abydos students. The unknown stranger seems to wear a white and green patterned space suit while donning a blue mask with the number 2 on the forehead...]
Shiroko (masked): Hello. Mizugi Gang member, Blue #2, reporting in.
Abydos students: ...! (tearful expression) SHIROKO!!
Ayane: (long-range comms) Sh-Shiroko-senpai! You're alive!
Shiroko: (takes off mask) Everyone, I'm back.
Serika: (teary eyed) Dummy, where have you been!? We've been worried sick about you!
Shiroko: Sorry. I got held up after being thrown out of the station.
Hoshino: Eh!? Thrown out? You mean what she said was literal?
Shiroko Terror: (unfazed expression) ...
Nonomi: Scary... How did you even survive the fall?
Shiroko: I can explain everything later. Right now, we can't let her go.
[As the students continue to talk, Sensei arrives as they are heard running through the corridors...]
*Rapid footsteps*
Sensei:
- "Shiroko!"
- "Other Shiroko!"
Everyone: (surprised faces) Sensei!
Shiroko: (surprised face) Sensei, you made it.
Shiroko Terror: ...So it's true. You came back, just as Pseudos predicted you would. (turns around and opens a portal) *Doom*
Serika: Hold it! Where do you think you're going?
Hoshino: Leaving already?
Shiroko Terror: ...My business is done here. I'm heading back to "Phrenapaptes's side." Our battle will continue there.
Nonomi: You can't! Everyone is together again! (disappointed expression) At least let's properly talk...
Sensei:
- "Wait."
Shiroko Terror: (halts still) ...
Sensei:
- "Shiorko, answer me..."
- "After you hurt Shiroko..."
Sensei:
- "Did you... put something in Shiroko's pocket before you threw her off the Ark?"
Shiroko Terror: (surprised face) ...! ... (turns her head away) I have no idea what Sensei is talking about.
[Shiroko Terror walks through the black portal and disappears along with it...]
Shiroko: ...
Hoshino: (serious expression) ...Did you notice, Shiroko-chan?
Shiroko: Nn. She was lying. I know it.
Hoshino: Yep~. It pains me to say, she was holding back way~ more power than she let on.
Serika: (baffled expression) Th-That was her holding back!?
Nonomi: (sweating face) Well, she wasn't hiding it after beating us almost five times in a row.
Sensei:
- (What could she be hiding that she can't reveal to us?)
Nonomi: So... Sensei, Shiroko! Welcome back! You should have told us you were coming!
Ayane: (long-range comms) Sorry, I was going to say it but Sensei was already on their way to the team.
Hoshino: Uweh... It's all good. I'm just glad you two made it when you did. This Oji-san didn't know how much longer she was going to have to take a beating...
Sensei:
- "You have been through a lot..."
- "Did Shiroko do this too?"
Serika: We're fine! These injuries are normal when club members start fighting.
Nonomi: Exactly! It was an Abydos reunion in the making!
Ayane: (long-range comms) That's right! And we're not giving up until Shiroko hears us out! But for now, everyone needs to regroup at the Utnapishtim's ship. President Rin is calling all strike teams to return. There's a new plan being made to combat the Guide of Chroma.
Sensei:
- "On it."
- "We'll be there."
Hoshino: Say Shiroko-chan, what was the thing Sensei was talking about? Something the other Shiroko gave you?
Shiroko: Sorry. I don't have it with me.
Hoshino: Lost it huh? That's no good. You can't misplace important items like that...
Shiroko: No, I didn't lose it. It's... in the hands of someone I trust.
[At the same time, Ana and Rea are together in the Shar-Kali-Sharri corridor. As they wait, Ana continues to tap her foot anxiously, shakes her leg continuously, and begins to become impatient. Rea on the other hand is calm while humming a tune (Aoharu)...]
Ana: (becoming more impatient) ...
Rea: *humming*
*Vent noises*
[Suddenly, a hatch opens up next to them and Mili appears from it...]
Mili: *vent pops open* Ah ha! I finally found you two!
Rea: Ah! Mili-chan, welcome back!
Ana: Hmph.
Mili: "Welcome back, smartass." Isn't that what you're thinking out loud?
Ana: Grr...
Mili: ...? Hey, what's up with Ana-Oneesan?
Rea: Oh. She's been like that since she parted ways with the students.
Mili: (annoyed expression) Mmm... the students, the students... This is the last I'll ever work for them. They've been nothing but trouble for me.
Rea: Oh really?
Mili: Yes Mili-really! This entire time in the city, I had to deal with them at every turn. Getting stuck with that Kei girl, fixing everyone's devices and school, and even building a rocket like it'd be instantaneous...
Rea: Ha-Ha-Ha! Aren't those problems you created? You did say to always keep a low profile. And yet here we are, a couple of strange grown-ups found by such lively students...
Mili: Ooh... don't rub it in. I'll admit, they were smarter than I anticipated.
Rea: Hmm... You know what I've been noticing recently?
Mili: What?
Rea: Since we've been interacting with the students, every single one of us, including me, have been making the same expressions when Father was around.
Mili: !!? Th-That's-
Rea: Not true? Ho-Ho-Ho! I highly doubt that. You remember back in our high school days, Father would always scold us for making the most ridiculous decisions. In the end, he'd punish us through the most unorthodox ways.
Mili: (sweating face) Those were terrible times...
Rea: Absolutely! And yet, we all made the same good and bad expressions, like the weight of the world was lifted from our soul... instead of drowning us as the rest of the city's denizens.
Mili: Yeah... The old city really was the worst, and our Father was the worst of the worst. He wanted to change the city so much that he dragged the rest of us to follow his ideals to the end.
Rea: *chuckle*
Mili: I get it. You think interacting with the students helps remind us of Father.
Rea: Mmm, not entirely. I'm saying, maybe this is what Father felt when he looked after us, just like how we look after the students.
Mili: (shocked face) !!? EH!!!??
Rea: Ha-Ha-Ha! I know when I'm right! We are mad when they make mistakes, we become frustrated when they do things unprecedented, and we hide our joy when they thank us or smile. All of these are the same reactions our Father did for us when we were students... And when all is said and done, it feels nice to be in this grown body while next to all of them.
Mili: Ugh... your answers are always too solid, it hurts my Mili-brain to admit defeat...
Rea: Ah... I wonder when everyone will return. I'm looking forward to what amazing stories they will share with us....
To be continued... Episode 5: Round Two