An outsider might have wondered at the silence. Surely it wasn't normal for two teenagers to be enclosed in a fairly small room and not talk. The only sounds were the occasional rustling of paper, small electronic noises from Add's current project, and the ever-present scratching of Elesis' pen.

Add's Dynamo were still, projecting screens into the air around their creator. They hovered in anticipation of a second command, but none came – Add seemed to be doing his own dirty work, which was a rarity. His Starfall drone lay in front of him, one piece of plating neatly set aside as he played with the internal wiring.

Elesis was running a finger over the new cut on her cheekbone. It hurt, but in a masochistic kind of way, she couldn't stop agitating the injury. Her pen scratched out her report of the recent fight. We had barely gotten past the rouge Kenaz when a small, incredibly powerful demon set upon us. It summoned black holes that all but destroyed us. It may have looked like a chubby, bouncing suit of armor, but in hindsight, it appears to be a powerful Demon Lord.

She read over what she had written, then finally spoke.

"What was it that made your drone malfunction?"

"If I knew, it would be fixed," Add responded tightly. "As it is, the drone appears to be in perfect order, kek."

"Then why the hell wouldn't it work?" Elesis mused aloud, leaning her chair back onto two legs. She tipped her head all the way back, ignoring the pain in her face as she focused on Add's white ponytail.

There was no response to her query except for a single twitching Dynamo.

"Right, you have a complex with admitting that you don't know something." The Dynamo twitched again, and she continued, almost to herself. "Well, I can't count on your drones when I go back."

"What makes you think you're going back?" Add asked dispassionately, turning around.

Elesis rolled her eyes, then sat forward and turned around properly.

"I need to know how to lead the Red Knights past this thing." Her tone brooked no argument. "It's sweet that you're concerned, but I need information from a first-hand account."

"Tch." Add dismissed his data screens, quickly walking over to Elesis. The Blazing Heart calmly watched him approach, keeping a tight hold on the fire that wanted to leap out and burn the insane tracer for daring to come near its host.

The point of a Dynamo slipped under her chin to lift up her face. Add was standing with one hand on his hip, Dynamos circled around him. Scarlet eyes met magenta unflinchingly.

Add studied Elesis' face for a minute, then leaned forward and ghosted his finger over the cut under her eye. Elesis involuntarily winced away, and Add let her, his features morphing into an expression of wary concern.

"I'm fine." Elesis hurried to reassure him, then pressed her point. "You do understand, though, right? I can't let the people under my command die. They look to me for protection and leadership. I can't let them down." Fire flickered at her hand as she recalled a time in Feita when her entire force had nearly been killed. The only thing that had stopped it had been Elesis' fire. "I won't let them down."

"No, I don't understand." Add made no attempt to regulate his harsh tone. "I don't see why you don't send your knights ahead before you, to scout out the area and bring back information. It's illogical for you to go yourself, keke. You might be hurt, or killed!"

"Aww, Add. You care," Elesis said teasingly. Add felt a gentle hand on his chest, pushing him away as Elesis turned back to her report. He took a stunted step back.

"Of course I care," he muttered. "You're, kek, useful to me."

Elesis' pen started scratching at the paper again. Add studied her for a second – the downward tilt of her head was more pronounced, and her shoulders were tense. Her pen nearly broke through the paper as she wrote.

He wondered what he had said to offend her.

I'll end up making it worse if I try to talk now, he decided, and returned to his work, feeling vaguely uncomfortable with the chilly silence. And maybe I'm worrying for nothing. Dynamo: Input Elesis' fighting algorithm...

Hours passed, and the lab darkened. Somewhere along the way, the silence had returned to its normal level of warmth, though it wasn't quite as comfortable as it had been before.

Elesis looked up from her book once she could no longer make out the words, the report long-finished and set aside. "It's getting dark," she noted, her tone neutral.

Add didn't reply, delicately twisting wires around the tiny generator he had built in the past hour. If he did it wrong, the circuit would blow, and he would have to redo the entire thing.

Elesis' chair scraped on the floor as she stood up, gathering her materials together. The pen and ink were both Add's, so she left them where they were. The book she had been reading also belonged to Add, but she hesitated to put it back.

"Can I borrow this?" she asked when she saw Add straighten up to survey his work. One of his Dynamos scanned her to see what it was that she wanted to borrow.

"I want it back, kek, after you're done."

"Sure. I'll return it tomorrow, after I defeat Spriggan." Elesis tucked the book and completed report under her arm, walking to the door. "Bye, A- Add?"

Four Dynamos had suddenly flashed in front of her, holding her back from the door. Elesis leaned forward, hoping to break free, but the Dynamos had been designed for weights much heavier than one teenage girl.

"Add?" she asked in confusion.

"Don't go to fight Spriggan again, keke."

Elesis turned around, puzzled as to why Add would ask that. The Mastermind stood only a few feet away from her, scar glinting in the dimness.

"It's too strong, kek. You'll be killed," he said quietly. His remaining two Dynamos quivered behind him, the only outward sign of his agitation.

Elesis smiled. "I'm stronger than I look, you know," she said. "I'll be fine." She turned to leave, but the Dynamos were still blocking her way.

"You won't be fine. You'll lose."

The certainty in Add's tone made the Blazing Heart stop again. "What do you mean?"

Add's quick footsteps came up behind her. The two Dynamos that weren't busy restraining her began to project a screen in front of Elesis.

"I did the calculations. It's statistically impossible for you, with your current style of fighting and level of power, to win a solo fight against Spriggan."

Elesis watched the screen as a simulation ran. An incredible likeness of her ran around a stage, throwing fire at Spriggan and slashing it with a claymore, but to no avail. A giant black hole opened midair, Spriggan's true form was released, and the Elesis figure died with a minimum of fuss.

"Every time I run the simulation, it's the same result, kek." Add spoke up again. "You simply don't have the skills required to destroy hovering obstacles."

Elesis stared at the now-blank screen, not even registering Add's breath stirring her hair. It shocked her a bit, that she could die so easily in a simulation. The worst part was that a small voice at the back of her mind kept saying that Add was right. She had experienced the horrible power of that demon once before. The analytical, strategic part of her mind could easily ratify the simulation.

But her fire and her pride urged her on, telling her that she was unstoppable, saying that Add didn't know what he was talking about. He was just a scientist, right? What would he know about combat, about the horrors of almost having your people die in front of you? Her fire saved her from that in Feita, why wouldn't her fire be able to save her now?

But then again... Add was the smartest person she'd ever met. He might actually know what he was talking about. And the simulation...

Add waited while Elesis struggled with herself, checking his trace on Eve to occupy his mind. She and her party were nearly to Velder. Maybe he could get her alone and extract her codes during her stay...

Finally, Elesis lowered her head and sighed.

"What would increase my chances of success?" she asked softly.

Add grinned, silently commanding his Dynamo to input the variables for the next simulation. "Your one percent chance increases to nearly forty percent if I add my skills to yours," he explained as the screen showed both the Mastermind and the Blazing Heart fighting Spriggan. "And, kek, that increases to fifty-six percent if we follow one of two strategies my Dynamo have worked out."

Elesis was silent for a few more seconds, then she closed her eyes and let out a quiet breath. "I suppose that's a better chance," she muttered.

Add's Dynamo moved away from Elesis and back to their places circling his waist. Now there was nothing stopping Elesis from walking out, but she stayed put.

She pivoted to face Add. He was relieved to see the spark beginning to re-kindle in her eyes. That in turn worried him – why would he be concerned about a girl who was the sister of King Nasod's destroyer?

"So, what's this strategy of yours?" Elesis asked, and Add had no more time to dwell on his feelings.