With their performance concluded, the two girls turned off their equipment. Everything was done, they had actually pulled everything off.

“Halt, you two are under arrest.” “Oh, hi Velvet. Glad to see aerospace here causing us more trouble. Right, maybe we should have made a much quicker exit.” “Neither of you are going anywhere. Now come peacefully.” Velvet advanced towards Kori, cautiously checking to see if there might be any other trap in place for all of her actions. She knew that, after all their work, the two girls wouldn’t be open to doing anything to alienate themselves away with scary abilities. Without resorting to such though, the two were little more than harmless civilians. However, in desperation, they might resort to such dramatics anyway, especially if her mother panicked again. Supposedly, her mother was supposed to panic here, and things were supposed to go really bad. Kori might be capable of a very quick escape, but Rosa was far more limited. In that consideration, maybe she should go for the guarantee over the opportunity. She glanced between both, considering her next move carefully.

“Aerospace? Weren’t those the morons who let Hypertech go?” “Wow, they really don’t know a good thing when they see it. Idiots.” “Trying to arrest people for being too good, huh? Wow, who would have thought Aerospace had sunk that low.” “If you’re arresting her because she’s an airhead, you really shouldn’t bother. Talent like that is what airheads should aspire towards, would make our community better if they became that talented.” “You make it sound like aerospace recognizes what talent looks like.” “Oh, right, my bad.” “Don’t you dare touch them.” The crowd had already turned their viper looks upon Velvet, ready to riot. As Velvet took account of her surroundings, she realized that she may have found herself suddenly drastically outnumbered and completely out-maneuvered. She wondered if this whole situation could even possibly get any more dramatically wrong. To answer her concerns, a sudden holo call came in for her.

“Velvet, this is an urgent message from Aerospace High Command. You are to stand down immediately.” “Hey, I’m an executive of Aerospace Command, you can’t…” “This comes from above Aerospace Command, you will comply.” “Higher? What’s possibly higher than…” “The main branch of the government. I don’t know if you’re aware, but you’re on live news right now, and getting aerospace a lot of bad press. If you don’t clean up this problem, the government will begin a review of aerospace’s executive body and determine if any of such staff remain fit for work. Do I make myself clear?” “Absolutely crystal. I’ll get right on it.” The agent from aerospace high command disconnected while Velvet looked absolutely defeated. From all sides.. this had suddenly turned into the worst trap imaginable. She looked around at all of the recording cameras turned towards her, still hearing the growing hatred of the crowds. Yup, unquestionably, she had failed, there was nothing more to do but to try and salvage the situation and to admit defeat.

“I’m sorry for overstepping myself there, it appears Aerospace Command has had a change of heart. We would like to extend our thanks for your great contribution to our society.” “Thanks huh? But aren't aerospace the ones making sure that Hypertech is getting blacklisted from any transit requests?” “That’s only because your headquarters is in a hostile location beyond the barrier.” “Oh, so like.. much the same as the main transit center, just outside beyond the barrier.” “That’s not… Alright, we’ll revoke those restrictions, as long as you’re willing to cooperate with transit requirements.” “Same as any other company assuredly. Though, it might be difficult if you’re going to ban us from…” “The blockade prohibiting your access to the colony has also been lifted, you are even welcome to use aerospace services for your own needs going forward, much as any other person.” “Perfect, cause we might need to get a lift to bring all of our stuff back home. I had just realized that we might have forgotten how to take care of that part.” Velvet outright facepalmed as she could tell Kori had even outplayed her in that. There really wasn’t any point in trying right now, so instead she just requested such a lift personally. It appeared that Nick’s shuttle had even been cleared for use recently as well, all so coincidentally. The equipment due for transit was bulky and heavy, but since the stage was mostly a projection it could actually be substantially compressed. The shuttle would still be plenty enough for this request. By the time the shuttle even arrived, everything was packed up and ready to go. However, a large number of the crowd remained, mostly to keep watch. The news crews had yet to disperse, waiting to see if there was more to this story. A bunch of bigger companies had opened up requests to open business to Hypertech, inquiries Rosa had passed to Kori and her much more expansive social skills. Kori was taking the situation by storm, all over diplomatic relations and skillful negotiations. It didn’t even phase anyone that she was a conduit, because she was more than just a conduit.

“This.. was not what I would have expected.” “Oh, Nick, hi.” “Kori, I…” “Sorry, I’m busy with dependable business associates. If you need anything, maybe Rosa will care enough to indulge you.” Nick realized that things were still pretty much lost between him and Kori, and maybe that might not ever actually change. Rosa meanwhile turned between the two of them in inquiry and uncertainty. Apparently, there was some bad blood still involved between those two. In all consideration though, it was an invitation to escape the growing crowds and divest herself from the social scene, so she took it. Grabbing a holo-full of gear, she made her way aboard the shuttle with Nick, finding room to store what she had brought.

“Kori still hates me, doesn’t she?” “She’s quite honestly moved on and probably wants nothing to do with the stuff she left behind.” “Moved on? Does that mean she’s already dating someone else?” “She… well, maybe, who knows. Even if she was, it wouldn’t be my place to mention anything. That’s not the point, anyway, you’re just not a part of her life anymore.” “What? How could you say it like that? Don’t you know how cruel that is to say?” “Actually, yes, I am quite well aware of how cruel it is to suddenly lose someone from your life, actually, if you’re going to go there. I’ve had it happen recently.. twice, one of them quite a lot like this. Even so, I’ve moved on, you probably should too.” “You had someone you care about feel like you just betrayed all of their trust, leaving you feeling a wellpool of endless guilt?” “Yes, pretty much that exactly. Him and I used to be quite a pair, too. Then suddenly I got in the way of his work.. in a bit the wrong way.. and it left him feeling like I had been conspiring against him for our entire relationship. When that happened, I felt like absolute trash. Let me know if that sounds familiar.” “... Yeah.. it was basically that. Wait, you were there when things happened, you know what went wrong.” “My guy was a security guard, and things pretty much worked like a repeat of the same situation. It was actually right after your own incident too, if you could start putting those pieces together.” “Oh wow… I…” Nick couldn’t even finish his thought, realizing that Rosa might really have substance to her claim. He then sat back in his pilot seat, silently dwelling upon his own thoughts, leaving Rosa to return to pick up more supplies for transport. Eventually, Kori pitched in with her own share.. even Velvet picked up a few lighter things just to get things moving. Soon, the shuttle was ready to depart.

“Well, I certainly didn’t expect to be sharing a shuttle with you two under terms like this.” “Do you want us to drop you off along the way, so that you can resume whatever work it is you do?” “Don’t bother, my work will be easier from the shuttle anyway, it would be easier if I just stayed.” “Ah, well, I guess this means you’re going to get a chance to see what Hypertech used to be like.” “I really doubt it's changed that much, it just probably looks a lot less run down, much like the rest of society. Don’t forget, but I had spent much of my childhood around Hypertech anyway.” “Ah, yeah, well, I guess that makes sense.” Velvet sighed at Kori’s reflection of the future. Rosa meanwhile blinked her confusion.. in wonder on how anything there actually made sense?

“Okay, I’m missing something important here. Would someone feel free to fill me in on why that supposedly just makes sense?” “Well, because you would have worked at Hypertech, that’s why.” “.. and.. that matters.. how?” “Because she’s your daughter and…” “Wait, what?!” “Oh, right, that never came up before.” “Velvet’s my daughter.. in future.. by the divine…” “If you think that’s bad, you should wait till you figure out who Mheridz’s mom is.” “Hells… I can’t believe it.” Rosa clued in at that point that even Kori had projections of future motherhood. However, Rosa then was even more capable in putting details together, amassing the entire future structure.

“Wait, so then you would have been at Hypertech for more than me, you would have had a father that…” “Well, yeah, being the daughter of the head of the company really did leave me in quite a predicament. At least dad was around more.. when he wasn’t busy with his own work. Left me to grow as quite the pampered princess of the company, really, though life was harsh enough to feel quite a lot less elegant than that.” Rosa listened as Velvet reshared the same story of her upbringing from before. It was basically the same story Kori had heard before.. except Kori was still spinning on this whole father angle, a consideration that hadn’t even dawned on her before.

“Hold on.. so.. Drew is...” “Her father, yeah. That actually makes a lot of sense.” “Are you and Drew really that close?” “Not yet, but we’re getting there. It’s pretty much like how that means we know who Mheridz’s father is too.” “Wait, what?” “Oh come on, your sister has all but guaranteed it for you at this point, it’s really obvious how close you’ve gotten to Jhez. I suspect that means Mheridz grew up at the academy then, having parents who were invested into the school curriculum.” “Hold on, what? Jhez might be a teacher, but I’m…” “Right, we didn’t have time to get to that yet, and I really didn’t want to burden you with it before our work was done, but yes.. the academy has already wanted me to check if you would be interested in teaching. You’re really good at working with people, and you are an expert with all sorts of information. Administration was all over that, ready to pick you up. Really, it’s becoming a family thing, considering your sister’s invitation into the event committee after how well that party went.” Kori sat back on her chair, mentally processing everything Rosa had just said. It was only then that Rosa realized that she had actually broken her promise to Xwyhr about keeping everything quiet, but it had been an important moment to put everything together. Maybe it will be easier to project what Mheridz planned when they knew the girl would be quite the historian. Actually, that explained why Mheridz was fearsomely intimidating when it came to predicting what had happened, her grasp of what she considered history would be substantial.

“Wait, the party went well.. but you had always told me… I.. mean.. future you had always said…” “We held a party, it was an extravagant blast, we got a great crowd, and even the academy started to officially support what we were doing. As a result of all that support, Kori’s sister was offered a position as an official event coordinator.” “That’s.. that’s nothing like what I was told. The whole thing was supposed to have started great, yeah, but then it grew out of control and from there things had gone wrong. Once official bodies had gotten involved, Kori’s sister was supposed to be suspended, with her entire education and thus future in danger.” “Wow, no way, the girl is set, her future is bright.” Velvet was now the one left with her head spinning, Rosa having really changed things on her. To Velvet, this did explain all the sudden confidence they had shared.. but it didn’t explain why things had gone so differently. Exactly how had everything so suddenly changed? Kori meanwhile was evaluating things too, seeing that they really were on the course for a divergence. The concert curse was supposed to hit them.. and they had stopped it already. Their next concert could then make for yet another great divergence, spinning this timeline considerably off course.

“Hold on, if the whole party supposedly went poorly, what happened to me? I expect that I got these teacher invites because the party went well, but…” “Oh, well, apparently you still became a teacher anyway. I expect your husband stood up for you there, and there is the whole thing about being a sort of protector otherwise. You would have to ask Mary, but I’m pretty sure in her time you got the same kind of requests.. just not this soon. Really, what in the world happened. Everything was pretty easy to predict for a while.. but then everything has just drifted astray.” “Ah, well, maybe the difference is that you’re here? Your history wouldn’t have included you in it, right?” “That.. well.. I guess. You’re talking some crazy butterfly effect stuff here though. Just having someone new in aerospace command wouldn’t have done all of this. Did you know that we’ve missed nine historically significant DMA raids already? They just haven’t happened, everything has instead been absolutely quiet. The people at aerospace command think I’ve gone completely paranoid, chasing shadows that don’t even exist.” “Well, then I guess you can finally give up on trying to get us to surrender, everything has been taken care of already.” “No, it hasn’t. I know it hasn’t because I’m still here. If I’m still here, then it means there is a future where I might come back to still try to fix the past. Until I simply fade away, my work isn’t done.” Kori was getting used to how all of these timeline things worked, understanding Velvet’s place in everything. It was rather grim that the entire meaning behind Velvet’s existence was to deal with such a threat, but the logic at least made sense.

More notable was the details on what had changed. Things were starting to diverge, but there was a lot that was still the same. Velvet might have some problems being as accurate in predictions.. but things were still possible to predict. Of course too, her belief on Velvet’s inclusion in the timeline was mostly a bluff. Well, her presence was a sizable difference, and would have had some impact on the timeline, but there was something far more substantial that had occurred to change everything. In all accounts, actually, even that might be due to the butterfly effect, their own personal development caused because of both daughters travelling back and instigating such changes. Kori’s future self may have had something of a good idea there then.. but such changes were profound enough to have her believe that this timeline could be salvaged. Rosa meanwhile was contemplating the terms of such a grim existence. Such implied that, in her death, she had resolved both daughters to this grim semblance of an existence, their lives fading away either when they succeeded or when it came time for her to actually have such a child. Clearly, there was quite a lot more riding on everything than she might have first expected. In all of her considerations, she took another look over Velvet, considering the girl in a new light. Velvet had clearly gone the mile to cloud things over, but she could pinpoint some slight resemblance now that she was aware any existed. Velvet almost seemed like an older sister, in a way.. though she wasn’t. Her future daughter.. that just happened to be older than she was. She really did have quite the family here with this world.. she was beginning to feel like she might belong here more than she might the other. Kori in all honesty wasn’t that far off from the same assessment, but it was an idea she was trying to ignore with her present thoughts. Realizing that she felt more foreign to her own planet than she did on the other side would be itself too much for her right now.

“Velvet, do you want to stay a bit at Hypertech, just for a little while?” “Uh, no, thanks, that’s fine. I’ve got a lot of work to do.” “Work, seriously, you need some time to relax too, you know. Seriously, you're reminding me of the worst qualities of your mother.” “But.. aren’t you…” “Oh, I know. Let’s think of it this way. We have to consider the shattered relationship between Hypertech and Aerospace. As an executive member of Aerospace Command, we’re going to need you to be present to handle all of the business details of our interoperation relations.” “Uh, but I’m already talking to you, and you’re vice chairman of the whole company, Drew’s right hand.” “I’m.. what?” “Oh… Did that not happen yet? Shit.” “No.. nothing like that has happened yet, so you’re going to have to be present before Drew. Come on, you know this stuff has to be done in an official capacity, that’s how these things work.” “You’re sounding like my mother. Fine, whatever. Just so you know though, I’ve not given up. This is a huge setback, yes, but it’s just a matter of time before things go wrong. I will find a way to get your surrender.. I refuse to let you just die like that again.” Rosa could see her shared family stubbornness shine right back at her through Velvet. However, Rosa could also see the relentless determination Xwyhr had constantly complained about, the same one that didn’t like to relax nor seek help, just to do everything on her own mindlessly. Rosa was adamant that, when it came time for this timeline’s Velvet, she would ensure that such would be corrected.

Even so, the stay was still short and quick, Velvet handling negotiations with Drew with complete professionalism, the fact that this was in all truth a father/daughter meeting not even evident in the whole scenario. Velvet did insist on not including lesser employees though, so Rosa only got an account for what happened through Drew second hand. At a professional level, everything had been worked out. At a personal level, nothing had happened. Rosa however did notice that Velvet knew exactly where to go, knew every turn and every passage. This had really been Velvet’s home once.. on another timeline. But even in Velvet’s ever present resolve, this only turned to inspire Rosa even further. She would save Velvet from such misfortune, she would find a way Velvet could rest at last. Not only that, she would ensure that such grim terms would in no way repeat themselves. There would be no more sacrifices, and she was totally willing to seek help in order to ensure everything worked out.

However, for now, they would have to look forward to the problems just before them. The one performance had worked out, but the cursed concert had yet to begin.