Sunny frowned faintly.
When they had fought Kafka earlier, Fu Xuan had kept her eyes closed the entire time, navigating the battlefield as if sight were optional. At the time, he had assumed it was either a quirk of her Aspect or some eccentric diviner technique meant to look impressive.
'…Eh. Just weird diviner stuff.'
There were more immediate matters.
Kafka stood beneath the Matrix, golden bindings dimmed but still very much present, posture relaxed as if she were waiting for a late train rather than standing at the center of a ship-wide predictive engine. Her gaze drifted lazily between the people in front of her, unbothered by the silence stretching out.
They could ask her anything.
Sunny felt nothing in particular about that.
He had questions, sure. Entire years of his own past were still a blank stretch of nothing, a half-decade that refused to resolve no matter how deeply he dug.
And his former(?) colleague was right here to interrogate.
How convenient.
But there were people here.
March. Welt. Cloud Knights. Fu Xuan, even if she was talking to Jing Yuan further away.
Outing himself as Mongrel in this setting would be idiotic. Even asking the wrong question might narrow possibilities in ways he didn't feel like dealing with. And beyond that… he doubted Kafka would answer anything meaningful about it anyway.
So he didn't step forward.
March shifted her weight from one foot to the other, glancing at Sunny, then at Welt, then back at Sunny.
"Well? One of you is supposed to do the questioning."
Sunny met her gaze and immediately shook his head.
"Nope."
March scowled.
"Why not?!"
"I don't feel like it."
She stared at him.
"That's not a reason!"
"It is for me."
She turned sharply toward Welt.
"You'll do it, right, Mr. Yang? For little old me?"
Welt sighed softly, adjusting his glasses. There was no real reluctance there, only acceptance.
"Very well."
He stepped forward, stopping a respectful distance from Kafka with a solemn look in his eye.
"Where is Himeko? What is her condition? When will you return her?"
Kafka's eyes flicked toward him. For the first time since arriving beneath the Matrix, her smile faded.
"Nothing I can tell you."
March blinked.
"…What?"
Kafka folded her hands loosely in front of her.
"I will only answer questions posed by the Starkiller. A Dream Eater has no role to play in this conversation. Or in this world, for that matter."
She inclined her head slightly toward Welt, not mockingly, not dismissively.
"Business is business. I've got a job to do."
Welt seemed surprised by something, before placing a hand on his chin.
"I see…"
March looked between the two of them, then slowly turned her head toward Sunny.
Sunny felt both sets of eyes on him.
He grimaced.
"Unbelievable."
With obvious reluctance, he pushed off from where he had been leaning and walked forward. Each step carried a kind of theatrical exasperation, like a man being forced to participate in a meeting he had already decided was pointless.
He stopped in front of Kafka and crossed his arms.
"…Fine."
He looked at her for a moment, then spoke.
"What's a Dream Eater?"
Welt coughed violently.
"Sunny."
"What? This sounds like key information that will totally be relevant later!"
Kafka's brow twitched. She wished her hands weren't cuffed so that she could pinch her brow.
"…Elio said he foresaw three questions, and that they would be the same in essence. If I were to hear one of them, I would then tell you the objective of this trip in all its detail."
She looked him directly in the eyes.
"That was not one of those questions."
She exhaled, almost tired.
"You see? Dream Eaters are a headache and a half."
Sunny definitely did not pout.
'Well, screw that Elio dude! I don't even care that there's a decent chance that he's the guy who brought me back to life!'
Kafka continued.
"I'm not going to explain. If I do, I go off script. So try again."
Sunny rocked back on his heels, thinking.
"…Okay. Is there anyone else here besides you and Blade?"
Kafka didn't hesitate.
"I can't answer that."
Sunny stared at her.
For a long moment, he said nothing. Then he turned his head over his shoulder and pointed his thumb back at her.
"Hey, March."
"What?"
"You know any torture methods?"
March recoiled.
"What?! No! Absolutely not!"
Sunny sighed.
"Bummer. I don't either."
He turned back to Kafka.
"Alright. What I'm about to say isn't really a question. It's more of an accusation."
Welt straightened slightly.
March leaned forward, intrigued despite herself.
Sunny tilted his head.
"You never kidnapped Himeko in the first place, did you?"
The words were framed casually, but the cadence was unmistakable.
The silence that followed was sharp.
March's mouth fell open.
"What?"
Welt's eyes narrowed, surprise flashing across his face.
Kafka smiled.
"Bingo~. How'd you figure that one out?"
He shrugged.
"The Stellaron Hunters needed this exact situation to happen. You getting caught. Us interrogating you. Everything lining up nice and clean."
He gestured vaguely.
"I already knew you had a mind-based attack. Control, compulsion, suggestion — take your pick. So you used it. Nudged people into believing certain things."
He glanced at Welt and March.
"Like how you both believed Jing Yuan invited you to listen in on the interrogation."
March froze.
"…He didn't?"
Sunny shook his head.
"And Jing Yuan himself seemed convinced he had invited you. Despite me not recalling any such conversation."
He tapped the side of his head.
"I have a perfect memory. And just to be safe, I wrote down everything recent. Like how we all kind of ignored the fact that Dan Heng is missing. Except for me, of course. So I got pretty confident about not being affected."
Kafka listened quietly, eyes bright with interest.
Sunny frowned slightly.
"The only part that didn't make sense was how you managed to influence someone like Jing Yuan that easily."
Kafka tilted her head.
"There was another party already attacking him. I simply took advantage of the opening."
Sunny stiffened.
"…Another party?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
He stared at her, frustration flickering across his face.
Kafka continued, voice smooth.
"As for Himeko… once again, I don't know where Pom-Pom is. But Himeko has been living her life normally aboard the Astral Express."
March's breath hitched.
"What?"
"She believes she is the only passenger. Her memories of any others are gone. Temporarily, of course."
Sunny blinked. He supposed it was expected that using a mind attack on a normal person would be extremely effective. They were completely defenseless.
'Sucks to be them.'
…Hadn't he been one just a few years ago?
Kafka continued.
"You couldn't find her due to a Supreme Memory, one that creates illusions. One Rank lower and there was a small chance you'd find some flaws in it."
She looked back at Sunny.
"Your accusation about Himeko's kidnapping was one of the three questions Elio told me about."
Sunny's eyes narrowed.
"So that means…"
Kafka nodded.
"I can explain everything now."
She folded her hands, gaze drifting upward toward the rotating jade rings above.
"Nether once said that without Destiny, Fate is like a river that flows because that is all it knows."
Her voice softened, taking on a measured cadence.
"On the other hand, Destiny without Fate is equivalent to the meaningless scribbles of an infant — lacking any direction or goal."
The Matrix hummed quietly overhead.
"Finality is where the two concepts intertwine, weaving a tapestry that is both loose and unseverable."
Her eyes returned to Sunny.
"But what good is something so vast, if no matter which path you take at the crossroads, only Destruction remains?"