[i]The blinding light from the blue sphere dims, allowing [b]Dragoon[/b] to regain his vision. He was in the same room as before, but the group he entered with was gone. [b]Contrast[/b] and [b]Repetition[/b], however, remained in the room.[/i] [b]Contrast[/b]: “Thanks for listening to me by moving away from the squadron. You’re a wise little one.” [b]Dragoon-647[/b]: “I don’t know your history, but maybe if you enlightened me, I’ll consider not destroying this big blue orb.” [i][b]Dragoon[/b] points his crimson sword at the blue sphere.[/i] [b]Contrast[/b]: “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Destroy it, and we all blow up. Running away isn’t a good idea either.” [i][b]Dragoon[/b] turns to [b]Repetition[/b] while keeping his sword up.[/i] [b]Dragoon-647[/b]: “Do you have any idea what he’s doing?” [b]Repetition[/b]: “Answer: Of course I do. He’s done what he always intended to do. The mission was never to destroy this ship, it was to—“ [b]Contrast[/b]: “Enough! I’ll answer your questions later, but for now, I have a task for you.” [b]Dragoon-647[/b]: “And if I refuse?” [b]Contrast[/b]: “Just listen.” [i][b]Contrast[/b] starts circling the blue sphere.[/i] [b]Contrast[/b]: “Y’see, I was confident that the buffoons I hired would be able to successfully scavenge a broken, watered down realm that was being maintained by another buffoon. While I still got some of the things I needed, I was hoping that they could cross off another thing on my list, which was killing Alignment so he could no longer get in my way. Your job is now to assist me in that endeavor.” [b]Dragoon-647[/b]: “And how am I supposed to do that?” [b]Contrast[/b]: “This ship can manufacture droids that gain information about realms that can be raided. They also double as homing devices for the ship’s weapon systems. I will be sending a few of these drones to Gray Sector shortly. You’re going to make sure that Alignment doesn’t destroy them.” [b]Dragoon-647[/b]: “You seem to forget that Alignment allowed us to meet in the first place. If he hadn’t invited me to his Maze class, we wouldn’t have met. He also allowed me to keep my sword, Crimson, even though he didn’t approve of the modifications you made to it. I owe you one, but I owe him one as well. Besides, why go through all of this trouble to get rid of one person?” [b]Contrast[/b]: “Because he’s the only one left who knows anything about me and the Reckoners. If he gets wise and alerts other realms about me, such as that ‘OffTopic’ place, then I could be in trouble. This ship is in the state it’s in for a reason, y’know. Enough questions. Time for your decision. Spoiler alert: you’re going to help me one way or another.” [b]Dragoon-647[/b]: “What do you mean?” [b]Contrast[/b]: “If you refuse, you’ll have to end up like the rest.” [i][b]Contrast[/b] places his hand on the blue sphere again. After it glows again, holes open up in the walls. From the holes emerge large pods that contain [b]Proximity[/b], [b]Emphasis[/b], [b]Dominance[/b] and the mercenaries that [b]Contrast[/b] hired.[/i] [b]Dragoon-647[/b]: “What did you do to them?” [b]Contrast[/b]: “I turned them into some extra batteries for the ship. At least, for now. I might have other uses for them soon. So, will you assist me voluntarily, or end up like them?” [i][b]Dragoon[/b] lowers his sword.[/i] [b]Dragoon-647[/b]: “Fine. How can I slow him down?” [i][b]Contrast[/b] uses the sphere again. Machinery from inside of the walls shake and sputter, causing a cacophony of beeps and whirs. A few seconds later, a humanoid robot enters the room. It looks similar to [b]Repetition[/b], but less advanced.[/i] [b]Contrast[/b]: “This is one of the droids I was referring to. I’ll have to drop him from orbit once I make some quick repairs to this ship using the energy of the people in the pods. Once that happens, Alignment will surely notice. You must make sure that he and his ‘students’ don’t interfere with its scanning process. As for how you do that, I don’t care. Distract him, sabotage him, fight him, or even kill him. I don’t expect you to do that last part, but I would very much like that. Once the drone is done scanning, the ship will enter Gray Sector and assimilate it while killing Alignment. I trust that you can do that, right?” [b]Dragoon-647[/b]: “No witnesses, I presume?” [i][b]Contrast[/b] grins widely.[/i] [b]Contrast[/b]: “Yeah. No witnesses.” [i][b]Contrast[/b] releases his hand from the blue sphere and walks away from it.[/i] [b]Contrast[/b]: “Your efforts will guarantee my victory. And with my victory, we will continue to rise and reach the apex of all beings in all realms!” [b]Dragoon-647[/b]: “What do you mean ‘we’? Are you a ‘Reckoner’?” [b]Contrast[/b]: “First of all, I’d like to remove that term. ‘Reckoner’ is the term that Alignment made up.” [i]The people with the blue gems in their foreheads slowly enter the room one by one with blank expressions staying on their faces.[/i] [b]Contrast[/b]: “[b][i]WE[/i][/b] are not ‘Reckoners’. [b][i]WE[/i][/b] are the [b][u]Grand Colony[/u][/b]!” [spoiler]Fades Away[/spoiler]