Dreadwolf, Lord of Runes

Soon, they were on their way to the computer core. Fortunately, this time, the lights were back on. Soft, sometimes flickering light was once again radiating off intermittent wall panels, and the green lining on the dark walls was softly flashing.

Meanwhile, Kane continued talking to Ella. "Since you already have as much control as you had before, can you close down every blast door leading to the exit? It's the next best thing to actually closing the main door."

"Already done, Master," Ella smiled at him, now having turned herself into a doll-sized version of herself and sitting on his shoulder. "I'm also using the cameras to keep an eye on the bandits you've left unconscious. So far, none of them have woken up yet."

Seeing her smile like that, Kane decided to check her emotional feed, and quickly discovered she was, in fact, happy. Somewhat, anyway. Depression and gut-wrenching guilt were still looming under the surface, but she was already doing better that when he first met her.

He hoped she'd continue to improve after gaining the ability to interact with more people. Anna in particular. He also realised that, at this point, his hope for her mental improvement wasn't even solely linked to a desire for the woman in his brain to be sane.

Perhaps having a direct link to her emotional feed wasn't just for his benefit, because it was quickly becoming apparent that being directly plugged in to another's emotions was an easy way to feel something for them.

Kane quickly decided to be careful, and not let it influence his decision regarding the fate of Alfheim. Assuming he would ever even have the chance to affect that world at all.

First, he'd have to survive long enough to reach the level of Ella's mother.

"Good, thank you," Kane nodded, before raising a curious eyebrow, and turning his face towards the doll on his shoulder. "Now, I feel like I've already waited too long to ask you this, but how exactly am I seeing you right now?"

For some reason, she blushed a little when he asked her this, and quickly explained, "When you removed my restrictions, I was able to access the neuralizer's ability to completely hijack your senses, rather than just send images to your cornea."

Enlightened, one of Kane's eyebrows shot up a little sceptically, "So… it's not some kind of soul projection, you're actually just making me believe you're sitting there, when you're not?"

Ella nodded awkwardly, "Y— Yeah… Sort off. Although, it's a little more complicated, because I can also fool myself into believing I'm actually sitting here, having a normal conversation with you. Which is kind of nice…"

Finally, Kane understood her hesitation and nervosity. Clearly, she enjoyed talking to him like this, but was afraid Kane would become concerned over her ability to 'hijack his senses'.

And to be fair, he was concerned. Which caused him to look at the small Ella on his shoulder with a deep frown, eventually causing her to gulp, "So… can I keep doing it?"

After another few seconds, Kane sighed and looked ahead again. "Fine… I'll have to believe the no-betrayal restriction will stop you from actually using that ability to harm me."

Ella quickly shook her head and waved her arms, "I— I wouldn't do that!"

Kane smiled slightly, "I'll choose to believe that, but I'll still trust in our bond to keep me safe in that belief."

That answer caused the elf to pout slightly, but still nod. She was just happy she'd be allowed to continue interacting with him like this.

* * *

After a few more minutes of walking, they entered another circular room with mainly black and green colours. Its design was very similar to the one they were previously in, with various monitors and interfaces lining the outer walls, and a circular structure in the middle.

Only, instead of a transparent cylinder, there was a cluster of machinery and electronics, with one prominent display right in the middle. While some of them had cracked screens, or even electronic guts spilling out, most of these interfaces were alive, as a consequence of the power being turned back on.

Unfortunately, the data displayed on their screens meant nothing to them.

"That interface is the only direct access to the core of this bunker's mainframe," Ella explained, still sitting on Kane's shoulder. "I'll need Anna to give me control using that thing."

Kane nodded in understanding. While he himself considered himself more of an engineer than a hacker, netrunner, or code monkey, he did still have a decent understanding of the way this worked.

If he didn't, he wouldn't have been able to disable Father's nanites, back on Alfheim.

Thus, after directing Anna, the hareling went to work, while the others once again waited patiently.

Aelia was basically staring holes into Erik's head the entire time, because there were still many things she felt they needed to talk about, but Kane had made it clear they'd talk more after Ella had gained full control of the facility.

It took only a few minutes of Anna frantically typing away on the console, before the hareling stepped away from the console, and turned back to Erik with a bright smile. "It's done! Now can I finally meet her?!"

Kane turned his head towards the doll-sized woman on his shoulder and raised an eyebrow, "Well?"

Nervously, Ella nodded, before suddenly snapping her fingers—an action that probably wasn't as much necessary as it was comforting. Instantly, all of the interfaces and screens in the room went dark for a few seconds, before only the central console flickered to life again.

"I'm in control," Ella muttered next to Kane's head. Then, her lips pursed into a nervously excited smile, "Give me a moment, I have a surprise."

Meanwhile, Anna was looking at the sole screen in wonder, which now showed quickly scrolling lines of text. But she was soon getting impatient, when the technus she wanted to meet so badly, still didn't show herself.

She turned to Kane with an aggrieved pout, "You're not just stringing me along, right? I really want to meet this Ella!"

Kane grinned at Anna's enthusiasm, "Just give her a moment, Anna. She'll show herself soon."

Despite saying that, he had no actual idea what Ella was planning.

Suddenly, however, something changed, as Kane saw Ella had once again appeared in her larger form, somewhat transparent form. Yet, when he turned his head to the side, he quickly noticed that the doll-size Ella was still there.

And that was when he realized that the other's in the room were also reacting to Ella's appearance, as they all stared in surprise at the woman appearing out of nowhere.