The Courtyard, a location hidden by numerous worlds.
It is situated in the gaps between many worlds. Unless an application is made through internal personnel or an invitation is extended, the difficulty of invading from the outside is extreme, given that the wills of these many worlds keep it concealed.
Roz Links had already experienced this deeply. Before departure, Big Haro—acting like an accountant who had just spotted an extra cent in an account—frantically searched the Nahel Argama, determined to count every single person on board.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have found Shinn and the others hiding in those giant supply crates so quickly.
The time the Nahel Argama spent flying through the grotesque, multicolored passage was not particularly long; moreover, after entering the channel, the battleship was in a state of autopilot.
This resulted in the young boys and girls who had just obtained their bodies—aside from those currently on duty—gathering near the portholes or the observation deck, staring curiously at the passage outside the ship.
Seeing this scene, Natarle Badgiruel subconsciously furrowed her brows.
"Be a little more lenient with them," Murrue Ramius said, noticing Natarle's expression. "It hasn't been long since they regained their bodies. It's a good thing for them to move around more to break them in."
"And... before they were victimized, they were just teenagers."
As she spoke, Murrue turned her head and smiled at the teenagers who were constantly letting out cries of wonder at the transition passage.
"...Fine, but only for this period of time."
Natarle started to say something else but ultimately sighed.
"According to what Big Haro said, we will certainly deal with other people or factions in the future."
Natarle also turned to look at the scenery projected onto the bridge armor. "In that case, discipline is a necessity."
"When Roz is not on the Nahel Argama, we are his representatives."
At this point, Natarle looked at Murrue again. "I have that level of resolve."
"Regarding that, my resolve is no less than yours."
Murrue looked at Natarle and nodded, then seemed to remember something.
"Speaking of which, Big Haro hasn't spoken for a while..."
"Because I'm so tired!"
Just then, Big Haro's somewhat weary voice came from the bridge entrance.
Murrue and Natarle followed the sound and saw Big Haro, who had been in standby mode in its recessed slot, rocking its body from side to side.
"I really need to move my spot further out later... sleeping there was so uncomfortable."
Big Haro complained, finally adjusting its state.
Although they didn't know why a sphere like Big Haro would find sleeping in a dedicated slot uncomfortable, Murrue respected its feelings.
"Tired... is it because of the application issues?"
Natarle was very confused as to why Big Haro would be tired, especially since it had been so full of energy before.
"Wrong! Reporting the personnel and such was actually quite simple."
Big Haro shook its head—or rather, its body?
"Actually, the main reason was to pull Roz back."
"Pull Roz... back?"
Hearing Big Haro's words, Murrue and Natarle subconsciously widened their eyes.
"You mean?!"
"Yes, exactly like that time at Junius 7."
Big Haro confirmed their thoughts. "After all, you saw Roz's situation back then, didn't you? Recrystallization."
-----------------------------------
Meanwhile, in the Hangar.
After Shinn and the others' mobile suits were unpacked from those giant supply crates, they were stationed within the hangar.
Jesta, Narrative, Psycho Zaku, Impulse, Destiny... and most importantly, the Unicorn.
These machines stood there silently, left to the maintenance of Haros and engineering machinery remotely operated by the teenagers.
At this moment, Roz Links was sitting in the cockpit of the Unicorn, constantly flipping through data.
"Roz, no problems on my end."
Christina was still wearing her white lab coat, holding a tablet connected to the Unicorn as she appeared before the cockpit. "The Unicorn's machine data is exactly the same as it was before sortie; there hasn't been a single change."
When they were preparing to set sail, Christina had gone to organize the lab equipment and materials. Thinking she would be following Roz for a long time, she had holed herself up in the lab until the transition began, at which point she came out and was pulled over by Roz.
"It's the same here..."
Roz let out a sigh and closed the data interface he had already checked countless times. "It's exactly as it was before, so why won't it start...?"
Indeed, although the Unicorn could activate its cockpit, the mobile suit simply would not start up, no matter what method was used.
"And... I can't hear her voice..."
Roz subconsciously reached out and placed a hand on his chest.
The voice of the Machine Soul had disappeared after he was awakened by Murrue and Natarle. No matter how Roz called out, he could not see her. He could only feel that the Machine Soul's psycho-power was present within the Unicorn's psycho-frame in an extremely weak state.
But at the very least, Roz felt her condition was slightly better than before—it felt as though her psycho-power had increased by about 0.001.
"Because both she and I paid a price."
At that moment, the small version of Big Haro, which had been sitting on the Unicorn's console without speaking, finally opened its mouth.
"Right now, she'll probably have to sleep for a very long time."
"A price?"
Hearing Big Haro's words, both Roz and Christina were momentarily stunned.
From Big Haro's words, Roz could roughly guess something.
"You should have heard of Crystallization."
Big Haro skillfully disengaged the locks on its mounting rack and hopped onto the top of Roz's head. "That is the ultimate state produced by the resonance between a Newtype and the psycho-frame, capable of triggering miracles across an entire area."
"But with Crystallization, the physical body can ultimately be preserved. If you wish, you can even return from that state of 'ascension' through your own will. The legendary Unicorn pilot, Banagher Links, is an example of this."
Hearing the surname Links, Christina narrowed her eyes and looked at Roz, lost in thought.
At this time, Roz did not notice Christina's state, his attention remaining fixed on Big Haro.
"But beyond that, there is a state of Recrystallization."
At this point, Big Haro brought up a concept Roz had never heard of before.
"When the resonance between the psycho-frame and a Newtype's psycho-power breaks past the limit, crystals begin to grow and fuse with the Newtype until their spirit and flesh are merged with the psycho-frame and the machine itself. This is an irreversible rule—it's as if a portion of your body's cells are mutated into a form similar to the psycho-frame."
Listening to Big Haro, Roz subconsciously raised his hand, looking at the back of it, which bore no marks.
He remembered very clearly that the pilot suit on the back of his hand had been pierced by the psycho-frame crystals, which had even fused with his own flesh.
"In other words, if we hadn't stopped it, you would have lost your human body and merged into the Unicorn."
"How do you know this...?"
Hearing Big Haro's explanation, Roz asked instinctively.
"The Courtyard has relevant data on this, and there are even many actual cases; they are still active on the front lines to this day."
Without another word, Big Haro used its eyes to project several images of mobile suits before Roz and Christina.
These silhouettes were some thin, some bulky. Roz even saw a giant machine that looked very much like a GM, its body radiating the characteristic green light of the psycho-frame, constantly swinging its arms and cutting through something with a massive beam saber.
"So... what was the price?"
Roz's tone was somewhat heavy.
"Paying enough energy to replace you. She and I were at a deadlock for a long time before we reached a consensus."
From beneath its "wings," Big Haro extended its mechanical arms and hugged Roz.
"But because the area of the miracles you triggered back then was too vast and happened so many times, the final result was that the energy I saved up from working 20 system years of overtime was wiped out. She also fell into a deep sleep because the energy consumption was too great. That's how we pulled you back."
At this point, Big Haro's tone carried a pampered, sobbing quality.
"Waaa... that was energy I worked so hard to stockpile! My Ja... our retirement fund is all gone now..."
Big Haro spoke, suddenly glitching for a moment, before continuing to huddle and rub against Roz.
"It's okay, I'll help you earn it back."
Roz reached out and stroked the top of Big Haro's outer armor. He didn't know if a being with outer armor like Big Haro could be comforted by a headpat, but he did it subconsciously anyway.
To be honest, hearing this outcome made Roz feel a slight sense of relief in his heart.
Fortunately, she is only in a deep sleep. If that is the case, there must be a way to restore her.
"Willingly giving up her own energy to let you continue living—this goes against her instincts as a consciousness born from the psycho-frame."
Suddenly, Big Haro's sobbing stopped, replaced by a serious and slightly sentimental tone. "If judged by human emotional standards... your Machine Soul loves you very much, Roz."
"I see... Love, huh?"
Roz thought back to the moments he had spent with the Machine Soul. Although most of it was combat, during mental resonance, that will and emotion could not be mistaken.
"So, the Unicorn is temporarily unusable, right?"
Roz fell silent for a moment before asking Big Haro.
"Correct. Just like how you should never touch the code of a program that's currently running, just let her recuperate in peace. She will recover automatically..."
Big Haro returned to the top of Roz's head and retracted its mechanical arms. "Plus, the Narrative might not be able to keep up with your combat intensity later on... How about we build a new machine after you and I finish your onboarding procedures?"
Although he didn't know why Big Haro's mood had suddenly turned so good, Roz didn't mind, considering Big Haro wouldn't harm anyone in his team.
"A new machine..."
Roz pondered the machine he wanted to build next. "For me, a psycho-frame is a necessity... as for the code..."
"You can directly copy the Unicorn's code," Big Haro suggested. "She was born from your psycho-frame and code... maybe another one can be born once the construction is complete?"
"...That is indeed a very logical inference."
Roz didn't overthink it and nodded.
Smooth, it was simply too smooth! Big Haro was so happy right now it was practically humming a song.
According to its calculations, the probability of this combination giving birth to a Machine Soul similar to the current one was 79.96%. It's a lock!
While it wouldn't harm Roz or his team, it was perfectly fine to torment this stubborn Machine Soul who had wasted nearly a month of its time.
'Jie jie jie...' When the Machine Soul finally wakes up, she'll have to fight for her man against a "self" born from her own code!
........................