Kazuki fell unconscious. That much Eliza could tell. It was a rather strange sight, to her at least. He didn't move a muscle in slumber. Eliza sat beside the bedside in the infirmary.

Pi was sleeping on top of Kazuki, he wouldn't leave him.

She has to pick up the pace… She has to assert herself! Eliza couldn't just let Kazuki burden the whole mission.

The doors phased open, and a white-haired knight stepped through. She nodded at Eliza, her eyes piercing straight through her. "May I have a word?" she asked.

Eliza stood up, "Of course—"

"—Don't stand, it'll only take a moment," Lady Antiar continued. Her eyes gazed down at Kazuki, giving it an awkward glare. Kazuki didn't seem to care that Lady Antiar despised him, still: her dogma didn't sit quite right with Eliza. "Those robots, you know anything about them?"

"Well... They're security robots, right? Sorry, I... I'm not exactly well versed on them." Eliza shrugged, apologising as well.

'My scans indicated that they were… hacked only recently,' said Synthia. 'Though, I was rather occupied with trying not to get my students killed, so take that as you may.'

"Hmm." Lady Antiar mumbled to herself. "Interesting…"

'My databanks don't go back quite as long as I'd like, however,' Synthia admitted.

"They protected the Palace during the Intergalactic Crisis, Royal, Imperial, Republic, Free Oversector? Didn't matter. Either way: they're outdated. The old link code would have corrupted them. Did anything happen before this? Anything that would have placed a target on you or… him?" Lady Antiar crossed her arms.

"Not exactly..." Eliza trailed off. Wait! There was the Jara-Jins... But that was organised by the Marquis. Fer-Charelota would not so easily allow such information to be released, Eliza thought, especially if it included both her and Kazuki. The obvious choice was Obadiah… Yet something in her heart told her otherwise. "I did speak to umm..."

"Obadiah?" asked Lady Antiar, with an exasperated voice. "Dammit..." She placed a hand on her forehead.

Eliza raised an eyebrow. "Wait... Do you truly think that—"

"—No. Maybe. I'll see that this is... properly investigated." Lady Antiar's eyes turned to a scowl, as the jewels along the various necklaces around her head glowed. She then muttered to herself, "Dammit… Confident Triarch fool…"

Eliza's eyes widened at the sight of her jewels, shuffling slightly backwards in her seat.

Lady Antiar quickly took note and said, "They're just for show." She placed a finger on one of the jewels.

She placed her hand out, showing her glove, with a jewel emblazed and woven into it on her backhand. "I'm here to help, not to harm. I can assure you of your safety in these halls."

"Does... Sari jewellery normally glow?" asked Eliza.

Raising an eyebrow, Lady Antiar's tone changed to a more inquisitive one, though maybe she was just surprised at the question. "No? It's merely the Detonation Shard, I use the others to regulate volatility."

It felt quite surreal to be in the presence of a Hazard Shard, let alone a Hazard User. She shuddered at the sight and the explanation. The implication that it was more like an uncontrollable and eternal flame rather than a mastered light sent a small chill down her back.

"Volatility?"

"The Explosion Shard is destructive to a fault, especially for the storage of chemical energy. Far more than the others. I use my customary jewellery to burden the load," Lady Antiar said. She flexed her gloves and knuckledusters, and the ignition sparks spun, empowered by the Shard along the Knight's forehead. "The Marquis also has sent his regards and apologies but cannot make it in person."

"That's understandable," Eliza said. He must be quite busy with what had just happened, especially since it targeted two people he was at least acquainted with.

"As an apology, he has provided the two of you high-grade Kasté Elderan Wine," she said. "And… I am to see to your safety, for the time being…"

Rather useless, given how Kazuki doesn't drink. "Send the Marquis my thanks," said Eliza. Lady Antiar merely nodded.

"I'll leave you two be, I have added my security buzzer to your uplink," said Lady Antiar, flicking her uplink on and sending Eliza a message. Eliza caught it, seeing that it was a direct call to Lady Antiar. The Knight stepped back. "Don't tell him I was here."

She turned back towards the door. The words have broken open a dam of questions, as Eliza spoke up, "What is it with you and him?"

Lady Antiar stopped in the door frame. She turned back to Eliza, with an ever-present scowl. Despite its gaze upon her, she could feel that the destination was against Kazuki. "You're alien to the industry of crime and mercs, aren't you?"

"Perhaps." Eliza didn't want to disclose that she was working with Kazuki in more ways than simply this investigation.

Nodding, Lady Antiar paused. Did she see through her white lie? "Criminals and mercs backstab each other all the time. Contracts exist to stop that. Put some law and order through the chaos," said Lady Antiar. "You already know the rest..."

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"It's as equal as sacrosanct," said Eliza. "Enforceable beyond the law."

"Contracts of all types... Promises, legal documents, blood oaths... I guess I have my ancestors to thank for that," Lady Antiar bit off at the end, her eyes holding a level of contempt.

What does Lady Antiar know? Lady Antiar was... his second in the negotiations, but she didn't seem to want to be there.

"You were by Obadiah's side, why?" asked Eliza.

Lady Antiar grumbled. "I too am bound to contracts, Elizabeth," she said. "Multiple contracts. Seven Merc, Seven Crim, you understand not."

Something feels off, a bit strange on all levels - beyond anything she could comprehend. Lady Antiar seemed to be the muscle, or at least some form of servitude to Obadiah… But why? Obadiah was powerful, but to get a Knight, none other than Lady Antiar, Fifth of the Criminals, herself?!

"Contracts... Kazuki's more than just a Contract-Breaker," said Eliza. She stood up once again. "He… broke his contract for something he…" Eliza paused.

Was it truly just for her? But why?! They had barely known each other for a year by that point. Why was Kazuki willing to do so much to protect her?

Time and time again…

Eliza could never have placed her thumb on it.

Lady Antiar answered, "It doesn't matter why. I know exactly what he is. My advice, get away from him. He'll get you killed one day. Don't worry about looking after him, he's a Seven Merc, might be a kid but we Seven on either side are always alone. It's a harsh job. It's the understanding that you will never live a normal life. Kazuki knows that. Get that into your head."

"And what about you?! You live a... you seem to live a normal life here, at the Palace," Eliza corrected herself.

"Do I?" inquired Lady Antiar. "Imperial Knights rarely live normal lives. Our order was founded by Crusaders, hired to defend the Ball Palace after the Crusades... We have many outposts across the galaxy, upholding law and order... Even clashed with a few crusader groups turned outlaw – those are rare, though."

Lady Antiar crossed her arms and sighed, to Eliza, it seemed like Lady Antiar was releasing a heavy burden from her chest.

"Only a Knight can make another Knight... We have archaic practices, whenever the Squires graduate, they are Knighted, Sirs and Dames... You have those back on Enga, don't you?" asked Lady Antiar.

Eliza gave a slow nod. "It's merely ceremonial, though..."

"And to us... Knighthood means everything... it's the idea of it, the... idea of justice and honour," Lady Antiar seemed almost scoffing at herself. "It's an insane notion for us Imperial Knights to betray it... Yet we did it many times, betraying our fellow Crusaders and the Empire to survive... And here we are."

She stepped out of the room, giving a slight bow, and phased the door shut, leaving Eliza alone with her thoughts. She stopped in a moment of silence. Lady Antiar's not stupid, and she seems to know what she's talking about.

Despite the apparent wisdom in her words, Eliza merely chalked it up to the stigma of being a Contract-Breaker. He's been shouted at, and ridiculed in front of people - even though he fights for them. And on top of that Kazuki was a member of the Seven Mercenaries, the Heptagia of Contractors.

Was that why he slinks away? Is that why Eliza rarely sees him smile? Kazuki burdens himself with too many things, Eliza thought.

Where's the justice in that? This has to be why Kazuki's always so cynical, simply an understanding that he's a tool…

A tool for her, maybe? Eliza's glistening rose-red eyes fell onto Kazuki's sleeping body.

Just... what does she do? Does she tell Kazuki? Well... Eliza did feel like Kazuki was keeping some things to himself, after all, he did say as much after the Loyalist Crisis.

Probably for the best, she assumed, Lady Antiar was on their side after all. There was still much that Eliza was unaware of. She hated it. That feeling of the unknown, normally she could dispel it with research and understanding. But how can she understand any of this?

Eliza's eyes glanced down at Kazuki, seemingly at peace. "What do I do... Kaz?" Eliza asked. No response, as expected, though he was obviously unconscious from his injuries. "Of course... you'd know what to do, right? Right? Just... do I do, Kaz?"

No response. Eliza sighed.

She stretched back to him, sitting him up before looking over at his exospine. His head drooped forward. "Sorry..." Eliza murmured, as she took out a small toolkit, and once more: started work.

"Why is it... you..." Eliza murmured. "Why you? Why are you helping me...?" She stopped for a moment, before continuing. There was no point in asking.

'I believe there may be more than what you're asking of him,' Synthia suggested, propping up on Eliza's shoulder. 'But, once again… I am sure the situation is rather delicate, especially for a person of his status.'

Synthia then helped Eliza point out locations to fix. Eliza replied, "I know, just focus on this for now, I'd be annoying if he woke up before the repairs were finished."

The exospine was damaged, as always, yet Eliza knew how to fix it up – just a smidge here and there. She looked through the complicated and small components, reconnecting them and refining the solders.

Here, with cybernetics, Eliza felt at ease... She knew how to do this, she'd been training and learning all her life, with knowledge ranging from cogitators and thermal ionising techniques to everything else she held true.

But that was different here, this place... It was suffocating. "I'm sorry," she murmured once more to an unconscious Kaz.

She was out of her depth. Yet that was no excuse to not push all that she had into this endeavour. Kazuki's gotten them this far, she'll need to help out in, any way that she can.

Synthia projected out from Eliza's uplink, looking rather displeased. 'I know you do not wish for me to distract you so oft, but… I am aware of when my beloved student feels an overly amount of mental pain.'

"Huh?" Eliza stared back, confused.

'Those drones… Look, I know you're a rather talented person, especially when push comes to shove, but you were lucky they didn't fry your brain,' Synthia scolded Eliza, who frowned. 'But good job… You did quite well, controlling them.'

The frown turned into a smile. "It wasn't exactly my first time, to be honest!" Eliza was happy to have found something positive in this mess. Pi snuggled closer to Kazuki in her sleep, letting a small bout of steam from her nostrils.

Even after everything, Eliza still needed to prove herself. Not only to herself but to Kazuki. He's done so much, it feels almost criminal for her to simply rely on him.

Despite that, Eliza smiled, knowing that the ball was starting to roll. Kaz and her are equal partners in the investigation! Eliza filled herself with a streak of confidence and optimism, pushing her cheeks up into a wider grin, thinking that she'd take some sort of serious role in this.

"Can you do this?" Eliza asked herself, and an uneasy feeling started to choke her.

Despite that, her steady hands kept up the work, fixing up the gears and vertebrae along Kazuki's exospine. All the while, the sleeping Phoenixes lie lifeless.

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