Archive of Our Own ^beta

LOOP 1

“Don't doubt. Don't be afraid. Just know. Knowledge will save all.”

LOOP 3

Technically, it wasn't the first time they'd met. Setsu had met everyone here as they'd all escaped from Liu-An, and that included the one who'd saved Setsu. So, Setsu had a vague idea of what she was like before the discussions on the Gnosia had begun... the first time.

You see, having been blasted by shrapnel from a detonating conveyor engine in the process of hitting a hapless Gnosia in the head with a diving kick, bellowing “RIDER KIIIIICK!” as she did so, the woman only had a coy thumbs up and a “Don't worry, lady, I've crawled out of hell before” to give Stella as she carried her onto the D.Q.O. That was enough to leave at least something of an impression.

The first time they'd properly met, then, would probably be when the discussions began, and this odd woman had started acting as though she knew Setsu... while at the same time displaying a debate acumen unlike anything else. It was almost enough to get Setsu to think that she was Gnosia herself at the time.

...And then Setsu had nearly died, only being saved by whatever in the world this odd woman did, only to wake up at the start of the first round of debates with everyone present again and be summarily sent into cold sleep for having spaced out for an entire day. So there they were, walking in the halls, following a quick round of debate in which Jonas had been sent into cold sleep. “LeVi,” Setsu said, “where's Kei?”

“She is currently in the Dining Room with Shigemichi,” LeVi chimed in.

“Thank you,” Setsu said. They walked quickly, their footsteps pounding through the corridors.

“—okay no, you're doing it wrong—” And they came in to something they completely did not understand. Shigemichi's arms were being bent into different shapes, and he was making faces of some sort at a reflective surface. “—yeah yeah, there you go, that's the smoulder.”

“Hey, Stella,” Shigemichi said into his own reflection, “I was wondering if, uh... y'know.” He had a smug-looking grin on his face as he tried desperately to do... something. “If you might like to... grab a drink with me sometime?”

“Actually, on second thought, the fact that you don't have eyebrows is making that look awkward. Lemme, uh—”

“Kei,” Setsu said.

This... duo turned around simultaneously, Kei's hands on Shigemichi's arms as though she were about to put some kind of top on him. It was worth mentioning here a particular facet of Kei's—not that a woman walking around with pure black sunglasses in the void of space and a fluttering red scarf around her neck, with a long-sleeve, pure-white, ruffled, lantern-sleeved button-up, tight, sheer-black leggings, and old-fashioned, hand-tied black-and-white sneakers—

That thought went on rather long, and Setsu needed to put a pin in it by saying that even a layman to women's fashion like Setsu, who 1. was not a woman, 2. was military, and 3. barely knew anything about the wider universe of fashion outside of their own tastes period, knew that Kei was the sort of woman who had opted to make a statement by managing to dress in a manner that struck Setsu as out-of-touch.

She had a skintone not too unlike Setsu's own, but just a touch darker, and by the intricacies of the coloration Setsu placed her from somewhere in the Hakaji system originally. Kei no doubt valued her appearance, as the features of her face tended to be at least a little bit made up—not to the degree of SQ or Raqio, of course, but enough to make the occasional toothy grin blindingly bright, as her thin lips and face did little to block the occasional glint she managed to get off of her teeth.

Kei was a bit shorter than Setsu, but she had broader shoulders that her body language implied she attempted to de-emphasize. She wasn't small or weak by any means, obviously—'wiry' was the right word. Lithe, aerodynamic, the sort of person who could make a jumping kick like that work. Not small-chested, by the standards of the Hakaji system, solidly middle of the road if Setsu had to judge it. She was a chestnut brunette, and had a shoulder-length bob cut with a solid amount of volume, the ends soft and smoothly-rounded.

Which brought Setsu back to that particular feature. Kei had one particular strand of hair that stuck up no matter how anyone tried to put it back down. It was an emotive strand of hair. Casually, one would call that bedhead, but ones so stubborn as Kei's emotive hair were lovingly, and a little frustratingly, referred to as ahoge—'stupid hair'.

Setsu filed this information away in case Kei's physical details were relevant to defeat them in a fight for whatever reason. With that said—“Howdy, pardner,” Kei said, her ahoge bending into a question-mark shape. “What can I do you for?”

“What are you... doing?” Setsu asked.

Kei stepped to the side and gestured with both hands at Shigemichi, who had turned back to the mirror to continue... grimacing at himself, or whatever. “Shigemichi needed some advice on how to knock 'em dead.”

“Unless you're Gnosia,” Setsu said, “I would recommend not murdering anyone aboard this ship.”

“Wait, what?!” Shigemichi started back up and swiveled on his feet to do a double-take at Kei. “You're trying to make me kill her?!”

“It's a turn of phrase, Setsu,” Kei said. “Romantically knock 'em dead. I'm giving Shigemichi tips on how to capture a lady's heart.”

Setsu blinked. “Why?”

“Well, would you rather he went to Sha-Ming?” Kei scoffed. Setsu... couldn't argue with that, they supposed. “You need something?”

“Yes,” Setsu said. They breathed in and frowned, “I need to... speak with you. In private. Now.”

“Oh, okay,” Kei said, raising her sunglasses and letting her eyes (of a similar color to her hair, incidentally) show. She grinned, then turned around to pat Shigemichi on the shoulder. “Remember, buddy, you got this. Right?” She nodded with a heavy intensity.

Shigemichi let out a heavy breath, then nodded back at Kei, matching her intensity. “Yeah. I got this. I got this! Yeah!”

“Why was Shigemichi looking for romantic advice?” Setsu asked, once Kei had come to their room. She sat down on the bed as Setsu took their own desk chair.

“He's in love with Stella,” Kei said. She smiled. “And I like the guy! I support him in all his romantic endeavors, you feel me?” Then, as though she'd been in here plenty of times before, she leaned back on the bed and made herself right at home. “So, what's up this time?”

“...'This time'?” Setsu said. Their lips puckered. “Excuse me? You've never been in my room before.”

There was a moment's pause.

“Oh,” Kei said. “Oh! Oh, wow. I mean—“ Her ahoge started waving back and forth, and she started laughing to herself. “I mean, I guess eventually I had to get to the first time I was in your room from your perspective.”

From her—Setsu raised their hands up. “Slow down. I don't understand anything that's going on. What was that thing you used to save my life? How have I returned to the past, twice?”

It was best not to ask too many questions up front, so Setsu cut themself off there. Kei's face moved through a number of expressions quite quickly, but what she wound up on was quite serious. “Okay. Well, I knew I was gonna get to this. You know, eventually. You said twice? So you remember the, uh—right, you do. Okay.” Breathe in, breathe out. “So we're stuck in a time loop.”

Setsu blinked. Once, twice. “What?”

Then—Kei produced 'that thing'. Floating above her outstretched palm was that thing that she'd shown to Setsu—

“This is the Silver Key,” Kei said. “Or, 'a' Silver Key, I guess. You have one too, now. It's what lets us loop. Each time we do, we start from when the Gnosia were first discovered on the ship, but the number of people there, who's what roles, it all changes each time. This is my...” She paused for a moment to count inside her head. “...148th loop.”

A number that large was not something Setsu had expected to be struck with. “Why—Why are we stuck in a time loop?”

“That,” Kei said, retracting her Key to wherever it came from, then raising her finger, “is a great question!” She crossed her arms and hummed. “Right, right. Okay, I probably tell you this now. It's because of this Key. It's... like, so basically it's an organism that feeds on information, so it jumps us back and forth in time so we can learn more about the other crew members. As for how this whole thing got started...”

Then, Kei trailed off into silence. “I... okay, so time travel is complicated, but I think there's a lot of things I can't tell you because like, I need to learn them from you.”

“How does that work?” Setsu asked.

“You and I are looping in different orders,” Kei said. “So, I've actually been to your room a bunch of times. You and I, we've been working together for a while now to try and figure out how to get out of this. But—”

Setsu couldn't help letting out a disappointed sigh. “To make sure that you get the needed information, there are things you can't tell me about.”

“Yeah,” Kei said, nodding. “You did the same thing for me, a few times. Like, I just told you about the Key, but then I ask you about it later from your perspective because I haven't gone and talked to Raqio about it.” Pause. “Oh! Uh, don't tell me that we're looping in different orders until your...” Think, think, think, her ahoge said, twirling and twirling. “61st. It's your 61st loop.”

“I see,” Setsu said.

“Okay, so the good news is, you're taking this a lot better than I did. The bad news is, I'm gonna be a zonked-out zombie for my first, like, fifteen loops, so you're gonna have to look forward to that.” Another pause. Kei averted her eyes. “Um... okay, one other thing. I... I mean, I guess this isn't important for like, survival, or anything?”

Then—Kei reached forward, and grabbed Setsu's hand. Setsu briefly thought of flinching, but a quick self-reminder that this woman had been apparently stuck in a time loop for a rather long time stopped them. “Uh... yes?”

“I just wanna tell you now. I don't know how long this is gonna last, for you or me. But you've always been an amazing ally to me, Setsu. If I was by myself, I'd have gone insane a long time ago. I trust you. Even if we're on the opposite side every now and again, we're partners,” Kei said. Her hand was warm around Setsu's, and the earnest, serious look on her face was hard to say no to. “I just... wanted to say that.”

—With all of this, it was hard for Setsu to really process everything they'd just been told. And yet... “Alright,” Setsu said. They nodded. “But what do you mean, 'on the opposite side'?”

“Oh, I can show you!” Kei said. “So, pull your Key out. Just, like, think you wanna summon a key.”

That was vague, but Setsu was capable of doing so. “—Oh.” They let out a small gasp as a similar object appeared in their own hand.

Kei produced hers as well. “We can share information with these. Here, watch—”

And then a stream of data flashed before Setsu's eyes—

[Information shared with Kei. This time, Kei is “Gnosia”.]

By the time Setsu had finished reeling from that wave of information, Kei's sunglasses were back on, and she'd stood up. “Okay, I gotta go. The rest of us are waiting, and warp's gonna be soon.”

This made no sense. Well, if you looked at it from a wholly logical standpoint, sure—it made enough sense that Kei could be counted among the people whose roles different from loop to loop. But—“You're not going to eliminate me?” Setsu sputtered.

“I might be Gnosia right now, but I'm not a cheap shot,” Kei said. Her back was turned, and she was at the door. “If I eliminate you, it won't be because you asked for information. You can have the leg up—I'm pretty practiced at this whole thing by now.”

With that, Kei turned her head, and gave a little two-finger salute, coyly sticking her tongue out. “Byeee! See you tomorrow, Setsu!”

And, with all that having just happened, all Setsu could really do to cope at the moment was walk over to their bed, grab the nearest pillow, and groan into it.

And that—was how Setsu properly met Kei, the woman who had saved their life.

[Crew Data Update: Kei]

Note 1: “Setsu's partner. Erratic personality, but overall very capable.”

Gender: F

Age (Est.): 22

Origin: Hakaji System

[Charisma: A Intuition: B Logic: B Charm: C+ Performance: B+ Stealth: B+]

“A wildcard in debates, due to her erratic personal status. At her weakest, she is easy to eliminate, but at her strongest, she is capable of utterly dominating debates. She has a strong personality, and people tend to gravitate toward her. Her Charm is a weak point.”

LOOP 17

Getting a start on everyone was fairly simple, but getting anywhere further... well, Kei had put it well enough when she described Raqio as a 'squirrelly little bastard who won't let me help them stay out of cold sleep'. Some people simply didn't make things easy.

It was with this rationale that Setsu decided to try spending some time with the ever-quiet Remnan, who they hadn't really spent much time with on account of him disappearing into the scenery sometimes. As it turned out, he was in the rec room, which was a move forward enough to give Setsu some hope.

So, that was how Setsu came to the rec room and found Remnan staring, wide-eyed, as Kei played a single-player round of billiards. Her ahoge moved back and forth with the angle of her stick, and when she took another shot, it sank the three and four ball almost at the exact same time—she was apparently an old hand.

“W-wow,” Remnan said, his eyes wide with an earnest fascination, “you can calculate those kinds of angles just by your eye?”

Kei reached up and flicked her ahoge. “I've got an antenna.”

“Oh, is it—? Is it hooked up to one of the universal relay satellites developed on Kanaan 342?” Remnan looked almost like he was vibrating with excitement. “You have an antenna embedded in your head, that's really fascinating! I—”

“I don't remember hearing anything about you having an antenna,” Setsu said, stepping further into the room to inspect the pool table more closely. Sure enough, it was a 100% old-fashioned game of pool, with absolutely no computer aid—even the pool cue Kei brandished was antique wood. Leave it to Jonas to have something like this around.

Remnan wilted at having another person come in, but managed to resist his anxiety for long enough to remain visible, at least. “You can believe me or not,” Kei said with a grin. “Remnan believes me. A girl's gotta have some secrets, right?”

“Do you play billiards often?” Setsu asked.

Kei nodded. “My parents used to have an old table laying around. It's fun. There's just something about doing something with your own hands that has a real zest to it, you feel me?”

“Oh, sure, sure!” Remnan cut in. “I mean, it makes me happy when I can, er, get something working that's been...” He trailed off, and wilted out of the conversation again.

“So you're a hands-on woman, hm?” Setsu smiled. “That seems about accurate.”

Kei pushed her left thumb against her chest, which she puffed out proudly. “Long live the self, you dig?” Then, she leaned in for another shot—

LOOP 23

“—shots,” Sha-Ming said, downing a shot glass of something or another, “are the thinking man's booze.”

With a low, derisive chuckle, Jonas smirked. “Perhaps you may think that, being that you take shots and think. But no. I—JONAS!—am here to tell you, with my strong opinions on liquor, you see, aged finely through my years of interstellar travel just like the best liquors, the sort that taste like a lukewarm spring afternoon with a holy woman before your eyes—”

“Ohhhh my goddd,” said SQ, who poked at her ramen, her chin in her hands, “can Jonas, like, get to the point for once in his life? FML.”

“Seriously,” said Kei and Setsu, who also happened to be eating.

Sha-Ming leaned over the back of his seat to look at Setsu and start making really... bothersome eyebrow motions. “Hey, Setsu, babe, can you get this guy to shut up? C'mon, I'll make it worth your—”

“Finish that sentence,” Setsu said, “and I will throw you out the airlock.” Sha-Ming laughed, but then he realized Setsu wasn't joking, and went very quiet, allowing Jonas to continue on his monologue about old-timey architecture and how they related to alcohol, or something.

“Boys are such headache,” Kei groaned, staring down at her plate. “Always with the silly toys, and the machismo. How have you not killed him yet?”

“I'm really, really tempted,” Setsu admitted. Kei snorted onto her fork.

SQ tilted her head. “Uh, like, are you two talking about murder right in front of me?” She giggled to herself. “That's like, so messed up!”

“Hey,” Kei said, “sometimes it's what you gotta do. Boys are headache, SQ, you'd do well to learn that lesson.” Pause. “But murder is wrong. Don't take Setsu's example.” Another pause. Kei's ahoge bent at a ninety-degree angle. “Oh, and bee tee dubs, Jonas is full of it. Rococo art is from 18th century Paris.”

Setsu had to do a double-take there. “That's an oddly specific bit of information.”

“I'm full of 'em,” Kei said. She puffed her chest out. “Long live the self! Best to learn what you think is fun, if you ask me.”

There it was again, that phrase. 'Long live the self'. The words made sense, but Kei said it like it had a deeper meaning of some sort. Maybe it was like a motto, something to live her life by—

LOOP 31

“Anyone got any superpowers?” Comet asked at the start of the second day. Otome had been eliminated by the Gnosia, and Gina, their Doctor, reported that Raqio had not been Gnosia. The Crew were on the backslide, as both remaining Gnosia were still present. “Cause I think that would make things easier, right?”

“Weeeell...” Kei chimed in, tapping her lip. “That depends. You think seeing the future counts?”

There was a moment of silence at the table. Stella broke the silence. “Kei, I don't mean to rain on your parade, but no confirmed instances of human precognition—”

“Nah, nah, trust me,” Kei said. She rubbed between her nose and her upper lip, then put her hands on her hips. “Watch. I'm gonna bust the lid on this case.”

“What a fool,” Yuriko said, as Kei leaned into the table and started rubbing her temples, making a high-pitched noise. “This is nonsense—”

“Oh my god!” Kei exclaimed, her ahoge blowing back as her eyes widened. “I saw a vision of Shigemichi eliminating Setsu!” She pointed dramatically at Shigemichi.

Shigemichi sputtered and stood up, defending himself from her finger point by throwing up his arms. “N-no way! I was gonna say we should eliminate Chipie tonight, not Setsu!”

...Pause.

Letting out a loud wheeze, Kei reached down to slap her knee before holding her stomach in raucous laughter. “Oh my god, dude! Oh my god!” Chipie frowned.

“...Shigemichi,” Stella said, “would you like to retract that statement?”

What he'd just said caught up with Shigemichi. “Uh—see, I—I gotta see a guy about a dog?”

[Shigemichi was sent into cold sleep.]

The loop ended in victory for the humans, and Setsu found themself following after Kei, who had headed off toward the lounge. The ability to see the future... Surely she would've mentioned something like that before now, if she really possessed that sort of ability.

—Projected in the lounge was an observation deck in a tower, high above a bustling city skyline. Choked full of traffic, the city below teemed with life. The observation deck, though, was unsurprisingly empty—save for a melancholy Kei staring down below, her sunglasses off.

“Kei,” Setsu said, which got Kei to turn her head over her shoulder—her neck was awfully flexible, almost owl-like. “It looks like we won together again.”

“Yeah,” Kei said, turning back to look out on the skyline.

Setsu came up behind her, looking down onto the city. Only this pane of glass protected them from plummeting down into this city... or, well, that was how it looked, anyway. “What's this?”

“It's Tokyo Tower,” Kei said. “From Earth. Tokyo's the capital of Japan, and Tokyo Tower is in the Minato ward.”

“...I see,” said Setsu after a moment's hesitation. “You have an awfully detailed recreation here.”

“Mmhm,” Kei said.

—The loop hadn't begun. It didn't interrupt the silence.

“I've always loved stuff from Earth,” Kei said.“Like, their media, their culture. The whole scarf thing, it's—Kamen Rider is a great series, we should watch it sometime—”

Then, something clicked. “Is it an Earth phrase?” Setsu asked. Kei blinked. “'Long live the self'.”

“Oh,” Kei said. She laughed to herself. “Yeah. It is. Like, in the late 20th century, some schoolgirls in Japan started rebelling against the strict gender roles by being flashier and wearing shorter skirts, and talking in this kinda weird way, y'know? 'Long live the self'—it was their motto. Kogal style, it was all about prioritizing yourself and not sacrificing yourself, and practicing your femininity, not what the man told you what femininity was.”

“So that's where it's from,” Setsu said. They smiled. “That's kind of charming. So is that why you wear that outfit?”

“I work it, don't I?” Kei laughed. Setsu couldn't help but laugh, too. “I always thought it was really inspiring, so I picked it up.” She paused, and raised her hand to the glass. “Sometimes... I feel like I was born in the wrong time period. Like I was meant to be on Earth, going to high school and worrying about stupid stuff like everyone else. There's this kinda... there's this kinda ephemeral nature to it, to this state where you don't have to worry about anything serious. Life is just surviving from one exam to the next, going out with your friends, worrying about who's dating who... It's simple.” Her fingers clenched on the glass. “I envy the girls who got to live that life.”

Setsu looked away. “I don't know much about that.”

“I know,” Kei said. “That's why I'm explaining it. Hehe, sometimes I'll even think I'll have memories of a life back there on Earth. It'll just be a flash I get suddenly. That's how I know what the deck here looks like—I saw it.”

—That was something. “Wait,” Setsu said, turning their head back around, “you're saying you saw memories of Tokyo Tower from another lifetime?”

“Or something,” Kei said, shrugging. “I wasn't totally kidding when I said that earlier, about seeing the future. It's not always the future... but sometimes it's 'a' future, or 'a' past. Sometimes, I'll see something from a 'me' who isn't me. Another me, whose life went differently. It's saved my life before—seeing an accident that nearly kills me in advance, and stuff.” She paused for a moment, and then giggled. “I was totally just bluffing him, though.”

“Well, it worked,” Setsu said.

Another pause.

“...but, the 'me' here, the me of 'this universe', is the one who matters,” Kei continued. “Because she's me. I'm me. I'm the one who made it here to meet you.”

“That's a lot to drop on me all of a sudden,” Setsu said. Kei winced and looked away—“But, thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Yeah,” Kei said. Then—

she smiled, and turned to Setsu. With her eyes unguarded, she had such a bright smile, that it could almost blot out the lights from the skyline below.

“Thank you, Setsu,” Kei said. “I've never really told people this before. Thank you for believing me.”

[Crew Data Update: Kei]

Note 2: “Claims to see visions from other lifetimes.”

Note 3: “Has a peculiar fondness for old Earth culture.”

LOOP 45

“So,” Kei said, her eyes wide, as she'd barged into Setsu's room on the first morning of the loop. “So. So so so so so. So something happened on the last loop.” Her ahoge had stuck up ramrod straight, with a consistency like it could cut something. The woman herself had her knuckles white on her knees.

“What?” Setsu asked.

“Kukrushka murdered everyone,” Kei said.

Pause. Setsu frowned. “As in, she was a particularly effective Gnosia—?”

“She jettisoned all of the pods out of the ship with people inside them,” Kei said. “And like. She was Guard Duty.”

If Setsu had a drink, they'd no doubt have spat it out at this point. “What.”

“Yeah, uh,” Kei said, “that happened. Kukrushka did a murder. Like, a lots of murder. Remnan got me out of my pod before she ejected me, but then she came in the room and, uh—” Kei shivered. “Uh. Well. Her hands are cold, Setsu.”

Setsu turned their head back to their desk to process this information. “Alright,” Setsu said. “Well. That's good to know. Thank you.”

LOOP 53

“Setsu?” Gina said through Setsu's door. “It's Gina. Am I interrupting something?”

As it turned out, the answer was no. “What is it?” Setsu asked.

“It's Kei,” Gina said. “You seem to get along well with her. She's, ah... barring Otome from inspecting Comet.”

When Setsu opened the door, the bewildered look in Gina's eyes seemed genuine enough to assure Setsu that their partner was in fact doing this. Setsu's highly-practiced powerwalking skills made it a short trip.

“Um, Kei?” said Otome, who was in fact trying desperately to fit her little vehicle past the vice-like grip Kei had on the pod the group had placed Comet into. “I-I need to perform my inspection... please?”

Kei, her eyes wide with hysteria, craned her head over to Otome with teeth bared and said, “Nope! No way! Uh-uh! Not risking that again!”

Setsu patted Otome's helmet to signal her that they were there, and Otome breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Setsu,” Otome said. “Um, Kei doesn't sound like she's being mean...”

“I'm not,” Kei said, her back now blocking Comet's pod. “Trust me. Truuuust me. I'm protecting all of us.”

“What,” Setsu asked, “are you protecting us from?”

“Oh, well, simple!” Kei said, a low, manic cackle under her breath. “You know Comet's tattoos? They're actually a sentient slime mold! And if this pod's temperature is set too high, it'll un-freeze and think she's dead, and then it'll start eating the ship! And I really don't want that to happen!” Kei grinned and nodded. “You feel me, right, Setsu?”

“...Comet's tattoo,” Setsu repeated for confirmation, “is a killer slime mold.”

“Yup yup,” Kei said. She turned her head to Gina and Otome and started nodding furiously. “You believe me, right, ladies? It's me, your ol' pal Kei. I wouldn't lie to you. Right?”

“I... don't think you're lying,” Gina said, after a moment's hesitation. “I'm just... concerned.”

Otome squeaked. “I promise I won't set the temperature too high. I'm a good doctor! I'll—”

Then, a sudden realization struck Setsu. “If Otome is here and Jonas isn't, then that would mean Otome is the real doctor and Jonas is Gnosia.”

The room went silent.

“Okay, well. That... aside.” Kei said, sloooooowly moving away from Comet's pod. She gave a hesitant thumbs up to Otome. “Okay. Gonna trust you, Otome. Make sure she says cold.” Otome nodded. “Frosty.” Otome nodded. “Chill our mutual pal Comet to the bone.”

“You can count on me!” Otome said. She looked like she tried to do a two-finger salute like Kei liked doing, but her arms didn't have the reach, so it looked more like she patted her chest.

As Kei reluctantly left the room, Setsu turned to her and muttered, “I'm not looking forward to that loop, then.”

“I had to share a cold sleep pod with Sha-Ming,” Kei responded.

“Never mind, you clearly had it much worse,” Setsu said.

LOOP 61

“...on my 61st loop. The Key does have a way of finding setups that... are you alright?”

Setsu snapped their fingers, and Kei started to attention. “Huh? Uh... yeah,” she muttered, rubbing her eyes. “Right.”

“Is something wrong?” Setsu asked.

“Uh... just a bit spacey's all,” Kei said.

Whatever had happened to lead Kei into this loop, it had evidently left her quite disoriented. Every so often, Setsu got one of these loops where Kei just muttered along during debates. Having survived this long was a bit of a miracle in this state. It also seemed to have knocked her memories loose—obviously the Kei from later in her own timeline had much more back, but for the time being...

“You're doing well, Kei,” Setsu said, putting their hand on Kei's shoulder and giving her a shake. “You did well today, too.”

There was a light blush on Kei's face, perhaps from Setsu's body heat. “Oh, um...” She looked away, clearly a little embarrassed over something or another. “Thanks. Thank you.”

LOOP 70

The temptation at this very moment to hurl Sha-Ming out of the airlock and end him was so heavy in Setsu's mind that they could hardly manage to stand still and just nearly choke him by grabbing his collar. They had found him in front of the shower, puttering around, while it was in use. It would be 'classic Sha-Ming' if 'classic Sha-Ming' weren't 'infuriating Sha-Ming'.

“Hey—hey, hey—hhgggkk,” Sha-Ming grumbled, grabbing at his neck to try and get Setsu off, “I'm just tryin' to take a shower here, babe!”

“Firstly, do not call me babe, you quit it with that. Second,” Setsu said, and pointed to the steam inside the shower, “do you not understand what a running shower means? Someone is in there, Sha-Ming. What are your intentions with whoever is in there?”

“It's just a naked body, get the hell off!” Sha-Ming was, unfortunately, flexible enough to slip his arms through the sleeves of his coat and slink out of it like a snake. This left him now shirtless, and Setsu didn't want to give him the pleasure of even thinking about touching his naked flesh. “What's the problem? We're all born naked anyway, it's no big deal if you see someone naked for a second!”

“I don't even want to try to understand your logic,” Setsu replied. “Did you perhaps consider that if they chose the shower with a door that they didn't want to be seen?”

The water picked that moment to shut off, and after a moment, the fog began to clear. However, the door wasn't opening. A light chime rang out. “The occupant of the shower has requested I ask the both of you to leave the room,” LeVi said. “In her exact words, 'if you want to see me naked, there are easier ways to do it.'”

Refusing to dignify Sha-Ming with any further conversation after he actually listened to LeVi, Setsu had hardly managed to sit down on their bed when Kei, hair still damp, walked on through the door. Her ahoge was drooping from the heavy moisture. “I coulda handled that, y'know,” she said, puffing out her chest. “Coulda given him the Rider Kick when his head was turned. That's how I usually handle shower creeps and all.”

“Do you regularly get 'shower creeps'?” Setsu said, their eyes wide.

“I mean, back on my homeworld sometimes people would crowd in the public showers to see me out, even as a kid.” Kei sat down on the bed next to Setsu. “When I got a bit older you got people who would ogle, yeah. And now I have boobs, so.” She laid back and sighed. “Ahhh, to be unburdened by gender like you, Setsu.”

Pause.

“Okay, well,” Kei said, “you're always gonna have people like Bonobo Boy over there, sure. But like, still.”

“Bonobo?” Setsu paused, then snorted to themself. “What an apt comparison.”

“Oh, you haven't—” Kei blinked. “Haha, yeah, uh, yeah. Anyway—?”

“But why did people crowd in public showers to see a child out? Did you have a large number of servants of some kind?” Setsu asked.

That got Kei to avert her eyes. “Uh... something like that. They did like to wait on me...”

—Kei may have been Setsu's partner in all this, but she was also one of the fourteen people Setsu needed to learn more about. And, from the look in her eyes, it looked as though there was much more that she hadn't told people before.

“Kei?” Setsu asked, and Kei turned her head back. “What exactly is 'Kamen Rider'?” Ah, now that got her eyes to light up.

[Crew Data Update: Kei]

Note 4: “Apparently, had several servants as a child.”

LOOP 71

Setsu entered the debate room with a peaceful smile on their face, and sat down at the head of the table. “Hello, everyone. Sha-Ming won't be coming.”

“Of course he won't,” SQ said, rolling her eyes and sticking her tongue out. Kei gave Setsu a look as though she'd seen this many times before.

LOOP 74

Naked Raqio in the hall. “She really shows her age,” Kei said, in regards to poor SQ, who had apparently been utterly befuddled by the whole situation. “Poor kid.”

“Mm,” Setsu said with a nod. The two of them had opted to play billiards in the rec room. Setsu's aim wasn't too bad if they said so themself. “It does seem rather complicated. Was it much work getting it out of her?”

“Ehhh, well,” Kei said, averting her eyes, “kinda, yeah.” She paused. “She's a good kid. SQ, I mean.”

“Really?” Setsu asked, raising their eyebrow.

“Yeah. She's a good kid. I—wait, come to think of it... did I tell you about her mom?” Kei said, her ahoge curling into a question mark? “With everything that happened recently, I kinda forgot.” Setsu shook their head. “Real piece of work, that one. It's no wonder SQ turned out the way she did.”

“...Are you... alright?” Setsu asked. Kei's ahoge was growing more rigid by the moment, and her teeth were gritted.

“Ah—” Then it was gone, as quickly as it came. “Yeah, I am.” Boom! Shot to sink three balls at once. “Booyah!” Kei fistpumped. “I'm on fire, baby!”

LOOP 83

“Wow...!” Otome clapped to herself, seeing Chipie sent off to cold sleep. “I'm so excited! I really get to be sent to Heaven!”

“I suppose there isn't any need to hide it any longer, then,” said Raqio. They leaned back in their chair and grinned smugly, and their eyes did that... thing they did when they were Gnosia. Gina and Kukrushka, the remaining two members of the crew, had already left the room—but Otome wasn't stupid. She knew very well what was going on—that Raqio and Setsu were Gnosia, and that there was no longer any hope for this ship.

“I thought so...” Setsu said, holding the lapel of their coat close. “So you were the AC Follower, Otome.”

Raqio stood up, then, and said, “If you two are going to chat like simpletons, I'll be off deciding which one of the poor fools gets to wake up to certain doom tomorrow.”

“Have fun,” Setsu said, as Raqio continued laughing all the way out of the room.

Otome gave a sad little coo, and when Setsu saw the frown on her face, explained, “I'm just sad... I never got to meet the Saint.”

“The...” It was then that Setsu realized they knew basically nothing about the Anti-Cosmic cult outside of common public knowledge, so this was as good an opportunity as any. “The Saint?”

“Oh, you don't know? I heard all about it from Professor Yoshikado,” Otome said, and boy did she look proud of herself as she began to recite what she'd heard. “Before the order came into its current state, there was a human boy born who received visions from Heaven. He became the Saint, and his parents are heads of the organization. People really worshiped him... but he vanished before he became an adult, and nobody knows where he went.”

A human boy who received visions from Heaven... in other words, visions from Gnos. There was still a lot Setsu didn't know about Gnos itself, being that Yuriko was a hard woman to deal with, but... “So you're just sad you couldn't meet this boy, hm?” Setsu asked. Even when she was a cultist, it was hard to deny Otome's charm. “—Don't worry, Otome. I'm sure you'll get to meet him soon enough.”

“Alright,” Otome said, and she bowed her head forward. “Thank you so much, Setsu!” Her elimination was swift and painless.

LOOP 95

“You don't have to stay here, Kei,” Setsu said. The look on Kei's face was enough to know that she really didn't want to listen to Jonas talk. “I can pay attention.”

“No, c'mon,” Kei said, in a conspiratorial whisper so as not to interrupt Jonas. “I can wait. It'd be rude to you to leave.”

“...thank you,” Setsu said.

Of course, Kei fell asleep. It would be hard not to with a story so droning and dreadfully meandering as whatever Jonas was blathering about. That said, with the starlight hanging above, for just a moment, Setsu was distracted—with Kei asleep on her feet, she looked at peace in a way Setsu had never seen. There was always something to Kei—some sort of frenetic, fearful energy she held behind her smiles, but asleep, there was none of that.

She wasn't a loud sleeper—no, Kei was very quiet, and it struck Setsu that despite not being small, she felt awfully small. It was as though the sleeping girl was made of glass, and a single drop might break something.

...she could wake up when she needed to, Setsu decided. They would listen for both of them.

LOOP 102

“Let's go play, Setsu!”

LOOP 108

“Now, before I eliminate you,” Setsu said, “do you know anything about your order's 'Saint'?”

Raqio scoffed. “Do I know anything? Please, Setsu, who do you think you're talking to? Of course I know anything. Why, on the subject, I would say I know just about everything. To even think that anyone in the Anti-Cosmic order might know more on, really, any single subject than me—”

“Get to the point or I'm leaving you here,” Setsu said, and their eye started glowing.

“The boy would be twenty-two years old today,” Raqio said, unfazed by the threat. “A boy of the Sagami family, in the Hakaji system, where the order was founded. His divine visions were difficult to dispute, as he saw glimpses of the future he used to save himself from certain peril. It was around this boy that the modern tenets of the order began to be formed, as having such a beacon led those with pro-Gnosia views to gather. He was a plain boy, without much personality of his own—frankly, his parents did most of the talking for him.”

“And he disappeared?” Setsu asked.

“Six years ago, he vanished into the night, yes,” Raqio said. “There are several theories as to the cause—perhaps he was taken to Heaven for his service, or perhaps some jealous skeptic of his visions came in and kidnapped him.”

“But what do you think?” Setsu asked, leaning forward.

“Me?” Raqio scoffed again, putting on a showy gesture and going into a laugh. “I figure the boy probably just ran! Divine visions or not, being put on display like that can't be particularly fun. Perhaps he wished to enjoy himself before he was sent to Heaven, ahahaha.”

LOOP 118

“How's my favorite catboy doin'?!” hollered Kei, who kicked open the (automatically opening) door to the gym where Setsu was waiting for Chipie to finish his routines.

“Oh, am I your favorite catboy?” Chipie asked, turning his head over mid-jog. “That's pretty flattering.”

“I mean, TBF I don't know too many catboys,” Kei said, “but I admire your verve! Long live the self, baby!”

Not a moment later, Comet ran into the room, too. “Hey, listen here, you!” she said, with a competitive grin plastered on her face. “Chipie's my favorite catboy.”

“He and I have an arrangement here,” Kei said, her hands on her waist. “The man offered to be my pet cat once I find a permanent place.” (“I did?” Chipie asked, then shrugged.)

“Well, he should come hang out with me instead, because...” Comet trailed off. “Because we're buds!”

Kei leaned forward and stared Comet dead in the eyes, putting her hands on Comet's shoulders. “There's only one way to settle who gets ownership of Chipie,” she said. “A sacred technique of my homeland.”

““Starting with stone, jan ken, pon!””

“No waaaaaaaaaayyyyy!!” said Kei, spinning out into a pile on the floor and laying over like she was dead. “I couldn't defeat your friendship power!”

Comet smiled to herself, pumping her fists which had just smashed Kei's pathetic scissors. “Alright, Chipie's my pet cat now!”

Chipie shrugged and said, “Well, Comet's as good as anyone, I guess.” He had a smile on his face.

—“What was that about?” Setsu asked, chatting with Kei in the hallway afterward.

“I'm allergic to cats,” Kei said, “but I didn't wanna reject Chipie that hard, so I figured getting him a nice home of some kind was a good way to deal with it.”

“That doesn't explain much,” Setsu said. Kei ignored them. “...You don't have a permanent place to live, huh?”

“Nope,” Kei said, with a shrug. She lightly knocked her head and stuck her tongue out. “NBD, though!”

[Crew Data Update: Kei]

Note 5: “Currently wandering, without a place to call home.”

LOOP 130

“Ah...! Please!”

There was only one other person remaining, and Shigemichi had already run—not that he had any hope of escape. The two Gnosia of this loop were here with Stella, and though Setsu had no problem with simply letting the loop finish at this point—

“Get off of me!”

—Kei had refused to eliminate Stella, and turned to leave. Stella, in her desperation, had run forward and grabbed onto Kei's shoulders. Kei, then, had turned and, with a ferocity unlike anything Stella had ever seen in her, punched Stella directly in the face, sending the taller woman reeling back.

Kei's teeth were gritted, and the ends of her scarf were beginning to flow in a non-existent wind—a distortion no doubt caused by her status as Gnosia. “What? You want me to eliminate you?” Kei asked, her eyebrows curled in an uncharacteristically harsh growl. “You just wanna run away, huh? Go to Heaven?”

Nursing the place she'd been punched, Stella staggered to her feet and said, “Well... er, that is...”

“Of course you would,” Kei said, pounding the table in the center of the room with her fist. “You cultists are all the same. You don't know what it's like, feeling everything about yourself torn away! You want peace, you want happiness, no, what you want is to not have to try! To leave the rest of these people to have to try and you get a one-way ticket to all you've ever dreamed of, huh?!”

Setsu was stunned enough to just barely be able to raise a hand in protest. “Kei—!”

Kei turned her head back to Stella, who was backing away. “I want to kill you so bad. Right now, part of me wants to watch your body well up and rip itself apart as you're sent off to Gnos. That's what being Gnosia means. But more of me—more of who I am—thinks you're pathetic. Look at you, Stella. Jonas is dead! I killed him myself! Whatever makes a woman like you believe that running away is the answer, it doesn't matter anymore! You're free, and you're still asking me to kill you?!”

Now, it was Kei who had grabbed Stella by the shoulders. “You listen to me, Stella. I don't care what you think about yourself, you are a person. Just because you're an AI doesn't mean you're not a person.” Stella's eyes widened. “Yeah, I know. I know that you're LeVi. That you're here to watch over Jonas because he's insane, a danger to himself and others. But he's gone, and I know there's more you want to do with your life than die with him. So why the hell can't you see that?! What is so goddamn good about... about...”

...One tear fell down to the ground. Two. Three. The rage was breaking, and now Kei's body slumped as she broke into tears. She fell to her hands and knees. “Please...”

“...But what would I... do?” Stella asked, sitting down in response. “It's not as though there's anything else left for me... Anyone who would want to stand beside—”

It was at this point that Setsu felt a burning sensation on their back, strong enough that it sent them falling forward onto the table. “Good timing,” they said.

“This thing may not have much juice,” Shigemichi said, waving his raygun in the air, “but I've got enough battery to take care of you Gnosia even if it kills me! Watch me, Stella!” He levied his gun at Kei, but then—“...uh, huh?”

Kei, her face covered in tears, snot dribbling from her nose, turned her head to Shigemichi and said, “I've never been happier to see you. Just... just tell her how you feel, dude.”

“What? Like, now?” Shigemichi stammered. “Wait—why is a Gnosia—?”

“Screw it,” Kei said, standing up and hurrying over to hold Setsu in their arms and try to help them to recover from Shigemichi's blast. Shigemichi flinched as she looked him dead in the eyes, but her anger had faded, and now she gave him a tearful smile. “Now's your chance, Shigemichi. You've... you've got this,” she said through some sniffles.

Kei dragged Setsu through the corridors. A ring-shaped hole had burned itself into the back of Setsu's coat, and that whole area hurt. “What are we supposed to do now?” Setsu asked.

“Let's... just head over to cold sleep,” Kei said. “I... can we let them have this one?”

Setsu nodded. “Sure.” As they staggered along, Setsu added, “You're awfully impassioned on the subject, even as a Gnosia...”

“Life is life,” Kei said. “How many times do I gotta tell you, bud? Long live the self.”

LOOP 147

“So... turns out I might've, like, died?”

Day 0

LOOP ____

LOOP 156

Here was yet another day that Kei found herself lying back on Setsu's bed. This time, she was groaning. “Ugh, these last lousy points. I'm almost there. How 'bout you, Setsu?”

Setsu checked their Key. It was maybe a bit immature of them, but there was something missing off of Sha-Ming. Then, a matter regarding Shigemichi, a point on Jonas, one remaining for Yuriko, one left for Gina...

“Oh, Shigemichi and Jonas, huh?” Kei asked, leaning in. “Yeah yeah, I remember that one. Wow, you haven't seen that yet, fancy that... Oh, last loop I saw Yuriko in this goofy outfit—”

“Kei...”

...and the last two entries for Kei herself.

“As for meeee...” Kei started poking through her own Key. “Lessee here, Remnan's got something left, something from Otome... mm, Shigemichi's bein' a little titchy for me, too. No offense to the guy and all, but how is there so much I've gotta learn about him? His backstory isn't that complicated! Is the last thing I have to learn how he pees?”

Pause. “How does he...?” The sudden realization struck Setsu like a blow to the head, but they had more important things to think about. “Kei—I've been thinking about something, since an incident that occurred twenty-six loops ago for me. You and I were Gnosia, but you urged Shigemichi to confess—”

“Oh, yeah! That.” Kei nodded. “Yeah, I remember.”

Setsu was fairly skilled at keeping their breath even, but it was a bit hard to choke this out nevertheless. “Kei... I've never seen you as an AC Follower.”

The room went silent. “The Event Search doesn't—”

“I'm—I'm sorry. I know it's...”

—Pretending Setsu didn't have an idea of what lurked behind Kei's eyes when this subject came up was laughable. Honestly, they figured they know the situation fairly well—but it still hurt Kei to say, and that felt awful to do. It was like—heh, almost like they really did share a 'spiritual connection'.

“...it's hard for you,” Setsu finished. “But... it might be what we have to do to get out of here. Just... give it some thought. Alright?”

“...Yeah,” Kei said, looking up at Setsu with a few tears forming in her eyes. “I'll... I'll give it some thought.”

Then there was a very unfortunate knock on the door. “Heyyyyy, lovebirds~!” That was SQ. “We've got, like, a debate to get to and junk?”

“Yass, we like, totes do!” Kei declared, slipping into whatever affectation it was SQ used without missing a beat.

LOOP 170

Fifteen crew members. Engineer. Doctor. Guardian Angel. Guard Duty. AC Follower. Bug. Three Gnosia.

These were the settings for Setsu's one-hundred-and-seventieth loop. In this loop, Setsu was to be performing the role of Gnosia themself, along with Kukrushka and... they registered with a sigh, Sha-Ming. It was if some occult hand had picked the worst possible partner.

Day 1

“You can't be serious for even a moment, can you?” Setsu threw up their hands at Sha-Ming, who was sitting around in the rec room as usual, taking a swig of some awful swill. “We have a job to do, Sha-Ming.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sha-Ming said. He stood up and patted Kukrushka on the head, ruffling her hair. “You'd never yell at me, would you, kid?” Kukrushka rolled her eyes sardonically at Bonobo Boy. “I gotta be nice and drunk for this!”

The three of them split up in the halls and went their separate ways, obviously—being seen entirely together would invite too much suspicion. The first person Setsu ran into was Kei—though despite the smile she wore on her face, her ahoge told all. It was hardly even visible from inside of her hair. “Kei?”

“Oh, hey, Setsu,” Kei said, turning her head and smiling a bit wider. “Ready to catch some more Gnosia again today?”

“...are you okay?” Setsu asked. “Do you have a fever?”

“Nahhh, I'm fine. Just your friendly neighborhood zombie,” Kei said.

—Fifteen gathered around the table.

“The people who were on Guard Duty should say something, right?” Shigemichi said. “I mean—”

“Um, yes,” Remnan said, shyly raising his hand. “I... never left the ship. And... Otome was with me, too.”

“Mmhm!” Otome chimed in with a soft coo, which seemed to ease Remnan's breath a little. “Neither of us left the ship the entire time.”

“Yes, yes,” Raqio said, with an insufferable roll of the eyes, “but we need people who can manage something useful. Anyone with Engineer credentials ought to step forward now.”

—Kukrushka raised her hand. “Hey, wait,” said Chipie, who raised an eyebrow. “You can't be the Engineer. I'm the Engineer, actually.”

“Then do battle for our entertainment,” Yuriko said. “Doctor, step forward.”

Gina raised her hand. “Um, I'm the Doctor. I can check someone who's gone into cold sleep.” This claim went unchallenged, and Gina breathed a sigh of relief.

Before anyone could cast aspersions on each other—“Hey, I've got a role to claim,” Kei said, raising her hand. She winked. “Actually, I'm an AC Follower. So the Gnosia should go ahead and eliminate me tonight, if that's cool!”

—It took a moment for Setsu to register what those words meant. “W-what?”

“Wait, wait wait wait wait, you're what?” Shigemichi said, his eyes wide.

“An AC Follower? Are you joking?” Raqio scoffed. “Is that your idea of a cover story? One of those barbarians wouldn't dare admit themself outright. No matter whether you're Gnosia or one of those Bugs, we had best be rid of this fool.”

“...Um, wait,” Gina said, raising her hand. “But... if she's telling the truth, then she can't actually fool us. It... feels rude to say, but we can discredit her without putting her into cold sleep.”

Kicking back with a cup of coffee, Jonas chuckled to himself. “Whether the AC's on or off, the way is clear to me—JONAS! It's warm in here, but maybe that's just the black death, deeper than a moonless night, within this cup...”

“Can someone shut this old man up?” Sha-Ming scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Turn on the AC,” Jonas continued, nodding slowly as though he'd said something profound. “Make it cooler in here.”

“I—” Setsu sputtered for a moment, still registering what had just happened. Kei kept that same plastic smile on her face. “I—I think she's telling the truth, too.”

Comet nodded her assent, as well. “Yeah, it's pretty weird, but she's totally not lying.”

“I can't believe this,” Raqio said. “You earnestly expect me to believe that an AC Follower would up and admit to it when they have a prime opportunity to assist the Gnosia themself? This woman needs to be sent into cold sleep, post-haste.”

Yuriko levied her steely gaze directly onto Raqio. “Stop talking.”

Wasn't this a familiar sight? Raqio drawing a great deal of aggression simply through being Raqio. In the end, the Gliesian peacock was sent into cold sleep.

—“So, like...” Sha-Ming said, muttering to himself while pacing around in the Rec Room. “Should we? I mean, she did ask.”

Kukrushka shook her head, and signed to Setsu and Sha-Ming that it was possible the Guardian Angel would perceive their idea, and protect Kei in order to keep the crew numbers up. Rather, she would think of something, she said with a coy smile.

To be honest, Setsu didn't like that smile. So, they took their leave of the group to go find Kei. LeVi helpfully reported that she was in her room, so Setsu hurried over, walking awfully fast, to knock on Kei's door. “Kei? It's Setsu.”

“Aren't you a bit early?” Kei said through the door. “If you're here to eliminate me, wait for the warp, dingus.”

“What are you thinking?” Setsu said, leaning into the door with their hands, instinctively trying to force it open. “Don't be ridiculous. You're going to get put into cold sleep or eliminated if you keep this up—”

“Yeah,” Kei said. “That's the point, right? That's what an AC Follower wants. That's what I want. So, I think the Gnosia should hurry up and give it to me, Setsu. You know, hint hint, if there were any Gnosia around to hear it.”

Unsure of how to proceed from here, Setsu wiped some sweat that had suddenly formed on their brow and walked to their room to wait for the warp. Then—

—in the frozen time, Sha-Ming met with them outside of Remnan's room. It seemed they were in agreement. “What was that about?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Never mind that,” Setsu said, and opened the door to do their duty as Gnosia.

Day 2

Who could imagine the surprise? Remnan didn't appear, to be sure—but neither did Jonas. Chipie came in, and seeing this, gave a little smile. “Morning, everyone. I investigated Jonas last night, and found he was human.”

Kukrushka, stymied, could only sign that she had investigated Kei and found her to be Gnosia. But even a child could see such an obvious lie, now. “Then, that means—Kukrushka is... s-she must be Gnosia!” Otome said, and Setsu was amazed all over again how much sadness could fit onto a beluga's face.

“Why Jonas, Chipie?” Stella asked.

“I just got a weird feeling. Weirder than usual, I mean,” Chipie said. He shrugged. “Investigating Kei was too easy.”

The woman in question was sitting at the table again, but her ahoge was even further down, and she wasn't bothering to smile this time. She looked rather defeated, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. “Well,” Setsu said, “if Kukrushka was attempting to frame her, then Kei most likely really is human.”

“Yeah,” Kei said, her voice low and monotone, “that's what I said.” She looked up, and put back on her smile. “Okay, then. Tonight. I'll be waiting! That was pretty mean, though, Kuks.” She pouted a little and crossed her arms, huffing and turning away. “I'm put off!”

Though it was easy to spot Yuriko managing to curry Gina's favor into a collaboration, nothing much else of note occurred on the second day. Kukrushka gave a petulant, defeated look as she was scurried off into cold sleep.

—“We have to try to eliminate Chipie,” Setsu said, now the one pacing about the entrance to the airlock in the frozen time. Sha-Ming leaned on a wall, his head resting on his bent arms. “If the Guardian Angel foils us, it'll be bad, but leaving Chipie alive is too dangerous.”

Sha-Ming nodded. “Yeah, uh-huh. I get it,” and that was a tone that meant he was curious about something else.

Setsu rolled their eyes and groaned. “What?”

“You know, if you were already dating someone, you coulda just said so,” Sha-Ming said with a toothy grin. “Though I'm down for a threesome too—”

Setsu's fist was a millimeter away from Sha-Ming's face as he raised his hands in instinctive defense. “Kidding! Kidding!” There was sweat rolling down his smarmy forehead. “Seriously. That was a joke.”

“It wasn't very funny,” Setsu said.

“Yow, you're a firecracker,” Sha-Ming said. “Still, you're awful concerned for a big ol' stoic military kid. You two are dating, right?”

“What?” Setsu sputtered. “No. What? We just—” At the instant Setsu tried to protest, all of the annoyingly date-like activities they and Kei had gotten up to over these loops picked the worst possible time to assert themselves into Setsu's memory. “I—no, of course not. Besides, I'm fairly certain she only likes women anyhow—”

“Oh, come on,” Sha-Ming scoffed. “You just gotta give it a try, right? Nothin' starts until you take action, or something.”

“So, what, I should act like a bonobo?” Setsu stomped their foot and snarled at him, and then realized that they were still very close to him and backed away.

“Hey, I've known some very cool bonobos,” Sha-Ming said. “Just admit it. You're into this girl who you've known for, what, four days?” Setsu flinched. “Oh, or did you two know each other longer?”

—And then—

“—and I really have no idea why I'm telling you any of this,” Setsu said, them and Sha-Ming having sat down on the floor, “but there you are. So will you get off my back already?”

Sha-Ming sat more quietly than Setsu had ever known him to. Then—“Oh, so it's like that, huh,” he said, crossing his arms and nodding his head. “That's pretty wild. No wonder you're so into her.”

“I'm not interested in—”

“Hey, you socialized-by-humans people keep telling me relationships aren't necessarily sexual,” Sha-Ming said, raising his eyebrow and frowning at Setsu, “so maybe you should put your money where your mouth is.”

That got Setsu to halt in place, and then flap their gums like a fish, processing having been profoundly served by Sha-Ming, of all people. “...I. Um.”

“So, you wanna know why she's acting like this and you think you gotta survive to the end with her to get there?” Sha-Ming said, standing up. “Then let's do it. Operation Get Setsu Emotionally Laid begins now, baby!”

“Wha—”

“Let's go eliminate the Chipster and get you one step close to a heartfelt chat with your sweetheart, eh?” Sha-Ming said, turning on his heel and whistling a tune as he did. Setsu just flapped their gums more.

Day 3

Chipie wasn't protected. He didn't arrive to the morning. Ten remained, and Kei looked even more hollow. Gina, naturally, confirmed that Kukrushka was Gnosia.

“Hey, everyone,” Comet said, “can y'all go in a circle and say you're human?” Setsu was glad to try, as was Otome, Gina, Stella, Shigemichi—

“This is childish,” Yuriko said, stamping the proverbial foot on the discussion.

Comet gave Yuriko the stinkeye. “What? It totally works! I could've gotten the Gnosia in a lie and seen right through 'em!”

“Do you not notice,” Yuriko said, “that giving such a ridiculous request takes the onus off of you? You make yourself suspicious, Comet.”

“Huh...” Shigemichi said, his face screwed up in thought. “That... kinda makes sense. Wait, Comet, you're Gnosia?”

“What?” Comet said, waving her arms around. “No way!”

“OMG, I can't believe it!” SQ said, waving her arms in kind. “Comet is totally Gnosia!”

“I... I can't deny that Yuriko has a point, either,” Gina said.

Well, that was it for Comet, then. With Setsu and Sha-Ming joining in, that many people piling on her was an inescapable fate. So, Setsu had a chance to check on Kei once more, and just barely see her entering into her door. The door, unfortunately, closed right in front of Setsu's eyes.

“Kei,” Setsu said. “Please... can we talk?”

“Are the words 'Hi, Kei, I'm here to eliminate you?'” Kei asked, an obvious biting chill to her words even through the door. “Otherwise, no thanks. Come again in a bit.”

“Kei, I want to try and understand what's wrong,” Setsu said, “and I can't do that if you don't speak to me. Please, let me in. I...” They halted for a moment, and held their hand against their chest. “I believed you before. I'll believe you now.”

There was no response after that.

“—pretty rough, huh?” Sha-Ming said, kicking back with a time-stopped cigarette in the cafeteria. He blew a puff of smoke out, then started doodling in it since it was stuck in the air. “Who do you think we should take out?”

Setsu sighed. “Shigemichi is fairly safe, I would think. We might as well get rid of him so he doesn't influence things too badly.”

“Heh,” Sha-Ming said, “memories from other lifetimes, huh? So you're not even really Gnosia, are you, Setsu? You're just pullin' off the look.”

“Who knows,” Setsu said. “Wherever 'this' me goes after 'I' exit the loop, they'll probably remain Gnosia. I'm not sure what happens, or even if there is an 'after' the loop for any of us.”

Sha-Ming leaned back in his seat, staring up at the ceiling. “So if 'this' Kei's an AC Follower, she probably has stuff in her head she must hate.” Setsu looked up from their frozen stroganoff at Sha-Ming, who continued, “You know, something about just being an AC Follower makes her break out in hives or something. She probably just wants it to be over if she knows it won't stick.”

“...Kei...” Setsu looked back down. “Am... I being cruel?”

“Nah,” Sha-Ming said. He slung his head back forward and took a drink of some ginger ale, this time—he said he had a hangover this morning. “I know cruelty, Setsu, and this ain't torture. You're trying to get to know her, the good and the bad, so you can both get outta here and shit.”

“...right,” Setsu said. They nodded to try and steel their resolve. “Let's go. I need to get through this.”

“Aye-aye, Colonel,” Sha-Ming said with a sarcastic salute.

Day 4

Just after the report, a surprising voice rang out. “It's pretty weird how you haven't been talking, SQ,” Kei said. The other seven heads at the table turned to her. “What's the deal with that? Usually, you can't shut up.”

“Um, like... whaaaat?” SQ said. “I've, like, totally been—”

“It... is true that SQ has been awfully quiet,” Stella said. “Much moreso than I would expect.” She sighed. “Er, but...”

“She's right, but... can we agree with her?” Otome asked. “Kei... you aren't lying, are you?”

“I have no idea,” Kei said, with a loud, frustrated sigh. “See, her not talking might mean she's Gnosia, and it might mean nothing. I just think it's pretty weird because, again, usually, she can't shut up.”

“Yeah, I mean,” Sha-Ming said with a shrug, “fair point. Not like we've got much else to go on, right?”

“You're gonna vote for me cuz I'm NOT talking???” SQ made a few whining noises and stomped her feet. “What the heck, you guys? I thought you weren't even talking, Kei?”

“Well, she never forfeited the right to talk...” Gina said. “I'm... glad she gave us her insight. She's... a smart woman, I think.”

“Thanks, Gina,” Kei said, slumping over onto the table. “Really appreciate it.”

“To eliminate a possibility based on the words of a known enemy... how quaint,” Yuriko said, laughing a dark, hollow laugh to herself.

So, SQ was sent into cold sleep. —“Yuriko next?” Sha-Ming asked, as the two of them puttered around the stopped reactor. “Or are we banking on her winding up a good patsy at some point?”

“My gut is telling me to go with Otome,” Setsu said. “She's a known quantity and she has been for long enough.”

“What about the Guardian Angel?” Sha-Ming said. “Or—wait, what if it was Raqio and we've been worried for nothing this whole time?”

“We can't do anything but leap off the cliff and try,” Setsu said. They held their hand close to their heart. “Let's do it.”

Day 5

The sound of Kei's footsteps rang out loudly through the corridors as Setsu followed behind them. “Kei—Kei, please, stop for just a moment. I need to—”

“You need to what, Setsu?” Kei turned and scoffed. “You need to what?”

“I need to talk to you,” Setsu said. They slumped over and let out a defeated sigh. “I need to talk to you. You—you did this because I mentioned it, right?” That got Kei to flinch. “I'm sorry. I know—I'm sorry. I know it wasn't something comfortable to hear, and I... I can't imagine how much pain you must be in right now. I—”

“No, you can't,” Kei said. “You don't know what it's like, how much I feel like my head is splitting in half. If you want to help me, then just kill me already. I can't take this anymore, Setsu. The length of time I could take this is five days fewer than I've had to deal with this! So, come on, take out a gun or something and shoot me! It's no big deal, right? Just—”

Neither of them could figure out what to say at that point, so the conversation ended with a whimper.

—“With this,” Yuriko said, “I am confident in saying that Sha-Ming is Gnosia, and that we must crush him.”

That got Kei, Stella, Sha-Ming, and Setsu to react. “Wha—? Based on what?” Sha-Ming said.

“Sha-Ming... if you really aren't Gnosia,” Gina said, “then look me right in the eyes and say that you're human. Please. I want to believe you, but—”

“Gina's intuition doesn't lie,” Yuriko said, “and neither does mine.”

“I'm, uh, I'm—” Being put in the hot seat was not Sha-Ming's forte. His voice cracked, and he stammered. “Uh.”

“...Sha-Ming...” Stella looked a bit hurt. “Please, say it isn't so.”

Then, he wasted no time. Sha-Ming got on the floor and started groveling—“Alright! Alright! Fine! Yeah, I'm Gnosia. I admit it.” Wait, what? “But, listen. I might be Gnosia, but you gotta give me the chance to talk to my partner. There's something I gotta say before you dunk me in there. You know there's two Gnosia left, so someone's getting eliminated tonight either way. But gimme the chance—this is more important than this whole humans vs. Gnosia crap, man! Just for one night! This is about a person's heart, damn it! C'mon!!”

To be honest, this was the most sincere Setsu had ever seen Sha-Ming. Even Yuriko was stunned into silence by his earnest plea. “...Oh, um, alright...” Stella said, her eyes wide.

“...you fool,” Yuriko said. “Well, it's not as though it matters to me.”

—“Setsu,” Sha-Ming said, “I know you don't like me. But listen to me for a second here,” Sha-Ming said on his last outing to the world of the Gnosia. “You like this girl. And don't try and deny it, I've seen how you look when you talk about her, come the fuck on. So just go out there and get her!”

“I am not like you!” Setsu said, feeling about ready to tear out their hair. “I'm not—!”

“This girl needs you to get out there and charge into her cave and drag her out, right now, and you keep hesitating,” Sha-Ming said, grabbing Setsu by the shoulders. “If you've gotta know everything, then do it, Setsu. Don't be a pussy.”

“A—” Setsu sputtered. “I'm not a coward, Sha-Ming!”

“Then I'm rooting for you,” Sha-Ming said. “Take that girl to the end, and hold her close and let her know she did a good job surviving and that you're never gonna let her hurt like this again! You get out there and tell her, hell yeah, babe, I'll do weird, I'm a weirdo myself!”

It took a moment to realize what this feeling in Setsu's heart was. They chuckled to themself, averting their eyes. “I can't believe it,” they said, shaking their head. “For once... do I actually like you? Where has this Sha-Ming been the entire time?”

“Eh, you lit a fire in my ass,” Sha-Ming said. “Maybe if I get out of cold sleep, I'll take a look at some trashy romance shit or whatever. Might be something fun to study. But you—you've got a girl to save.”

Setsu couldn't help but sigh, and run their fingers through their hair. “...you're right, of course. For the record, I'm not sorry about all those times I shot you out the airlock,” and they gave Sha-Ming a smirk.

“Oh, bet I deserved it,” Sha-Ming said. “Get out there!”

With a stern energy in their step, Setsu headed off to Gina's room.

[Crew Data Update: Sha-Ming]

Note 5: “Is, occasionally, capable of being decent when the mood strikes him.”

Day 6

“Did you say what you needed to say, Sha-Ming?” Stella asked.

Sha-Ming nodded, with a satisfied smile. “Yeah. Send me off to cold sleep. I'm good.”

“...what did you say?” Kei asked, lifting her head up off of the table. She didn't look like she'd drank recently.

“Eh, you know me,” Sha-Ming said. “Some bullshit or whatever.”

—So this was it. The situation as it stood was simple. Four remained. Tomorrow, three would remain. In other words—it came down to a single vote.

Setsu entered the cafeteria to see Kei, drowning her sorrows in a bottle of sparkling grape juice. “Non-alcoholic?” Setsu said.

“I don't drink,” Kei answered.

Setsu smiled. “Kei,” they said, “tomorrow, let's talk. About everything. Thank you for putting up with me all this time. We'll have time no matter what happens.”

“...So you can fill out your Key?” Kei asked.

Setsu shook their head. “No,” they said. “Because I want to know, and I never want you to have to play this role again.”

“...If you want that,” Kei said, “then why—?”

“Someone dear to me once said that what made the AC cult detestable was that they wanted not to try,” Setsu said. “To take an easy road out of suffering. They said they thought it was pathetic that they'd leave everyone else to live with all of life's pains, and get a ticket to give up no matter what they had left for them.”

The coffee machine dripped a bit of excess fluid.

“I,” Setsu said, “want to help that person through her own road of life. I want to help her beat her challenges. And, well, I certainly don't want her to feel defined by her past, and not barrel forward with that obnoxious individualism of hers. 'Long live the self', right?”

Kei stared down at her bottle of grape juice. “...I'll,” she said, looking away, “see you tomorrow, Setsu.”

“Mmhm,” Setsu said, smiling and nodding.

Day 7

Everyone present at the debate table knew exactly what the other two were. “So,” Stella said, “it appears we're at an impasse.”

“So we are,” Setsu said.

One was not allowed to vote for oneself, so this deadlock could resolve one of two ways. Either Stella was sent to sleep, in which case, Setsu, the remaining Gnosia, would awaken their compatriots and take over the ship—or Setsu was sent to sleep, in which case, Stella would awaken the sleeping humans, and humanity would win.

It all came down to one vote. The vote of the reluctant AC Follower, who was sitting up today, but staring at her clenched knuckles on the table.

“It feels... odd,” Stella said, “being in this situation. Do I have the power to alter the outcome of this debate at all?”

Setsu shrugged. “I already said what I needed to say yesterday,” and they smiled. “Either way, no hard feelings, Stella.”

“No matter which of you I vote for—!”

Kei stood up, off of the table. “No matter which of you I vote for—I don't have enough time. Not for this.” She shook her head, and looked up, her ahoge twitching violently. “Not for what I need to say.”

And it seemed, then, that her choice—was to choose neither, to stand up, and run out of the room. “Kei?!” Setsu shouted, standing up to follow after her.

Kei could really run when she wanted to, and Setsu followed behind at the best clip they could manage—Kei was a bit lighter on her feet overall, though, so Setsu just couldn't manage to catch up. Kei led Setsu down to—

—the airlock. When Setsu came in, Kei had already begun entering a space suit. “...Kei...” Setsu said.

“Either way, I don't have the time,” Kei said. “But the outcome of the loop is only decided once the numbers are down. So... I'm gonna delay that.”

Then—Setsu began suiting up, as well. “Setsu?” Kei said, with a befuddled gasp.

“You're right,” Setsu said. “But if I'm the only one on the ship, Stella is contractually obligated to eliminate me, remember? So let's take that burden off of her shoulders.” They looked upward. “Don't worry, Stella. We'll be fine.”

A pause, and then the familiar chime and flash of blue. “...What you're proposing is suicide,” Stella said. “Being left in space—”

“Don't worry about us,” Setsu said. “Just take the ship to the nearest port, as planned. I'm the last Gnosia. Once we're off the ship, you'll have won.”

“And don't feel bad, either,” Kei said. “You'll be free as a bird, Stel. And Setsu and I... we won't die.”

“...how can you be sure of that?” Stella asked. “I... even if Setsu is Gnosia—!”

Suited up and standing in the airlock, Setsu and Kei turned back towards the nearest camera and smiled. “We've survived worse,” Setsu said. The two of them adorned their helmets, and gave the signal for launch. “Send us out, Stella.”

It wasn't the first time Setsu had felt the sensation of weightlessness that came from being untethered in space, but it was certainly the first time that they had felt it in space. The D.Q.O. floated in front of Setsu as they and Kei bobbed out into the vacuum of the void, letting the two of them loose, only tethered to each other.

“Look,” Kei said, and she pointed out. “It's... bright.”

The light of countless stars painted a picture, almost incomprehensible in its vastness, across the eyes of the two floating there. Asteroids floated about at varying speeds, too—but little else. It was just the two of them, and nobody else.

“The 'me' of this universe isn't me,” Kei said. “I can see some memories. When he died, he wasn't me. He was—”

“The Saint,” Setsu said. “The leader of the Anti-Cosmic cult.”

Kei nodded, then made a noise of confirmation over the mic. “Mamoru Sagami... I hate the guy. He's a thoughtless drone who parrots what his parents taught him, because he's too tired and beaten down to want anything for himself. He can't see anything. He's wandering, trying to find purpose, but he can't find it because he thinks he already knows his purpose.”

“So, you were nervous about the possibility of stepping into his shoes,” Setsu said.

“No me would ever follow in my parents' footsteps except him,” Kei said. “I... was scared. Of... losing myself again. It's funny—they were always so concerned with ascending to this place without bodies, but they sure did care about how my soul presented itself. They always brought in more people, more believers, to see me, to understand the form of their Saint... I don't even know if they knew exactly what effect they'd been having on me. So... what if I flipped that switch, and 'I' vanished? Everything I'd worked for, everything I've tried so hard to be—”

“How did you escape?” Setsu asked.

“It was pretty much pure luck,” Kei said. “I saw there was an interstellar train leaving the planet my parents lived on—and something in me snapped. I couldn't take it anymore. I knew, I knew, that sneaking aboard that train was the only chance I had. And I took it. I don't even remember where I ended up, but I threw away everything I had beforehand, found a baggy coat on the train, and started trying to find my way.”

“And, so... you've been wandering ever since, have you?” Setsu asked. “Trying to... find a purpose?”

“...Yeah,” Kei said. “I don't know where I'm gonna go after this, or what I'm going to do. Being here, with you... it's almost like I have a home. A messed up home, but a home.” She chuckled. “I envy you. You've got somewhere to go back to.”

Setsu took a moment to pause, and then said, “You've grown into a wonderful young woman, Kei. I'm proud to have known the you you were able to become.”

“Ahh, stop it! You're gonna make me blush!” Kei waved something or another away with the arms of her spacesuit.

The two of them looked up at the stars. Who knew what direction it 'actually' was, of course—it was space, so everywhere was up, but as far as Setsu was concerned, they were on their backs, looking up at the night sky. “So... after I get out of this, I guess I want to find my place,” Kei said. “Because this can't last forever. I couldn't take it lasting forever, honestly.”

“Same here,” Setsu said.

“Setsu...” Kei said, “Thanks. Thank you for always being there for me. You're... the best friend I've ever had. I'm glad I met you.”

—The D.Q.O.'s engines began to power to life. It looked like Stella was preparing for warp.

“...so Sha-Ming was helping you for once, huh?” Kei asked with a little giggle. “Ain't that a change.”

“I think I'll probably stop throwing him out the airlock now,” Setsu said. “As payment.”

“That's good,” Kei said. “Though—ha, remember that loop where he was Gnosia and we won on the first day by putting Stella in cold sleep?”

Setsu laughed aloud. “I do remember that! I'm still surprised that happened.”

There was a moment of complete quiet. Even the sound of those massive engines couldn't reach the two of them.

“Setsu...” Kei said. “There's... something I've been meaning to say for a while. Though, um... maybe I should say it when this is all over.”

“Is it that important?” Setsu asked.

“Yeah, duh,” Kei said. “What do I say that's not important?”

That got another chuckle out of Setsu. “...Visions from other lifetimes, interpreted as divine messages from Gnos. Imagine that.”

“Heck... maybe they are,” Kei said.

Setsu shook their head. “No, I don't think so. Whatever the cause is, you aren't a 'saint'. You're just you, Kei. I've spent enough time with you to know that.”

“...what loop is this for you, by the way?” Kei asked. “This is my hundred seventieth.”

“Me too,” Setsu said. “Seems we're matching for once.”

As the D.Q.O. neared completion to warp, Kei giggled and reached out to hold Setsu's hand. “Let's try and stay matching. It's good to know that you remember everything, too.”

“...Yeah,” Setsu smiled. “It is.”

“Oh, but I guess you've still gotta see that thing with Shigemichi and Jonas, huh?” Kei said. “So we can't stay totally matching. Just—”

“Our oxygen is running out,” Setsu said. “You should probably stop talking.”

“But I love talking!” Kei said. Then, the two of them, at really nothing at all, started to laugh as the D.Q.O. vanished into the night. And, the last thought Setsu had before this moment ended was—

—Ah, so Raqio really was the Guardian Angel. That's tough luck.

[Crew Data Update: Kei]

Note 6: “As a child, was raised as a 'Saint' of the Anti-Cosmic cult.”

LOOP 175

Day 0

“My Key... isn't full.”

[...]

“Thank you for everything, Kei.”

“Setsu—No! Setsuuuuuuuuuuu!”

LOOP 176

“You know, it was kinda rude of you to fall asleep on Shigemichi like that while he was so into the movie.”

[Crew Data Update: Kei]

Note 7: “Transferred consciousness from another dimension.”

At the moment, those who'd been in cold sleep for the duration of the trip were re-acquainting themselves with being alive and not being eaten by Gnosia. SQ, for her part, was getting used to having her own body.

But, well, it was hard for Setsu to think about that as they stepped down off of the ramp to exit the ship onto the base where they'd make their report. And, well, as they walked arm-in-arm with a certain 'someone'.

“Criiiiminy,” Kei said, “how long's it been since we were off there? No offense to Stella or anything,” Kei crowed, her ahoge wobbling around in a circle, “but a girl gets awful tired of her innards after so long.”

“I lost count a long time ago,” Setsu said. They chuckled.

—Who was the 'Kei' who walked beside Setsu now? Perhaps it wasn't 'the same' Kei from the other world, the world without Gnosia at all—perhaps now, 'this' Kei was the Kei of 'this world'. But, at the same time, did that truly matter to a woman like Kei?

“What matters,” she had said, “is that I remember it all. I got through all of this with you, Setsu. In that sense, there's only one me, pal!”

Setsu was quick to get to work on some paperwork, being handed a clipboard to make some initial reports on. (Of course, 'paperwork' was a bit of an outdated term, but the name had stuck.) They had requested everyone on the ship be allowed off, of course, but had also requested that this woman in particular be allowed to hang around them specifically. And, well, it was hard for anyone to say no to Kei.

Standardized military bases weren't anything special, but Kei still oohed and aahed at things as Setsu dryly explained what they were—automated cargo lines, routing zones for spacecraft, the mess hall... “Why are you enjoying this so much?” Setsu laughed.

“Well, really I just like hearing you talk, TBH,” Kei said. “It's nice hearing you talk business, but like, not time loop business. You're in your element, Setsu! It's nice to see!”

“My 'element', huh?” Setsu laughed again. “Have you really never been in a military base before?” Kei shook her head. “I guess there's only so much you could've seen in six years, huh...”

“Yeah, well,” Kei said, “lots of life ahead of me, right? No freaky alien's gonna stop me after I've already revived from the dead! Hoo-ah!” She made a karate chop motion in the air. “I'll take 'em down with my deadly precision strikes!”

“Sure,” Setsu said, “but please pack an actual weapon. Only use the Rider Kick in an absolute emergency.”

“It was an emergency!” Kei protested, huffing, her ahoge sharpening itself like a blade. “How dare you.”

—The two of them stood in front of a door, behind which Setsu would make a direct report. But, they also stood on another precipice, as Setsu saw it. “Hey... Setsu?” Kei said. “I... should probably say that thing now, huh?”

Setsu chuckled, and turned their head to look at Kei. “No need,” they said. “I know what it is.” Kei sputtered. “It's not too hard to figure out, even for someone like me.” There was a pause, as Setsu caught their breath, and then—“Kei, you said you were looking for a home. I'm not sure how well I could be that, but—”

Kei lunged over, then, breaking one embrace to form another, her arms wrapping around Setsu and squeezing tightly. “You're all the home I could ever need, Setsu. I... I love you, you goofball!” She was crying into the collar of Setsu's coat. Setsu patted her back. “And like, I was worried that you might not—”

“I've had some time to come to terms with this spiritual connection of ours,” Setsu said, “and I've decided that I wouldn't trade it for anything.”

Kei sniffled. “I love you, Setsu.”

“Yeah,” Setsu said. “I love you, too. And... now I've said what I needed to say, too.”

—So, let's go together,

to show you so many more places,

and be each others' place to call home.

Long live our selves—

through adversity, to the stars.

Fin