A sharp stinging sensation characterized the slap that Ailee had received from their tactical forecaster Sumeragi shortly after the other meisters were finally able to collect her from the island.

"Do you understand the implications of what you've just done?" she demanded. "That could unravel all of our plans.You'll destroy everything we've worked for!"

"I know what I did," she replied. "I allowed him to live, trusting that he wouldn't breathe a word about me. And even if he did, the only person that would be harmed is me."

"Are you kidding me?" Sumeragi asked. "There are always ways to trace someone. There are so many ways to rat out information! How will you protect the organization?"

Setsuna placed a well-meaning hand on Sumeragi's shoulder. And Tieria said, "You'll stay out of the next interventions."

"But-"

"Before you and Mia were part of the team, the four of us survived many things. And even when we missed one or two meisters, we were able to live through it," Setsuna said. "There are some mistakes that you're just going to have to bear out because you can't do anything about them anymore. Sometimes, it's the only way you can actually make up for something."

Ailee looked away, in many ways frustrated with the way things turned out.

"You'll have time to think about what you did and their repercussions in lockdown," Sumeragi stated.

"Lockdown? Why?" Ailee demanded.

"You'll understand once you get the time to think about what you did," Sumeragi replied.

~°~

Dongwoo slowly came to consciousness, the softly glowing light from the sun flooded into his sleepy eyes. As he slowly opened his eyes, he heard the sound of chairs scraping the floor and a voice calling his name. He felt a hand grasp his arm. It was a firm, comforting grip that seemed to anchor him to reality.

“Prince Dongwoo,” Myungsoo's worried voice called softly.

Dongwoo followed the sound of the voice, and he saw Myungsoo clad in his knight's uniform. Sunggyu was behind his back, peering at him worriedly.

"I'll go get a doctor," Sunggyu volunteered before scampering off in search of a doctor.

Dongwoo grasped his knight's wrist, bring him down closer before he whispered, "What happened?"

"We found you in your knightmare frame unconscious," he replied. "You were well wrapped up. Did someone help you?"

"I don't remember," he replied. He tried to get up, and Myungsoo helped him. "Did you catch the pilot of the Gundam?"

Myungsoo shook his head. "The red suit was gone when we got there. The only trace that we found of it was the residue of paint in the depression its frame left from the crash."

"So no pilot?" he asked.

"No, no pilot," he confirmed. "Was the pilot very important?"

"No, no," he replied. "I was just curious: why didn't the pilot kill me?"

"We don't know, but we're grateful for it," Myungsoo said. "We're grateful that you're alive, Dongwoo."

"Me, too."

~°~

Ailee sat in a corner of the all-white room. Her knees were brought up close to her chest, her forehead resting on her forearms which were propped on her knees.

The door slid open, and Allelujah stepped in.

"Hey, are you still alive?" he asked.

Ailee raised her head and gave him a faint smile. "Yeah. How is everyone?"

"We're all good. We're starting to wind down again," Allelujah said, sitting down in front of her. "I'm sorry no one's been around to talk to you."

"It's all right," she replied. "I made a mistake, I need to pay for it. Besides, Marie is busy, too. I can't take away any more of her time."

"Do you think it was a mistake?" he asked.

"No," she replied. "I know it was stupid, but I really care about Dongwoo. I wouldn't kill him--I couldn't."

"I understand," he replied.

"Thanks, but Lockon hasn't forgiven me yet."

"He'll come around. It's times like these that you wonder how different he and his brother really are."

"Are they very different?"

"Most of the time, Lyle tries to show he's not his brother. But I guess growing up with a twin brother...you get each other's characteristics," he shrugged.

She smiled sadly.

"Before Celestial Being..." Allelujah began. "Did you have a brother? As in, a real brother figure?"

"Yes. He was a good person, but he was also quite weak-willed. He was killed with my father because he was too weak to be used as a puppet."

"But you got out."

"Yes. Someone threw me out of the ship and into an escape pod. You guys rescued me."

"We found out something very interesting recently," he said, which piqued Ailee's interest. "We found out who sent your coordinates to us."

"Who?"

"Mia."

Her eyes widened. "Why? How?"

"Tieria found it among her memories."

"She gave him her memories?"

Allelujah shrugged. "I don't know how they did it, but that's what happened."

"So in the end, it all goes back to her and her father."

"And your home country," he added.

"Oh, what am I going to do?" she groaned.

~°~

Dongwoo was snapped out of his thoughts by the hand that clamped his shoulder gently. Sunggyu stood beside him, a clipboard in hand, and a concerned expression etched on his face.

"You know, no one's stopping you from going to class," Sunggyu commented, removing the safety goggles he'd been wearing in the laboratory.

"I'm very late," he said.

"So? You have an excuse, you were sick. But you don't need to be cooped up here with all the rest of us."

"Will you come with me?"

Sunggyu shook his head. "I need to finish the repairs on your frames. That Gundam really did a number on both the Gawain and the Lancelot Albion. I might not finish the other frames at this rate."

"Other frames?"

"Hoya and Woohyun will be sent out with you. But until they get machines, they're stuck in the ship, that's why they're in school."

"But Sungyeol mentioned more than two machines," Dongwoo commented.

Sunggyu nodded as he typed a few things into the computer. "The energy source of the frames I designed aren't compatible with the solar reactors. So you guys have limited time, but a lot of maneuverability. If we want to win this, then we're going to have to overwhelm them with strength and numbers--that's why there are six frames. Once we finish the machines and repairs, Sungyeol and Sungjong will be launching as well. And until I find a power source that can mimick the ability of the solar reactors, I have to stay behind. Which is where the sakuradite comes in."

"Sakuradite?"

"Mia mentioned the sakuradite as a powerful energy source as well, but because we have no natural source of sakuradite here in Korea, I can't test it freely. It's not cheap either."

"Is that why we're attacking Japan? For sakuradite?"

"What? No! Whatever the reasons of his Highness for attacking Japan are beyond my knowledge. But I assure you, it's not because I need sakuradite."

"How much better would sakuradite be as a power source?" Dongwoo asked.

"From what Mia and I discussed... it could be somewhere between twenty to thirty times more effective than the reactors that are mass produced for the army. Although...I have a feeling that there's so much that the army's reactors aren't capable off. Mia kept referring to them as 'pseudo-reactors'. I'm not sure if she meant fake or she meant that to denote that those are not the same as the reactors of the Gundams."

"Wait. You mentioned Mia. Again."

"Yes."

"And you mentioned her in the same breath as the Gundams' OS."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because she knows?"

"How do you know she knows?"  he asked.

Sunggyu gave Dongwoo a deadpanned look. "Dongwoo, everyone knows that there is a difference between the reactors of the army's and the ALAWS simply based off the colours that the machines emit."

"Yes, but how do you know it's not just colour?"

"How do I explain this?" he asked himself. "Katagiri-sensei had scrapings from one of the attachments of the Gundams a long time ago, and I cross-checked it with the army's reactors. There's a basic difference in their structures, but that difference has led us to believe that there's something inherently different between the two.

"I showed the results to Mia as well, but she couldn't explain it either. But either way, you can sort of say that red particles are like UV rays: they're harmful to the basic functions of cells if you are exposed to them too much."

"And they're out in the battlefield, why?" Dongwoo asked.

"Because otherwise, Celestial Being is going to destroy us," Sunggyu replied as-a-matter-of-factly. "We simply cannot go head-to-head against them because it's like pitting a chick against an eagle: we're helpless. It's the lesser of two evils, Dongwoo."

"Is there really such a thing?" he asked.

Sunggyu looked at his friend, unable to speak. He knew Dongwoo was right, either choice was quite cruel, but it boils down to survival. Dongwoo and his fragile heart would never be able to make the choice.