E-UNIT: The Blue Angels of Death.

Chapter 127: Fight of Faith.

V O L U M E F I V E

Chapter 127: Fight of FaithThe sky above the Hope Bubble glowed its usual pixelated blue, the artificial sun sitting too bright and slightly low-resolution overhead. After days of near-silence, life inside had started moving again, people spreading out, beginning work on the bubble's expansion, filling the corridors and garden with the low noise of things resuming.

02 and 04 were the exception. They sat on the grass, watching it all.

"I understand why you loved her." 02 turned the orange and white sphere in her hands. "She's the kind of leader you throw yourself toward knowing she'll catch you. No hesitation required." She paused. "But that's also the problem."

"How is that a problem?" 04 was leaning against the elevator tube, legs stretched out. "Having a captain like that was what made the E-UNIT project work as fast as it did. She could fight and plan at the same time, I remember mid-battle instructions coming through while she was physically holding a five-headed mech in place."

"That's genuinely impressive." 02 considered it. "But it meant none of you had to develop that ability yourselves. That instruction she sent, I'm sure it changed the outcome of that fight. Could you have reached the same solution without her?"

04 opened her mouth and closed it again.

"And when she was gone, did the team hold?"

Silence.

"There's your answer." 02 stood. "She had the same hardware as all of you. No different specs, no exclusive components. The gap came from somewhere else." She looked at 04. "You were all a little comfortable."

04's expression went flat. "You're harsh in exactly the same way she was. Losing your memory didn't change you, it just showed how deep the original goes." She looked away. "Shame there's nothing to share."

02 held the sphere up slightly. "I think you should count what you have. I'd take Tau back in a second, same as she was, starting from nothing together. That's enough." She looked toward the main building. "I think that's what 05 was trying to do with the copy. Build something from scratch rather than sit with nothing."

"And no one said a word to her about it." 04 nodded. "Except 03, who tore her apart. I don't fully blame either of them."

"Is 05 still in the locked room?"

"She hasn't moved." 04 tilted her head toward the building. "She'll stay there a while. Slapping her own sister over a copy she knew wasn't real, that takes a particular kind of stubbornness to sit with."

02 scanned the garden. "Where's 01?"

"Behind that tree." 04 pointed. "She's been there for two days."

01 stepped out, eyes fixed on 02. "Why?"

"Hmm?" 02 tilted her head.

"Why are you normal?"

04 and 02 looked at each other.

01 closed the distance between them. "I know you're 02. I can feel it. But where is the captain? Not just 02, the captain."

02 smiled and snapped a clean salute. "01. State your need."

01's eyes went wide. "You think that's it? I was the one who saw through the spy while the rest followed her without question. I know you're 02, I feel that. But you're missing something. Where did she go?"

02 dropped the salute. "Dave is working on cracking Tau's code on the memory wall. He said with 05 helping, they'd find it in days. He mentioned coffee being a factor."

04 smiled. "That's so Dave."

01's focus sharpened. "Where is 05?"

"Main building, storage room on level six." 04 pointed again. "Your holy tone won't be enough for that door."

01 pressed her fists together, expression setting into something specific and committed. "Don't underestimate the faith, 04. You'll be joining us sooner than you think." A smile, genuine and slightly unsettling. "See you in the cathedral, sister."

"What."

She was already running.

02 watched her go. "I might start leaning into the god angle just to see how far she takes it." She paused. "And where exactly is this cathedral? We covered the whole area four times—" She stopped.

04 looked at her. "What is it?"

"A crystal. Close." 02's eyes sharpened. "Getting closer."

"That's not possible." 04 was casual about it. "The G-Bots are—"

"Gone. I know. So who's holding it?"

04's expression stalled. "You mean—"

They both moved at the same time.

04 hit the elevator button hard enough to threaten the panel. The door hissed shut. The descent was short.

"Who could it be?" 04 asked, the calm not quite holding.

"There's only one theory, given who took the crystals." 02 watched the floor indicator.

The doors opened.

The factory floor opened ahead of them, vast, emptied out, flat concrete running in all directions with nothing but support pillars and the thin layer of debris that accumulates in abandoned spaces. They crossed it at pace and came out the other side onto the approach to the Reynold Bridge.

Out the far side. The sea wind hit them immediately, hard and cold. The sky outside was almost the same shade as the fake one inside, which was disorienting.

Clang.

11 dropped from the bridge railing and landed in front of them. A brace sat across her chest, the crystal inside it pulsing purple. "They were right, the theory that a crystal holder can sense other holders is confirmed." She looked past them. "Infinity, log that."

Infinity's voice came from the comms. "Logged. And for the record, I want one."

"You will." 11's eyes caught the light. "Did you update my backup?"

"Twice. Finish the durability test on the blue crystal. Coming back isn't required, the moment your signal drops we revive you. Do it as planned."

"Understood." 11 began to glow purple, the color seeping outward from the brace. "04, you should step back. I'm not holding anything back here."

02 turned. “04, don’t call support. Retreat, now."

04 held her gaze for a moment, something unreadable crossing her face. Then she left without a word.

02 turned back and took several steps forward. She looked at 11 the way she'd looked at the soldiers in the forest. "04 couldn’t stop talking about you, I understand why her distrust now." Her blade came out in one motion. "Traitors have a specific look. Something missing behind the eyes. The absence of faith."

"You've already met 01." 11 laughed quietly.

"Different kind of faith." 02 rose off the ground. Her wings opened in a single silent motion, spreading wide against the blue sky. The Omega symbol on her chest blazed. "E-PHONEUS."

‘No recollection of me at all. Father made this cleaner than I expected. Less combat data to work around’. 11 turned back to the bridge. The purple glow intensified around her, spreading from the brace outward through her frame. She placed one hand flat against the railing.

She placed one hand flat against the railing. The bridge responded, metal peeling away from the structure in thin streams, feeding into her frame. Her surface darkened. The asphalt at her feet cracked in radiating lines, the ground unable to hold what she was becoming. Somewhere in the structure beneath them, steel groaned.

"Test one." Her voice came out lower than before, the added mass changing even that. "Durability."

02's eyes bled fully red.

"Code Red, initiated."