Cold and far from home.

[Nanoha Takamachi]

There was a chill to the night's air and a quiet whistle of a breeze as Nanoha stepped away from the portal. There were several guards, just like the ones that had arrived at the fountain with Dredd and Bradley, nearby who looked curiously at the sudden arrival. She waved them off as several stepped forward; she could already see that she wasn't going to be walking to the city itself on foot either- much like the portal back in the nexus. It had only taken a minute of walking to realise that the portal to this shining city was much further away from the central landmark than expected. An hour's walk, at least, and Nanoha was determined to get there before Dredd and the rest of his soldiers did. She had no real desire to enter the city under that man's terms. In the end she had sought deep within for that Omnillium again and, much like she surmised, found it easy to shape something, albeit rather time consuming. She summoned a motorbike, not unlike the one she had back on Mid-Childa, and rode it across the flat white of the nexus world to the portal before the others had managed to catch up.

Dismissing her Barrier Jacket and returning Raising Heart to her sphere of glinting crimson, Nanoha stepped quietly into the flying transport some of the soldier escorted her to. That she had arrived before any of their comrades, or either commanders, had returned didn't seem to bother them. It was becoming even more starkly obvious that those two Primes had enough power to take care of themselves even when confronted with a dozen or so new arrivals. Until more information about the Lost Logia behind all of this became apparent, steering clear of any of the older primes was going to be a very prudent plan.

As the transport soared through the sky toward the massive stalagmite of a citadel that dominated the skyline of Coruscant, Nanoha couldn't help but realise that this shiny city really was a breathtaking sight to behold. It continued as far as she could see: an endless carpet of glittering steel and glass, of polished ebony and rich colours. Even the greatest cities of Mid-Childa could not compare to this excessive splendour, but with only the gentle hum of the machine that carried her and the soft warmth of Raising Heart next to her, Nanoha could not help but feel the cold of the air outside washing over here. Until she found a way out of here, she was separated from all her loved ones, from all those she protected. Separated from those which she drew her strength from. As beautiful as it was, this was a cold and unfeeling city crafted from a mysterious and sinister power, not a true inner strength of a collective society.

One of the soldiers had handed her a small metal-rimmed tablet with a map of the city. She saw no library there and few interesting landmarks on the apparently military specific map. It did have information about a further six tiers below the one she could see below, however. The idea of a city with six more as its foundation sent another chill down Nanoha's spine. It would be far too worryingly ironic if that was symbolic as well as literal.

"We're landing shortly, Miss, there should be a droid waiting outside for you once we're down."

Nanoha was snapped out of her deep thought by the guard seated opposite her in the transport. He was a young man, with bright eyes and blond hair; his helmet lay nested in the crook of his right arm. A few moments later and the familiar thud of landing shuddered through the metal around her. The guard waited until she had stood before standing himself and donning his helmet again. It wasn't clear if the young man was just following protocol or being a gentleman, but he offered an arm to support her as she went to take the short hop down. Likewise, she wasn't sure if it was his kind face or the tiredness beginning to seep into her very bones, but Nanoha gratefully accepted the offer. After getting her bearings on the smooth concrete of the landing pad, Nanoha turned to offer thanks, only to find that the door had already shut, motor whirring as the transport took off again.

There was a soft tap on her shoulder and, turning back, Nanoha was politely greeted by a strange humanoid robot.
"Welcome to Coruscant. My name is CR-354. I have been instructed to assist all newly arrived Primes with a guide to the city and to ensure you are comfortable in your accommodation."

Accommodation. Some rest and a warm shower sounded very appealing right now.
"Could we go straight to my accommodation, please? I'd like some rest first."

The robot paused for a moment, several odd lights on it flickering in the gloom before it replied.
"I have requested a hover transport to take us to your accommodation, miss. Will this unit's assistance be required any further after you have settled into your lodging?"

Nanoha considered the map she had been given by the soldier on the transport. Perhaps a look at the lower tiers of the city would be a good idea, but first she needed to find the city's library. If Coruscant was as advanced and civilised as Bradley had claimed it to be, then a library should be a given.
"Yes, please. I would appreciate some help finding my way around the city in the morning if you could."

The robot made a small and very awkward bow of affirmation.

The wind was still cold around them as a hovering car whistled to a halt in front of them a few minutes later. The strange pit of lonesomeness that was building in Nanoha's gut would take some getting used to, but for now she would have to make do with what she could. Stepping inside the car, Raising Heart glided down to rest against her throat.

I am here, my master. You are not e%gg so alone.

Nanoha smiled slightly. Raising Heart never ceased to remind her master just how accurate the Device's name was.

[Nanoha Takamachi]

Quelling her hunger took more time than the trip to the apartment itself. Nanoha wasn’t entirely thrilled with how difficult it had been to find food that she was at all familiar with, and the robot- clearly more oriented towards general guidance- seemed completely confused when she had tried to explain the concept of sashimi. In the end, she had called for the cab to stop, and bought food at the nearest restaurant. It seemed that any expense new Primes needed was covered by the Empire itself, as the robot had produced some small card and waved it at the own of the place.

Nanoha was ravenous; the food didn’t last the rest of the drive to the apartment. There was something about using Omnilium that made her incredibly hungry, as the empty pit in her stomach had been rapidly growing ever since she first managed to utilize it to repair Raising Heart’s systems a little at the fountain. Was her Linker Core reacting badly to the substance’s powers, or did it just drain her stamina to use it like that. Regardless of which, it would be prudent to avoid manipulating Omnilium in any sort of combat situation.

The apartment itself was comfortable, if somewhat spartan. The robot had repeatedly pointed out that, as a Prime, she was capable of creating anything she needed- including food- so perhaps the Empire expected her to furnish the place as she chose. Nanoha had no intention to ever summon food unless in dire need, though. A properly cooked meal was always going to be better than some sort of perfectly atomically constructed one.

Bidding the robot goodnight, and noticing that it merely powered itself down in a small alcove in the wall of the hallway outside, Nanoha finally let the full brunt of her situation sink in. She was awash with a potent cocktail of emotions; a complex reminder of just how vulnerable she was right now. Raising Heart damaged in a way she couldn’t understand, trapped in some sort of pocket universe by a powerful Lost Logia, no way to contact home, and it was slowly starting to occur to her that the rules this place operated by were like some sort of twisted game. Do things to earn this Omnilium substance, use it to gain- or regain- power. It was abhorrent, but that was just how Lost Logias tended to be: powerful, dangerous and corrupted beyond repair.

Master, you need rest. I will watch and continue to run diagnostics.

Nanoha smiled slightly, and held out the palm of her hand for Raising Heart to float down to. If her only companion for now was to be artificial, she was sincerely glad that it was her own device. They had been together for so long, and see too much together to ever be separated. Perhaps Omni had seen that, regardless of how little the entity probably cared about their relationship. But if it had brought her here for a purpose, it needed her as capable as possible. An ironic blessing, in truth.

As she pondered, Nanoha had gone through the contents of the bathroom and, with great care, had one by one created the various toiletries and other items she’d need here. At least she was able to enjoy a few of the smaller things in life. Stripping down and entering the shower, it occurred to her that she’d need new clothes. That could, at least come later.

Showers were funny places, really. Naked and wet in a small box filled with steam and water, sometimes the most profound thoughts would flit into her mind. Bathrooms had fun acoustics, too.

Deep breaths, enjoy the play and sensation of the water flowing across naked skin; focus your body on scrubbing herself down, and your mind on the task at hand. It was a familiar mantra at a time where familiar things were needed.

Firstly she needed to get her bearings here; it wouldn’t be the best choice to head straight to the library without sussing out the city she was in first. She needed an escape plan that would avoid as many potential problems as possible. While she had little liking for that Judge Dredd character, she had a grudging respect for the authority he obvious had here, and had no interest in having to come to blows with him. At any rate, given the nature of this place, it wouldn’t turn out very well for her to do so. She’d spend some time studying that map the soldier had given her, and scout out the quickest and most covert routes back to the portal over the next few days.

Nanoha had suspected already that the lower tiers of Coruscant wouldn’t be anywhere near as pleasant as this one, but that also likely meant they were less policed. Finding some safe locations to seek refuge in, if it came to that, could be helpful as well. Aside from that, it was just a matter of getting to know some of the inhabitants of the city. There was much to be learnt just from talking to people.

Shutting off the water, she stepped out of the cubicle and carefully dried herself. Clothes, she remembered, was something else to sort out. Ultimately her TSAB uniform meant nothing here, so something more casual and simple would be the obvious choice. It didn’t take too long for her to generate several sets of clothes. They were cute enough to keep her happy, and practical enough for any eventualities.

Raising Heart was already waiting for her; the iridescent red pearl that was the device floating above her bed, flashing small beads of magenta light in a complex pattern around the room. Nanoha sat down on the bed and smiled up at the pretty patterns the beams made across the room.

Are you feeling better, my master?

“I am, Raising Heart. It has been a rough day, in retrospect. Could you do your best to analyze the map we were given overnight? I’d like to start exploring the city tomorrow.”

That will be a simple task, master. There is a data terminal in this accommodation. I am unable to remotely interface, but there are details for a device that could be incorporated into my systems which would allow for it. Addition utilising unknown substance ‘Omnilium’ is plausible; suggested course of action,

A pulse of light was emitted from the device toward a small electronic device on a table across the room. Nanoha rose from the bed to investigate and, sure enough, found a small printed sheet with instructions and diagrams for generating a small communications-like device. It didn’t take her long to grasp the systems involved and adapt them for incorporation into Raising Heart’s own systems. It took some time to generate the required components, but in the end she bound the device into Raising Heart’s substructure. Using Omnillium was a simple enough process, but she could feel the fatigue that already gnawed at her growing stronger by the minute.

The system is online, master, and there is a message for you addressed to this accommodation.

“Is that so? Can you put it on screen for me, please?”

A small projected window shimmered into view, showing a very brief message. It was, unsurprisingly, from Dredd. Something about a festival next week and a very restrained request for any assistance the new Primes felt like giving. Nanoha wasn’t overly interested in helping the man out, but visiting the festival itself could be interesting. It would be something to think about later, though; her eyes were beginning to close of their own accord.

“I think I’d better get to bed, Raising Heart. I’ll be in your care til morning, just let me sleep until I wake up.”

Yes, my master. It shall be as you say.

No sooner than her head hit the pillow did she fall into the blissful release of sleep.

[Nanoha Takamachi]

Soft morning light broke through the glass of the balcony window where it, having enveloped the balcony itself in its brilliant glow, slowly crept across the apartment. Presently, the filtered rays of sunlight that flitted across the room steadily lit up the sleeping form sprawled across the bed that dominated the space. Nanoha stirred a little, flinging a hand across her eyes to shield them from the dazzling light, and wondered why she hadn’t thought to draw the blinds before finally letting herself go to sleep.

Good morning, my master. It has been ten hours, twenty-two minutes, since you began your rest.

Raising Heart’s plucky wakeup was greeted with little more than a huge yawn from her barely awake master. Nanoha was not known for being great at waking up, but once up she would be running at full capacity until the day ended. The Intelligent Device was, after the nearly twenty years of their relationship, very used to the human particulars of her master. It was all carefully recorded and added to the comprehensive responsive architecture that her magical systems were comprised of.

Of course, Raising Heart didn’t need sleep; she had been busy the entire night running a complex series of searches via the newly installed Dataverse device that Nanoha had constructed and incorporated into her systems. The substance designated as ‘Omnilium’ certainly did seem to have powerful applications, but the Device was suspicious of the probable chance that the source of this powerful was ultimately nebulous. Something of this power and versatility was remarkable to the point of outright absurdity. Her master’s assessment that a powerful Lost Logia must be at play here was not at all unfounded, but Raising Heart could not find any data in her extensive internal logs that indicated the ancient Belkans had ever created a device that even rivalled this sort of power. Something was amiss indeed.

While the Dataverse certainly did contain a great store of information, it was very clear that there were few denizens interested in a comprehensive system of managing said information. She had found numerous references to a region of the Dataverse that was referred to as ‘The Databanks’, which certainly sounded like a place worth investigation, but the entrance was barred to remote users except via high level admin rights. Hacking had never been Raising Heart’s strong point, so she logged the relevant data and left it for Nanoha to sift through later.

Regarding more immediate concerns, locating the library of Coruscant had taken mere nanoseconds. There was a vast amount of data regarding it, though most of it consisted of irrelevant social networking references. The library’s networks appeared to be within a closed network, so further data retrieval was impossible without directly interfacing with the library’s database system. That was not much of an issue, since Nanoha wished to visit the library in person regardless.

One oddity, however, was an apparent ban on Primes accessing the library; a law put in place by Dredd himself. Reasons were, naturally, vague and mostly consisted of ‘public security’ or ‘state secrets control act’ and other such inane politicking. It was clear that the Empire valued its information dearly, and was determined to ensure that the possible leak of information at the hands of uncontrolled Primes was something they were determined to prevent. A determination that the Prime called ‘King Bradley’ had apparently forgotten to mention to Nanoha.

Over the course of Raising Heart’s internal discourse, her waking master had finally roused properly from her sleep. Stretching, Nanoha slid off the end of the bed and walked across to the living space that the rest of the single-room apartment was taken up by. She stopped, likely remembering where she was, and stared with some disappointment at the bare kitchen counter in front of her.

“Did you get up to much, Raising Heart?”

Yes, my master. A thorough diagnostic has been completed, and the Dataverse connection has been fully explored. I have compiled a list of relevant data logs for you to view, and readied a suggested plan for Omnilium expenditure to restore my systems fully. Also, several remote recording devices were located within this accommodation. They were of simple composition, and were easy to deactivate. I have also utilised the new device system to order a selection of foodstuffs and other necessities. They should be arriving shortly.

Nanoha resisted the urge to roll her eyes. This was typical Raising Heart behaviour; Nanoha was a mother to all those under her command or training, and Raising Heart had become her second mother in response. Master and Device had been together for so long that the bond between them did lead to some bleed of personality. Nanoha had become significantly more capable of critical analysis than she had been in her youth, and Raising Heart had developed… Well, a heart, so to speak. Add that to an Intelligent Device of unknown origin and unique make up, incredibly complex development over the course of nearly twenty years and the result was a Device so finely tuned that every device technician in the TSAB struggled during maintenance.

It did give Nanoha a little flush of pride to think about, from time to time.

Recording devices in state provided accommodation? It was obvious, but did the Empire no favours in Nanoha’s eyes. At any rate, they were of no issue now thanks to Raising Heart’s vigilance. All they had to go on now was here actual location of residence, but that wouldn’t be a hassle to relocate if needed.

Raising Heart received the delivery as Nanoha took another showed and dressed. With a full day to explore the city ahead, it was best to get creature comforts out of the way. The delivery was, naturally, filled with exactly what Nanoha expected and a decent breakfast took little time at all to prepare. Going over the diagnostic reports, and the data files that Raising Heart had compiled that night, Nanoha began to understand just how massive Coruscant was. Perhaps checking out the city and its inhabitants would be the best course of action, and visiting the library could wait.




Over the course of the next few days, that was precisely what Nanoha and Raising Heart did. The citizens of this tier of Coruscant were pleasant, regular, folk- if a bit stuffy or naïve at times. They spent hours just walking the streets, chatting to shopkeepers or fellow commuters, poking around in every large public building they came across, and climbing to every vantage point they saw to view the city as extensively as possible. Nanoha spent one afternoon playing a modified form of baseball with a group of energetic youngsters at a small field on the outskirts of a residential district, and Raising Heart took every opportunity to connect to every Dataverse terminal they happened across.

It didn’t take much questioning of the locals to understand that while this tier of the city was a sort of utopia, conditions below dropped with every tier you went down. The government, run by the enigmatic but beloved ‘Emperor’, was as close to a carefully concealed totalitarian dictatorship as you could get. While Nanoha was still concerned that the blanket ban on Primes entering the library would prove to be an unwelcome complication, she had several academics she spoke with assure her that proper application to the relevant authorities would grant her access. As to which authority was the relevant one, she still had no idea; each person had suggested contacting a different government department each time.

It was then that she remembered about the message that Judge Dredd had sent to every new Prime arriving at Coruscant. The one about the upcoming Jubilee of the Emperor- some sort of festival here- and a stiff invitation to assist with security. Nanoha was loath to help the man, but perhaps it might be an opportunity to speak with him directly regarding the library, or perhaps another Prime in the Empire’s employ who might be a bit more… Amiable.

From what she had heard from the locals, the festival started on the morrow. At the very least, it would be an interesting melting pot of state sanctioned activity and pure social fun.

Returning to the apartment for an early night, Nanoha checked the Omnilium reserves building up within her and smiled slyly to herself. If Raising Heart’s projections were correct, tomorrow morning would allow them to reactivate a particular vital system. One that might give some people a surprise.