"He did what now?" I ask The Voice while getting in line at the border checkpoint.

The P5 had set up the checkpoint on the highway itself, cutting it into two. The checkpoint was divided into three sections, one for unmanned vehicles that only had a scanner on duty, one for small vehicles with passengers which had both the scanner and actual guards stationed there, and one for people, including me, who got here by bus. The final section obliged the bus's passengers to disembark and be examined individually. That was the reason why I joined the queue of people listlessly shuffling forward at a glacial pace, with bored P5 soldiers ahead of us herding folk through a man-sized scanner that had been set up and towards the counter with a soldier located behind it.

"I said that Gustav has announced that the successor of the entire von Amsterg territory would be selected through trial by combat." The Voice reiterates, "The exact rules of the contest have yet to be announced, but it pits all three claimants against each other for the right to be prince of Europe."

I tap against the earpiece with my index finger, miming the act of speaking into a hands free mobile to prevent the crowd around me from getting suspicious. "That's great. The brother sister duo hate Nicky's guts. I think we got this one in the bag."

The Voice answers approvingly, "Indeed. Nicholas has been placed at an extraordinary disadvantage. Gustav has managed to maintain the facade of impartiality while punishing Nicholas for appealing to the Legion for support and accepting Host money to fund that militia behind his back. Gustav has also cleverly avoided the trap Marshal St Clair had set for him. By setting the succession to be decided solely by the capabilities of the respective candidates, Gustav does not need to comment on the historical claims the Legions has over his territory."

I fidget anxiously in line while continuing the conversation, "And Nicky's bosses are OK with this? Accepting money from their biggest competition?"

"The Legion certainly do not approve of it," The Voice rasps, "but Nicholas has locked himself in by publicly backing their historical territorial claims. They will overlook Nicholas indiscretion in favor of the larger picture."

"And St Clair? How did she react to the news?" I ask.

The Voice laughs delightedly, "Rather poorly. I had eavesdropped on Marshal St Clair's conversations with Nicholas and she was confident that Gustav would at the very least confirm Nicholas as heir to half of the territory in light of pressure from the Legion, with the remainder up for grabs. She certainly did not expect Gustav to chance losing the territory in its entirety to Tensei just for the sake of spiting Nicholas."

I shrug in response, "We're not out of the woods yet though. Brother man might just decide to give everything up to his sister. Big G might be counting on that happening."

"Heroine von Amsterg will play her role." The Voice answers confidently, "The Hero will come into his inheritance as intended."

I hum noncommittally in response. The Voice would know its own creations best, though recent events have put that into doubt.

"About the other one, the police officer." I begin talking once again, "You checked up on her yet?"

The Voice rasps in a somewhat annoyed tone, "Heroine Naiberg appears to be functioning properly, but if her soul was tampered with as you hypothesized, I would need to examine her in a place of power to prevent interference from Fate. At present, I can confirm that her cognitive and physical functions are all normal. If Fate had turned her as you suspect, she would be acting as an observer rather than a saboteur or assassin."

"That's still pretty serious." I remark as the line shuffles forward again. Alright, time to activate the core in low output mode as The Voice had instructed me earlier.

"It is." The Voice agrees, "We will need to deal with it at the earliest opportunity. A pity you no longer can freely deploy at the Academy. I am actively tracking Heroine Naiberg and will inform you when it is possible for us to snatch her for examination."

I fidget once more as I approach the scanner set up by the P5 soldiers, the revolver and baton hidden under my jacket weighing heavily upon me.

"You could have just sent for a cab to pick me up." I grumble.

The Voice rasps, "You were complaining so much previously that I had thought you would appreciate the opportunity to cross the border while stretching your legs. At any rate, this experience should allow you to get the hang of the new function I have installed as part of your power set. You are clear on what you need to do?"

"The whole transmission business? Yeah, I suppose so. More or less." I say as the guy ahead of me goes through the scanner without incident and pauses in front of a makeshift counter where he presents his papers to the soldier on duty.

The Voice rumbles, "Just 'more or less'? Listen good. You already know that I have been manipulating the senses of the natives through the inanimate matter they consume. I have given you access to the frequency, so to speak, that I am using to perform this task. Just as I have compelled the natives to ignore Fate's call, use the core to issue a mental command to the soldiers' bodies, compelling them to ignore the fact that you are armed. It is simple. Just go ahead and try."

The guy ahead of me passes through the checkpoint and the soldier before me gestures at me to walk through the scanner. I nod and begin walking as innocently as possible. The moment I pass through the scanner, it squawks in indignation and the soldier waves me to the side so that he can pat me down. It looks like The Voice is serious about this being a tutorial for the new power it had granted. Better not mess up then.

As the soldier begins to pat me down with a bored expression on his face, his hand quickly closes in on the revolver. The moment he touches it, the soldier's face immediately becomes alert and his grip tightens on me. In return I focus on the soldier and lock on to the minute presence of The Voice within his body. Water, partially digested food, actual shit. I sense The Voice's power in these things, blinding the soldier to the yearning within his soul to draw closer with Fate. Grasping the signal, I send a message of my own into the soldier's mind.

Ignore the gun and baton.

The soldier's eyes dilate for a moment before he takes his hand away from the revolver and waves me towards the counter.

"Nicely done." The Voice congratulates, "Not a problem at all, am I right? If anything, pulling this trick off would be easier for you to accomplish compared to myself as the natives can directly understand your mental commands. I have to work by manipulating their bodies, a far more complicated process to achieve the same thing."

The soldier manning the counter flicks through the travel document and ID issued under Gallant's name that The Voice had spawned for me. With my heart in my mouth, I wait for his response to my new status as a fugitive.

"You sure you want to be going back out there?" the soldier asks.

I nod in response. The soldier shrugs disinterestedly and I am allowed to pass through the checkpoint without further incident. I breathe a sigh of relief and shut off the core. Looks like The Voice was right about Six Trees being a safe refuge for me. No one here cares about whatever crimes I had committed in The City. It really is just like a completely separate country. As I scan my surroundings, I see the black cab parked by the side of the highway. Abandoning the bus that had originally taken me here, I make my way to the cab without delay.

"No checkpoints on The City's side of the border?" I question The Voice.

The cab drives off the moment I get in and The Voice says, "After SOPO and RAU got literally bombed by the P5? The Council knows not to push their luck."

As the cab cruises towards the horizon, The Voice announces, "Next stop, Ascension Tower."