Julian reached for the microphone. "Squad Alpha. Report."

  "First line of defense breached, sir," said the squad leader across the connection. "They've proceeded into the lobby, but we're holding them off."

  "Akira and company slipped under the rift defense. They've breached onto the twelfth floor and are currently climbing. Take Squad Beta and turn back. Squad Gamma, hold the line."

  "There's an issue," said Alpha's leader. "The stairwell is destroyed. No signs of direct force—looks like it collapsed under its own weight. We can't proceed here, sir."

  "Not an issue. I've activated elevator A. Alpha, take it to floor 20 and intercept them on the stairs. Stall for time. Beta, move to 30 and prepare a warm reception."

  "Roger!" chorused the squad leaders in unison.

  "Sir," said Tanamura beside him. "That's Akanaga and Emisane. If our assessment of the incident is correct, they neutralized over seventy percent of the Kirigami Family on Mount Hakusan—just the two of them. And Lazarus has joined them as well… another Harbinger, like yourself and Darius. Will our squads be enough to stop them?"

  Julian didn't respond to her. Rather, he reached out and pressed another button on the terminal. "Fujiwara. Darius. Come in."

  The line opened. Before their voices, Julian caught the last few notes of a piano piece, cut and trailing off.

  "Sir," she said.

  "We're here," he said.

  "Recovery status?" asked Julian.

  "Good enough," said Darius. "A few aches, some joints still popping. Nothing that won't shake out in a minute."

  Julian's eyes lingered on the waveforms of his voice as they faded to still. "Do you mean that?"

  "…Yeah. Nothing else."

  "Understood. Fujiwara, you're needed downstairs. Intercept Akira's team. Go."

  "Roger," she said.

  "Hold on," said Darius. "Be careful around Lazarus. Keep her out of close quarters at all costs."

  "Yeah, I've only been briefed a hundred times. I get it."

  "Haruka."

  Without seeing it, Julian could feel their eyes locking on the other side of the connection.

  "Don't push yourself too hard, okay?" said Darius. "Retreat if you're on the back foot. I'm always here to back you up."

  "You pull that from a movie too?" scoffed Haruka. "And here I thought you were spoken for." But after a moment, she quietly added, "…I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

  "Good luck."

  "Fujiwara," said Julian. "They're approaching floor 20. Deploy posthaste."

  "Do you mind?" she snapped. "I was already going. Ugh, whatever. Deploying effectively immediately, Julian, sir, something or other…"

  Binding Association Headquarters was a vast, sprawling space. Office spaces, with their rows and rows of mundane cubicles, quickly gave way to more exotic designs as they climbed. Physicality submitted to conceptual space. Erina could almost taste the mana in the air rising with each floor.

  The stairwell, at first enclosed on all sides by walls, opened up into vast grand halls. Each floor had to be several ordinary stories tall. Powerful chandeliers hung overhead. Light streamed in through towering glass windows as they ascended the now-spiraling staircase.

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  A squad of armed men was waiting for them in the first hall they reached. Erina ended up the one to take the first rounds before Akira yanked her back down into the stairwell. It took time, but dealing with them was straightforward—a cloud of bullets, a handful of phantasmal butterflies to lay down fire, and then the periodic bouncing spear to scatter them when they sheltered behind pillars in the vast halls. Between the three of them, Erina had the upper hand of being able to attack without breaking cover. It was just a matter of patience, pacing herself, and Akira tossing back every grenade and flashbang that found their way over.

  "Is that the last of them?" asked Lazarus as the agents' shouting died down.

  Erina ran a quick scan. "Signals reduced," she said. "Enemies neutralized."

  "No point dawdling," said Akira. "Let's keep moving."

  They climbed through barely a couple of the tall grand halls before the building changed again. The staircase became enclosed in all sides not by walls, but by huge brass gears and mechanisms—pistons pumping, gear chains running, parts of a titanic clockwork machine that dominated the entire space. Erina felt like she was crawling through the inside of some old-timey engine. Cramped walkways split off, winding into the mechanisms around them as they climbed higher and higher through the space.

  "Stop," panted Erina. "Please stop… my heart's going to…"

  "Are you okay?" Lazarus caught up to her, holding her worriedly.

  "I am…" Erina sat on the next step to catch her breath. "I just… why is it so tall…?"

  Lazarus looked up, her own expression sagging. The stairs just went on and on. She was feeling tired as well.

  "We've been running upstairs nonstop." Akira folded her arms. She fared the best of the three, only breathing a little harder than normal. "Fucking hell. Great setpiece and all, but shit, this goes on forever!"

  Erina looked around at the mechanisms surrounding them. "What is this place? All this machinery…"

  "The Gearbox, they call it," said Lazarus. "You're walking through the well-greased cogs of society. Erina, how are you feeling?"

  "I'm okay. A little rest is all I need. I can keep going."

  "Better mean that," said Akira. "Last thing we need is to get in a scrap right after running a marathon."

  Erina got to her feet and started up the stairs first. "Let's—"

  "Erina!"

  A gloved hand grabbed her collar and dragged her back as Lazarus stepped forward in her place, coat flaring out—

  Metal groaned and machinery creaked as the explosion shook the floor. Akira caught Erina, both of them hitting the rail of the spiral stairs. Lazarus was blown aside, tumbling across the adjacent walkway with soot and smoke staining her coat and hair.

  "Mom!" cried Erina.

  "Get down!" Akira dragged her into a tumble down several more steps. Bullets riddled the steps they were just on as they fell away from the line of fire.

  Lazarus got up, heavy weapon brought to bear and spitting a rapid barrage of plasma as she backed off from the stairs. More men in tactical gear were coming down the steps.

  "More of you?" A fierce grin flickered across her face as she ducked into cover and slammed the switch on her weapon. The barrel morphed into the twin prongs of the railgun, and a high-pitched whine filled the air. "Coming down a straight walkway at me?! That's too juicy to pass up! Erina, you might want to go down a few more steps!"

  Electric blue light flashed blinding even through the interlocked gears and mechanisms, and everything rocked as the railgun fired. Strangled yells were swiftly overpowered by the screech of tearing steel and collapsing structures. Solid tons of metal broke and bent, burying the landing in mangled machinery.

  "Mom, are you—" Erina winced as the screech of tearing steel assaulted her ears again. "Are you okay?"

  "I am!" Lazarus' voice crackled through her butterfly clip. "Looks like I knocked out the wrong part of this place's guts—I'm still pinned down."

  "Hold on tight. We'll dig out and come get you."

  "That might be a little difficult. I don't think you can dig out here! There's too much stuff and nowhere to push it. Even if you did, more will probably break off and come down on top of it!"

  "You didn't consider that before you started firing a railgun in an enclosed space?" asked Akira.

  "When you've got ten targets lined up that nicely for you? Who could possibly resist taking a shot like that?"

  Erina was inclined to agree with her mom. Looking around at the walkways splitting off the stairs, she said, "There has to be more than one staircase, right?"

  "No guarantee fire regulations apply on the Reverse," snarked Akira.

  "We can't continue this way. We'll look for another way up. Mom, let's meet up as soon as we can."

  "Keep in touch and we'll… hmm."

  Erina touched her clip. "Mom?"

  "I have another idea, actually. Just let me know when you're engaging Julian or Darius. Don't worry, I'll be okay! Going dark—is that they say? I wouldn't know—anyway, see you soon!"

  "Wait. What is it?"

  Erina heard a few yells. Gunshots rang out both from the nearby fight and through the connection, one echoing off the machinery and the other grainy through the call. Seemed like she was too busy fighting now.

  "Ain't nothing to do but keep up heading up," said Akira. "She'll be fine, Erina. Pack of fodder like this? No chance they get her."

  "You're right," said Erina. She shook herself out of it and straightened up. "Advancing."

  Two fingers to her butterfly clip, and Erina set free a flock of ethereal butterflies. They scattered, fluttering down the walkways, splitting at each intersection, exploring the space ahead of them. Erina built a mental map in her mind. She had an idea of the layout, the dead ends, the loops… and the way forward.

  "This way." Erina took off with Akira in tow, footsteps echoing over the walkways as they navigated the maze-like innards of the machinery.