"Nothing... So Seele has been trapped in this empty space all this time?" Bronya murmured, gazing at the vast emptiness of the Sea of Quanta.
Ryn had been gone for a while. Bronya knelt on the ground, cradling the unconscious Kiana in her lap. Cortana, having absorbed a massive amount of power from the Sea of Quanta, was currently upgrading herself, while Kallen, newly reborn, was still like an infant, getting used to her body.
After a time, Ryn reappeared before them, leading Seele by the hand.
"Seele!" Bronya cried out in excitement, rushing forward to embrace her.
"Sister Bronya... Seele missed you so much..."
Tears welled up in Seele's eyes as she clung tightly to Bronya, as if afraid the Sister Bronya in her arms was just an illusion.
"You two catch up slowly. I'll go check on the others," Ryn said, patting Seele and Bronya on the head. He then left them to reminisce and went to check on Kiana.
Kiana hadn't woken up yet, and Ryn had no idea what had happened to her. He could only silently help her clear away the scars left by the Honkai Energy's corruption.
At that moment, Kallen, noticing Ryn's return, slowly approached and bowed deeply to him.
"Thank you, Ryn. You sacrificed your life for me. I'll never forget your kindness."
"No need to thank me. I was once weak, witnessing countless tragedies I was powerless to stop. I could only watch them unfold before my eyes. But now I have power and authority. If I were to let such tragedies happen again, I would betray my own heart and this power I now wield."
Ryn gently stroked Kiana's face. Though he had only been in this world for a short time, he had already witnessed countless tragedies. Honkai was never just a game...
In Siberia, he and Kiana had encountered villages slaughtered by Honkai Beasts and witnessed the mass graves left behind by the Second Honkai Eruption...
These were events that had already happened, tragedies the weak Ryn of that time could do nothing to prevent.
"If we hadn't saved you... you might still be trapped in that cycle of suffering, or you might have vanished when the data world collapsed, or even been erased by Otto's formatting. Fate brought us together. How could we stand by and watch you continue to suffer?
Live well, Kallen. The words 'I love you' are always best spoken in person..." Ryn said.
"Thank you so much, Ryn," Kallen said, bowing to him again. Then, with a hint of sadness, she continued, "But... Otto was right. I'm just a virtual personality with Kallen Kaslana's memories. I'm not the real Kallen Kaslana. Yae Sakura... she..."
"Shh," Ryn interrupted, looking at her intently. "I don't know Yae Sakura, and I'm not familiar with your complicated history. Let me ask you this: Do you love Yae Sakura?"
"Yes. But I... I can't tell if it's because of the memories or if I truly love her..."
Kallen struggled to describe the feeling. Five centuries of longing had kept her love for Yae Sakura burning constantly. But after Otto had denied her existence, she didn't know how to face her feelings for Yae Sakura anymore.
She wasn't Kallen Kaslana, yet she was Kallen Kaslana. But she wasn't the Kallen Kaslana Yae Sakura had loved.
"Then go find Yae Sakura. When you finally meet her, you can confirm your feelings then!"
"Mm..."
While Ryn and Kallen were talking, Bronya and Seele had been chatting about recent events.
"What do you think of Ryn, Seele?" Bronya asked curiously.
Seele blushed crimson, remembering how she had been lying on Ryn's chest and how her body had been reconstructed using him as an anchor. She whispered to Bronya, "I'm sorry, Sister Bronya... Seele is already Ryn's shape..."
Crack! Bronya froze in place, turning to stone before shattering into dust.
"Sister Bronya!" Seele cried, rushing to catch Bronya's lifeless eyes.
Before Seele could ask what had happened, Bronya leaped from her arms and charged toward Ryn.
"You bastard, Ryn! Bronya's going to kill you, you beast! Seele is still a child! How could you rape her?!"
"What are you talking about?! I haven't even done anything with Kiana yet! How could I possibly do something like that to Seele?!"
Ryn held Bronya's head down. Bronya swung her arms in wide arcs, unleashing the Scolding Wife's Wild Hammer technique, but not a single blow landed.
After all, Bronya was tiny, and because the previous device had immersed everyone's consciousness in virtual reality, Heavy Bunny hadn't been brought along. Her martial arts and assassination skills were utterly useless against Ryn, leaving Bronya in a state of impotent rage.
Oh, right. Bronya's Emotional Module was damaged. She could only sense that Ryn's actions were wrong, like something a beast would do, but felt no anger or sadness towards Ryn or Seele's behavior.
"Poor Bronya. I'd expect you to be furious right now, but your blank expression is unsettling. It'd be so much better if your Emotional Module were still working."
Ryn pulled Bronya into his arms, stopping her from causing further trouble. What if she disturbed Kiana's rest?
Later, Seele arrived and explained the situation to Ryn.
When Ryn found out, he was overjoyed. Bronya realized she had completely misunderstood Seele's intentions, leading to a hilarious misunderstanding.
"That wretched Cortana! It's all her fault for dragging Bronya into high-intensity surfing every day, causing her to misinterpret Seele's words!" Bronya, held high in Ryn's arms, immediately blamed Cortana.
"Hey, hey, hey! I was just enjoying the gossip, why are you blaming me?" Cortana was currently secretly using energy from the Sea of Quanta to upgrade herself and couldn't leave. Otherwise, she would have definitely knocked Bronya's little head.
Sister Bronya gets along so well with everyone. Watching Bronya playing and joking with the others, Seele was thrilled. Bronya had made many new friends and was starting a new life.