Prologue: "The Missive"

Following Ose Ul's defeat in 8 AE, Joan Abigail Wolf—the woman who had once led the Cross Collaborative and who had become the feared Ose Ul in order to avenge her best friend—returned from the experience pregnant with twins, the result of a tryst with a slaver from whom she'd hoped to extract information. Over the next few months, the financial losses suffered by the Cross Collaborative cost Joan her free company, and she was forced to sell to avoid bankruptcy. Joan spent much of her pregnancy reinventing herself and healing from the overwhelming guilt she felt about the horrors she had committed in the name of vengeance.

W'nael Rohit, a Seeker with a mysterious past, appeared to J'hazmi'a Ngalan—a former member of the now-defunct Cross Collaborative who had sought work with his former mercenary outfit, the Steel Wolves. With his help, W'nael was able to join the Steel Wolves and became a valued member of their team. Although W'nael appeared to have her own agenda, and the stories she told about her past failed to add up, she seemed to be a generally good person, so the Steel Wolves tolerated the many, many secrets she kept.In secret and for reasons unknown to the Steel Wolves, W'nael began stalking Joan's little brother, a rogue named Seth Cross. But Seth, talented rogue that he was, soon noticed and turned the tables on W'nael, demanding to know who she was and what she wanted. It was then, and at first only to him, that W'nael revealed her true identity. Her real name was Lillian Jael Wolf—nicknamed Lily—Joan's unborn daughter and Seth's future niece, and she had traveled here from 19 years in the future in order to prevent the extinction of humanity at the hands of machines that had come from a star so far away that it was not visible from Etheirys's night skies.The first step to saving the world, Lily said, involved a reconnaissance mission to the Puppet's Bunker, where the machines would first reactivate and prepare to send a message to their homeworld informing them about the nature of Etheirys and the existence of the Source. If that message were never sent, Lily reasoned, the machines would never come.At first distrusting of Lily, Seth's husband Octavian encouraged him to help her, and Seth finally relented. Seth and Lily proceeded to the former home of the Cross Collaborative, where an active gateway to the First reflection remained active. From there, they traveled to Komra, snuck through past the dwarves, and entered the Puppet's Bunker. There, they learned that the machines were well on their way to gathering enough aether to recreate the portal that the Warrior of Light had destroyed three years earlier. Recognizing that alone they could not stop the machines, Seth and Lily returned to the Source.

With only one person left to turn to, Lily asked Jhazmi to meet with her. Once alone, Lily revealed to Jhazmi'a that she was his future goddaughter, that he was the only man to whom she would ever refer to as father—he would have raised her following her mother's death at the hands of the machines at only eight years of age—and that she needed help to end the machine threat before it ever began. Although Lily did not wish to reveal the truth about her identity to the Steel Wolves, Jhazmi'a was able to convince her to seek help from them because she was one of them and because their leader, Jadena Skye, would support any cause that she deemed just.Lily followed her godfather's advice and convinced Jadena to set the Steel Wolves' sights on the Puppet's Bunker. Once again traveling to the First, they entered the Bunker, ready to fight any threats that came their way.

Lily observes the Puppet's Bunker from a distance, her scythe over her right shoulder and ready for battle.

But the machines had been expecting them. The machine that had reactivated the Puppet's Bunker, Twelve Hunter-Killer, had also informed the regnant Red Girl about the threat that Ose Ul could pose to them. Consequently, the Red Girl had taken a sample of Ose Ul's aether from Twelve's reserves and ensured that the Bunker's sensors were ready to detect her, should she reappear. Because Lily's own aether leaned heavily towards the astral, her Darkness made her appear very much like Ose Ul to the machines' sensors. So when Lily had first reconned the facility, the machines knew they had little time to prepare a defense.The Red Girl, surprised not to see Ose Ul among the Steel Wolves' number, scanned the source of the Darkness-polarized aether and was able to determine a first-degree biological connection between Lily and Ose Ul, revealing Lily to be Joan's daughter to the rest of the Steel Wolves. Although stunned by the revelation that they had a time traveler in their midst, the Steel Wolves carried on, finally arriving in the portal room, where they faced a new and improved version of 3E in combat.

3E's Fight Theme: "Grandma – Destruction"
Composed by Kuniyuki Takahashi & Keiichi Okabe
Vocal cover by Rena

Despite being highly outnumbered, 3E held his own long enough for the machines to open the portal. A mage among the Steel Wolves' number, Syrkyth Rahavica, was able to overload the portal, destroying it, as the remainder of his party finally defeated and destroyed 3E for the final time. Believing that they had stopped the machines from sending their message to the machine homeworld—after all, the portal had only been open mere seconds—the Steel Wolves returned home and celebrated their victory.But the Steel Wolves had failed to notice the tiny ripples that demonstrated that the portal's water-like surface had been disturbed. In fact, a small, invisible data package had been sent across the vast black void, and when it arrived on the machine homeworld, its entire host surged with activity.It was so that the machines learned about the Source, and they prepared for an invasion the likes of which Etheirys had never seen.

Episode One: "Remember Lot's Wife"

The events of this episode are currently in progress...

Doctor Senryo Kodakumi, chief medical investigator chosen by Lord Hien to respond to the White Plague.

Episode One: "Remember Lot's Wife"

Epilogue

Doctor Senryo Kodakumi kisses his wife Shime, his bag already in his hand. "Wish me luck with Lord Hien."Shime kisses her husband back and smiles at him. "I'm sure he'll be receptive. He's a good man, and he loves the people of Doma. He won't let these tragedies repeat themselves. Not with the evidence you've put together."Senryo nods somberly. "That's true. Still, I worry that the young prince has too many responsibilities already, and that he'll prioritize them over this one."Shime pets her husband's face. "You'll make your case. It's all you can do. Trust in his wisdom, and in your own.""What did I ever do to deserve you?" Senryo says lovingly.Shime beams. "Only the kami will ever know." She taps him playfully on the nose as her husband laughs.Mina Kodadumi, a nine-year-old Raen girl, rushes up to her father and hugs his leg. "You're leaving already?!" she cries out. "You only just got back! Stay longer, please? Have dinner with us!"Senryo, touched, crouches in front of his daughter. "I won't be gone long. Just two hours to have a big meeting with Lord Hien. Remember him?"Mina nods soberly. "He has the X on his shoulder."Senryo laughs. "That's the one! I'm going to try to convince him of something big. But I promise I'll be back in time for dinner, OK?"Shime pets her daughter's back as Senryo outstretches his arms. "I could use a hug for good luck."Mina gives her father the tightest hug she can manage.Senryo feigns struggling as he hugs her back. "Oh wow! You've gotten so strong! Strongest little girl in the world!"Mina laughs. "Otou-san!" she says as her father kisses her on the forehead.Senryo stands. "Be good. Promise?""I will!"Senryo turns to Shime. "And no one goes into my lab. The specimen I brought back from Duoyishu shouldn't be disturbed."Shime nods. "Of course, Sen. Go. You don't want to keep the prince waiting."Senryo smiles. "I really don't." He kisses his wife on the lips, and his daughter on the forehead one last time, before heading out to meet the leader of the Doman people.

Shime had promised not to enter Senryo's laboratory, but as she swept the house clean, and as Mina played alone in her room, she thought there'd be no harm in sweeping her husband's workspace too.In Senryo's long absence from home, it had grown dusty in there.Broom in hand, Shime unlocked the laboratory door and headed downstairs. She began by sweeping the stairs on her way down, taking each step in turn and sending the dust careening downward. As she arrived at the basement floor, she noticed the beautiful white flower growing inside of a glass case. Several vines curled away from the primary stem with jagged leaves budding from its sides, each leaf lined with red material that looked very much like blood. The petals themselves looked thick and silky and bright even in the dark room.Shime was awed by the flower, but she turned away from it to turn on the basement light. "Hard to imagine that such a beautiful thing could cause so much death," she told herself, and she began to sweep the far corner of the room first.A few moments later, she was startled by the sound of breaking glass. She jerked around quickly, looking around the well-lit basement. The only thing that had changed was the case containing the flower, which had been shattered by the flower growing three times the size that it was when she'd laid eyes on it last.Shime turned her gaze up towards the basement light. Unlike her husband she was no scientist, but she knew that light helped plants to grow. Still, such growth was unnatural. Disturbed, she looked back at the plant and let out a scream as the flower, now even larger than before, had turned towards her, its stem growing so that the flower could approach her.Shime was too far from the lantern to turn it off, but her fear gripped her, and she threw her broom at the lantern. The lantern fell to the ground, clattering on the stone floor with the broom, and the room fell to darkness.When Shime's eyes adjusted to the low light of the basement laboratory, she saw that the white flower's stem had now snaked its way towards her a few fulms, although the flower itself had not grown much larger than they had before. Indeed it was the light that had been feeding it. She looked at the stairs and saw that she and the flower were equidistant from it. If she ran, she beleived she could outrun the flower. Then she would lock the door, and then she would be very cross with her husband for bringing such a monstrosity into their family home."No one goes into my lab," Shime considered Senryo's words. They had been more urgent than she'd heard, but she could never have imagined a flower so beautiful to be capable of creating in her such terror.Counting to three, she ran to the basement stairs and leaped onto the second step, ready to flee from the basement. She could see her freedom above her, the bright light of the ground floor of her family home, inviting and warm and calling for her to run towards it as fast as she could manage. She took another two steps, but her back foot was caught on something, and she fell forward, the wooden stairs rushing towards her at remarkable speed.He head hit the wood hard enough for the former to crack the latter. Dizzy, she tried to lift herself back up, but she was being pulled down, step by step, her body slamming on each as it was jerked back into the shadows of the basement. Shime gripped the steps hard, her nails digging into the wood, but the thing pulling her had enough strength to rip her nails from their roots. She left a trail of blood along the stairs, some coming from her fingers, but most from her head, as she lost focus.The last thing she felt was a stinging sensation rising upwards from her legs, as her light was taken from her.

"Okaasan?" Mina said. She'd heard screaming and commotion coming from the basement, but it was too dark down there, and she was afraid. She called out, but there was no answer. Only darkness."Okaasan..." Mina whispered, more seriously this time, as she felt her chest tighten and bile rise in her throat. She'd never known fear like this before. She'd only been three when the Garleans had been routed from Doma, seven when the Final Days harried its people, but even back then, nothing compared with the horror that gripped her now.From the darkness came a voice. It was her mother's, but something sinister in it made Mina doubt the evidence of her own horns."Mina, my dear. Why don't you come down? I would like to show you something."Hesitant and scared, Mina took a single step down. Then one more, before stopping herself. "W--what is it?""Something very, very special. You'll see. You'll see very soon."Mina frowned. Surprising herself, she cried out, "You sound scary, Okaasan!""Do as your mother says, little girl, or we shall cover you in red!" her mother shouted. At least it was her mother's voice at first, but then the motherly tone dropped, and it was replaced by an unnatural, deep bass that shook the ground as it spoke.Mina shrieked and turned back around to get out of the basement, but the door above her slammed shut so quickly that she had no time to react.Mina screamed again, then her screaming was silenced.

Senryo returned to a dark and quiet home. "Well, it seems Doman resources are locked helping the Bozjans and the Dalmascans, so there's very little left to help with the White Plague. I was probably a bit more upset than I wish I had shown, though. That was..."It was then that he realized how quiet his home was. As if the silence made the air so thick that it was hard to breathe."Shime? Mina?" he called out. They didn't answer, and he tried to convince himself that they had gone to sleep early. Quietly, so as not to disturb his family, he trekked towards his daughter's bedroom, since it was between the front door and the room that he shared with his wife."Shime?" he said again, more quietly than before. It was then that he noticed that his laboratory door was wide open, and his breath caught in his throat. He ran to the door and looked down. For a moment, he allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief, seeing that the basement was still dark. He had wanted to carefully control the flower's growth, after all, and any source of light could provide sustinance that he had starved it of once he realized how quickly the aether-rich soil he had planted it in at first had allowed it to grow.Choosing to check on the flower before his family, he took a red lamp he had made precisely for the flower from a nearby shelf and lit it. As he walked down the stairs towards the basement floor, he began to see blood. Red blood. Human blood.Senryo didn't know how to interpret the sight of blood. Or maybe he did, but he simply didn't want to and so chose not to. When he landed on the basement floor, he saw blood spattered across the walls and floor. Numb to what he was seeing, he continued to turn around, finally landing upon the sight of his daughter, standing between him and the flower, looking right at him."Mina?" he asked her. At the same time, he noticed how pale she seemed. How cold. Could this be his daughter? She looked like her, but something inside him told him to run. That the only thing he'd find in this place was death.Still, he could not force himself to leave his precious Mina behind."What are you doing here, my love?"Mina smiled. "Waiting for you, father."Senryo's heart sank. Behind his Mina, the white flower had crushed the table that it had been sitting upon. Now the size of a large dog, the glass case he had placed around it had been unable to contain it, and there was blood coating each of its white petals in speckled patterns.Senryo reached out his hand. "Come to me, Mina. That flower is dangerous."Mina's smile grew. And it grew. Her lips stretched further than they ever had before. Further than any smile should stretch.Senryo's mind couldn't make sense of what he was seeing. Unable to think, he simply asked, "Where is your mother?"Mina's smile curled up, and it looked as hungry as it was sinister. "Mother helped the white flower grow. Would you like to see?"Senryo shook his head, let out a short, desperate cry, and dropped the lamp to the floor. As the darkness closed in around him, he witnessed the vines of the flower's thick stem reach out for him.The last thing he heard was his daughter's voice as it became distorted, curdling into a deep, horrible, playful resonance."Let the Watchers sing." Then she laughed and laughed and laughed.

The Red Girl, created by the White Flower from the body of Mina Kodakumi, outside her human predecessor's family home.

Episode Two: "My Own Worst Enemy"

The events of this episode are currently in progress...