It's Turbin' Time (Library of Ruina Modded/Arknights)

Interlude: Time

It is night. Two figures walk through the corridors of Rhodes Island. One of them leaves strange footsteps.

Clink, clink, clank.

The sound of metal boots on the metal floor. The cameras cannot properly see these figures. Were one to look into the correct camera for this exact corridor... they would see nothing- nothing but looped footage. Only one of them has a visible body. A young man, carrying a mop- then a young woman in chef's clothing, and then the Officer-in-Charge of the Rhodes Island Medical Deparment- Kal'tsit. Then, they switch back to the chef. Her hair is white, but her face is obscured by a black bar.

"…did you really have to get me to bring you here?" she asks.

"Yes. Are you nervous, Linette?" asks a deep, robotic voice.

The woman sighs.

"Dodging S.W.E.E.P isn't an easy task, you know. I've been on thin ice for the last month. I don't think the identity of a janitor is going to last long if I keep using it for things like this." she switches back to Kal'tsit, and mutters something.

"H-hmph. I will conduct scientific examinations on you at regular intervals, recording your vital signs and state of consciousness. Others do not have this authority. If anyone wishes to conduct an examination on you, you have the right to refuse. Do you understand?" Linette says, in a voice that is not hers.

She snaps her fingers.

"Yeah, I think that's what she sounds like. Almost getting that woman's voice nailed down. By the way, how did you get all that information on the network structure, Lech?"

The aforementioned "Lech," takes a brief pause. His body is almost entirely covered by metal prosthetics. His very face has been replaced by some sort of visor, and the slit in the visor shines with purple light. He is supported by a silver cane.

"I worked here before. A long time ago. Though it used to have a different name." says the cyborg. "…arrange for "Jake," to get fired from his job as a janitor. Rhodes Island is soon to dock. You can make your escape after this occurs. No one will be any wiser, I believe. And put some more seriousness- you sound almost too happy."

Linette clicks her tongue.

"Yeah, sounds about right. Girl's sounds like a real no-fun-allowed type of gal. I can trust that you'll be there to pick me up when that happens? What about Sleepy and Nicole?"

...Sleepy, and Nicole Teene. Enam and Piernascie- Fifteen and Fourteen. They have walked their own paths to find Rhodes Island. They have yet to find any other person of their Office- but they remain driven to attain this goal.

"Sleepy and Nicole are getting used to their life as Rhodes Island Operators. Do not enter contact with them unless strictly necessary. How is your identity as the Mirrored Knight? Our finances have taken a hit. Perhaps you could compete in the upcoming Major."

Linette's face remains obscured, but the displeasure at being reminded of her time in Kazmierz is obvious in her features. It is not a set of memories she finds pleasant.

"Okay, I guess. If Degenbrecher isn't going to be there to shatter my ribs into a mist, like she did to me for two Majors in a row... then I guess Knighthood can't be that bad of a gig… my sponsors dropped me, though. I haven't gone to the recent Major. Think the Nearl girl won it. But it shouldn't be trouble getting them back, everyone loved me. What about you? What did you want to do here?"

Lech's visor twitches.

"It is something of personal significance. Just… paying my respects. Please open the door, Linette. As for the first question, I will be checking up on Reunion. Nine will require assistance in rebuilding the organization."

Rhodes Island Integrated Bioprocessing Unit, the small plaque on the side of the door reads.

The locked door opens with a hissing noise.

"…It's done." notes the shapeshifter.

"Thank you, Linette."

"It's… a warehouse? Fuck, there's a ton of stuff. Weapons, armor…"

"Please do not touch anything. We are not to leave a trail. I will remain here for a few minutes."

The cyborg takes a clock from his suit pocket, and places it in Linette's hand.

"In around one hour, thirty-four minutes, and thirty-five seconds, Gladiia, Ægir technology consul, Honorary Army leader, and the chief combat strategist of the Ægir military organization "Abyssal Hunters," will land on the Rhodes Island landship."

The clock has the same color as Lech's metallic skin.

"In one hour, forty-two minutes, and eleven seconds, she will enter contact with her fellow Hunters, Skadi and Specter.

Yet, its hands do not move. The clock is stopped.

"In two hours and twenty-five minutes, the Hunter known as Skadi will leave Rhodes Island. That will be my opportunity to leave. In the ensuing confusion that will be created, thanks to the passenger of this ship known as Specter, who, as you have discovered in your period of infiltration, is an Oripathy patient carrying enough Originium in her spine to infect a country. She will disappear, and will make my exit. In the meanwhile, you need not worry. You will return to your quarters and prepare to get yourself fired."

Linette lets out a growl- assuming the form of an old, wizened Inquisitor.

"...you're really channeling Sieg here. I don't like you trying to play boss, Lech. We both know you don't get to pull rank on me. I've worked in Turbulence for longer then you."

There is a minute of silence. Then, the tentacled Seaborn creature- whose face is obscured by a black bar- lets out a hissing noise, almost like a sort of strangled, gooey laugh. Then, the woman in chef's clothing is back there again.

"Come on, I'm just pulling your leg. See ya, Lech."

"You really haven't changed, Linette. See you soon."

Linette walks away, slipping right back into the old identity of the janitor with practiced ease. Utterly forgettable, utterly unremarkable. One of the many little people who keep everything working behind the scenes. Reserve Operators, engineers... these masks are so utterly trivial to slip into, and yet so convenient. Had she chosen to enter Rhodes Island by taking the facade of an actual Operator, S.W.E.E.P would have rooted Linette out already.

They have come close, in many occasions. Lech knew that, had he not come to intervene and get Linette out of Rhodes Island, she would have gotten just a tiny little bit too greedy- and her secret would have been revealed. There was, according to your own predictions based in what you knew of Abyssal Hunters and the capacities of Rhodes Island's internal defenses, a roughly three in four chance of her escape from Rhodes Island ending in her capture, without your intervention. A one in twelve chance of an escape attempt ending in her death.

If Beats was here, he could have provided a much better plan and much better predictions. But it seems that the internal security had gotten better since the old days.

Linette stops.

"By the way, this is your Arts unit, no?" she asks, pointing at the stopped clock. Lech nods, then lifts up his hand in a "kind of" gesture. "One of them. Right, forgot about the cane. Bomb?"

"Insurance." says the cyborg.

She smiles. Nevertheless, it does not matter anyway. Insurance is often one of those rare products that is bought in the hopes that it is never used. Then, she continues her path.

The man known as Lech walks all the way to the corner of the room.

In that very same corner, someone has placed a shield. It is burned, scratched, and partially melted. In its center, proudly stands the Rhodes Island logo. Yet, it is kept clean. Someone has taken immaculate care of this shield. Day after day, someone has descended here to make it sure it remains in as pristine of a condition as possible.

By its side, someone has left a bottle of beer.

"…Ace. It has been a long time."