An entire day had passed since the connection to the Resistance headquarters was lost. Though there was no way to tell for sure, it was clear that the Calamities, or the Nephilim, had began their assault much earlier than what they said in their declaration.

Though she was worried sick about her father, Alice did her best to calm down and worked with her subordinates to establish a connection with the other bases and exchange information.

The first thing they learned was that there is no change in the movements of Calamities or the Ragnarok Heralds, which was somewhat strange. The bases closest to the headquarters were working on figuring out what happened, but they said it would take time. In the meantime Sam had once again locked himself in his lab.

The conversation he had with Wolf didn’t go as planned.

He revealed the fact that he knew how to create Valkyries to see how the headquarters respond, however he never expected things to turn out the way they did.

The Valkyrie file is fake. The base program used to create the AI doesn’t work just as Wolf had said. Sam didn’t want to believe it, but after going through it again and again and again he had no choice but to give up.

The whole thing was written so well that even an expert like him couldn’t see through it. The problem now was whether the rest of the blue prints are real or fake.

“Hey, how’re you doing?”

Hearing a voice behind him, Sam tore his eyes off the monitor and turned around. Alice was standing behind him, her eyes as tired as his.

“Any news?” Sam asked, feeling a strong urge to rub his eyes.

“The headquarters is completely cut off.” Alice sighed. “Thpugh it doesn’t seem like there is a large scale assault like the previous one. We are working with the other bases to get a read on the situation.”

“You’ve made contact with the other bases?”

“Yes. The situation is pretty much the same everywhere.”

“I see…”

Sam put his glasses on and went back to stare at the screen. He was seriously tired and in dire need of some rest, even so he continued to go through the blue prints trying to figure out what’s real and what’s fake.

“Those are…” Alice leaned in trying to get a look as well.

“The blue prints your father mentioned.” Sam replied. “Turns out it’s really fake.”

“Can I take a look?”

Just when she made that request, the door to the lab opened and a certain blond Valkyrie peeked her head.

“Doctor… are you okay?”

Seeing Nine’s face made him wonder how much time had passed so he quickly took out his phone to check.

“Ah, is it time to change shifts already?” He said before yawning uncontrollably.

“It is.” Nine said. “I’ve heard from Five that you have yet to eat anything. Shouldn’t you take a break?”

“Thanks for worrying but…”

With how things are at the moment he didn’t really feel like eating anything. That said, his mind wasn’t in the right place at the moment so he felt that a quick nap will help him revitalize.

“Alice, do you still need something?” He asked, getting up from his chair.

“No, I just want to check the blue prints you spoke of, if you don’t mind.”

“I… don’t think that’s a good idea…” stopping to rethink his answer, Sam sighed and waved at Eir’s terminal. “Well, everything might end soon so what’s the point. You need a password to access the folders so don’t close the first window.”

“I see… understood…”

Watching as the white haired beauty took his place, Sam made his way to the bed and stretched down.

“Nine. Keep watch outside.” He instructed as his eyes began to close.

“Understood.”

~◇~

A few hours passed by the time Sam woke up. He ended up sleeping for far longer than what he had intended. Usually when that happens he would begin to panic, however for some reason he felt relaxed, all the stress he had experienced recently having vanished leaving his mind abnormally clear.

“I see you’re finally up,

Sam.”

Hearing the voice Sam turned to look at its owner. It was Alice. Her closed eyes had large bags under them and the smile she wore screamed bad news.

Little by little Sam recalled what happened before and when he did a long sigh escaped him as he scratched the back of his head.

“Got any questions?” He said, covering his mouth before yawning.

“Yes, of course.” Alice said. “How long have you known about those files?”

“A couple of months, I think.” Sam replied.

“I see.” Nodding a few times, the white haired beauty went on. “I already have a guess but just to be sure, why didn’t you report them to me or the headquarters?”

“Because I would’ve been in really big trouble.”

“Sam, I see you have grown used to hiding things from your superiors. That’s not a very good quality to have, especially for someone in your position.”

The two stared at each other for a few seconds which were interrupted by Sam’s stomach noises.

“Wonna go eat something?” Sam asked.

“Really?”

The way Alice tilted her head, still smiling as she asked was somewhat terrifying.

“You want to discuss the blue prints? We can do that while eating, right?”

“No, we will be doing it now.” Turning to face the door, the white haired beauty called. “Come in!”

The door opened and the three Valkyries came in one after the other. As they lined up in their usual spots Alice looked at each of them for a few seconds then turned to Sam.

“So, which one?” She asked.

Sam remained silent and after a few seconds Alice’s expression seemed to change.

“Dont tell me you did it with all three?”

“Of course not…” heaving another sigh, Sam lowered his gaze and gave his answer. “Five and Nine.”

“I see…”

Alice’s exhaustion showed as she held a hand to her forehead. She breather in then exhaled slowly, looking up at her lover with eyes devoid of light.

“A part of me is relieved that you didn’t prey on the youngest looking among them, but I’m still disappointed you actually went and done it…”

“…”

“What were you thinking, Sam?”

“… does it matter?”

“Of course it does!!!” Shooting up from her seat, Alice began shouting in Sam’s face. “Even if you disregard my and Shizuru’s feelings, how can you go through with it?”

“Alice…” His gaze turning to a glare, Sam looked up at the white haired beauty. “I will ask you again, does it matter?”

“… what?”

“The world is ending and you’re getting angry about this? So what if I decided to sleep with them? You think any man in his right mind would let this chance go just like that?”

“That’s…”

“Um… excuse me…”

Nine’s voice cut the heavy atmosphere like a knife. She was holding a hand up with an anxious expression, her eyes going between Sam and Alice.

“Am I right to assume this is about our relationship with Doctor?”

Staring at her for a while, Alice then turned to look at Sam with half lid eyes.

“Commander, please don’t be harsh on Doctor.” Nine spoke, taking a step forward. “I was the one who suggested we do those things the first time.”

“That doesn’t matter.” Alice said, not even bothering to look in the Valkyrie’s direction. “The fact is that he disobeyed orders and broke the rules.”

“Yeah yeah, I did, alright.” Sam said. “So what?”

“You sure you want to talk to me like that?” Alice said. “Even in the current circumstances I can still lock you up.”

“C’mon, Alice, you are much smarter than that. You should know by now that’s not possible.” Sam lifted himself up and fixed his clothes before walking over to Nine and the others. “I have the three of the strongest weapons on this base on my side. Are you sure you want to waste your time trying to punish me? Especially with how things are right now?”

“W-what are you talking about?” Alice said, the confidence she had a moment ago having faded. “The Valkyrie file was a fake! It’s clear that-“

“Nine, whose orders are your property right now?” Sam interrupted, placing a hand on the blond Valkyrie’s shoulder and pulling her toward him.

“I’m Doctor’s personal Valkyrie.” She spoke with a smile, her cheeks reddening a little. “I answer to him and only him.”

“This can’t be…”

Alice’s eyes were wide with shock. Sam glanced in Five’s direction and in a second she was in his arms as well. The way the ponytailed Valkyrie blushed answered the commander’s question without her having to ask it.

In a desperate attempt Alice turned to the young Valkyrie, however the moment their eyes met Zero Three averted her gaze. She remained in her place fidgeting awkwardly for a few seconds. Then, as if she was overcome with embarrassment she quickly went and hid behind Sam’s lab coat.

“Sam…”