"What’s wrong, Mizuki?"

Masaki heard Tetsuro’s voice coming from behind him, and he turned around to look at the Segawa siblings. Mizuki was just turning away from her brother, a saddened expression on her face. Masaki knew that she would keep the promise she had made to him, so he wasn’t worried about that. But Tetsuro was a very observant person, who also cared deeply for his sister. If there was something on Mizuki’s mind that was bothering her, Tetsuro was sure to try and find out what it was.

"Oh it’s nothing," Mizuki lied. "I’m all right."

Tetsuro didn’t look very convinced, but luckily Sumio called everyone in the room to the large table in the center of it before he could ask anything more.

"Well, now that we’ve all had time to rest up and think about just what we’re doing here, I think it’s time that we started discussing what we’re going to do next," Sumio paused, looking discreetly at Masaki. "Though it’s true that we have extensive knowledge of the internal systems of Relics Point, the fact remains that we are still inside the enemy’s base. There are three thousand Zoanoids on standby at all times, and that’s not even counting the Sleeper Units in Takeshiro. And now, just to complicate things further, we also have two Zoalords to contend with," Sumio paused to catch his breath. "I think you can all see why it would be most unwise to enter this battle with only two Guyvers and a Proto-Zoalord."

There was a general consensus on this point, one that Masaki himself was quick to join in on. He may have wanted to get his revenge on Chronos, and on Commander Gyou in particular now, but Masaki had no desire to be killed before that could happen.

"So you see, to incur critical damage on both Mt. Minakami and Relics Point and to destroy this base entirely, we need to come up with a powerful force of our own to counter them," Sumio said.

"And, what would you suggest, Prof. Odagiri?" Makashima asked.

"The Relic itself," Sumio said, with such matter of fact flatness that Masaki felt his own eyebrows lift slightly.

Everyone else was a great deal more surprised by Sumio’s declaration than he was, judging by the shout that was repeated all around the table.

"Yes," Sumio said calmly, once the echoes of ‘the Relic?!’ had died down. "It’s as I explained to all of you before: the Relic is in fact one of the spacecraft that the Advents used to travel to Earth. The Relic is one huge biological organism, capable of withstanding and surviving the vacuum of deep space. This particular Relic is the only one in the world that has not been fossilized. Over the millions of years that it has been buried under Mt. Minakami, the Relic has somehow remained in a state of stasis. So, if this Relic could be made active again-"

"Relics Point would be utterly destroyed, and then Mt. Minakami with it," Masaki cut in. And then Kenji would be able to rest in peace. Masaki didn’t state that last part, however.

"But," Sho looked confused. "To do something like that, we’d need to move the Relic. Is it even possible to do something like that?"

"I don’t know," Sumio admitted. "But if anyone would be able to do that, it would be you and Agito."

"I see," Makashima said calmly, nodding. "The Advents who originally maneuvered the pre-Relic spacecraft all wore Bio-Booster Armor. We, who have become Guyvers, would in fact have the best chance of getting inside the Relic and taking control."

"You two are our best hope," Sumio said, looking from Sho to Makashima.

"But how would we manage that?" Tetsuro asked. "What is actually inside the Relic? Is there a cockpit inside it?"

"No one is really sure," Sumio said. "No one has ever seen the interior of the Relic."

"How can that be?" Sho asked. "Weren’t the Guyvers found inside the Relic?"

"Yes, they were," Sumio said, nodding. "So please, let me clarify that: out of all the people who have been inside the Relic, not one of them has come out alive."

The reaction to this news, which even Masaki hadn’t heard, was a gasp that echoed around the large table.

"How is that possible?" Makashima demanded. "I thought that the Relic was meant to act as a transport. Wouldn’t its effectiveness as such be compromised if no one was able to enter it?"

"Yes, but I suspect that the fact that the only way one would be able to access the interior of the Relic is by using the Bio-Booster Armor Guyver is in fact a defensive measure."

"Really?" Makashima seemed skeptical. "And aside from that, the Relic does not have any other security measures or defenses?"

"No. Although the exterior shell of the Relic is extremely durable, the real defensive strength of the Relic is its hypodermal system," Sumio explained. "The hypodermal system of the Relic contains numerous layers, and although these can be penetrated by a man-made machine tool, each of them secrets solvents of a different composition when severed. No matter what kind of metal or alloy the tool is constructed out of, when exposed to these solvents it will disintegrate immediately."

"So, how did Chronos ever manage to get their hands on the Guyvers?" Sho asked, confused.

"After the destruction of countless pieces of equipment, Chronos finally discovered that the solvents were not as dangerous to living creatures as they were to inorganic materials," Sumio continued. "That was when they decided to start sending Zoanoids instead of machines to investigate the interior of the Relic. However, most of the Zoanoids that Chronos sent to perform internal investigations of the Relic dissolved before they made it past the hypodermal layers," here Sumio paused for a breath. "The Relic, you see, seals any holes that have been made in its outer hull. So, not only did the Zoanoids who were sent to perform the investigations have to make it through the hypodermal systems of the Relic on their way in, they were also faced with the daunting task of getting back out through the repaired layers," Sumio paused for breath again. "Only one of them managed to do this; that was the one that carried the Guyvers out of the Relic."

"What happened to that one?" Sho asked. "I thought that you said all of the Zoanoids who had been sent into the Relic had died."

"All of them did," Sumio said. "This one just happened to survive longer than the others. But it dissolved into goo right in front of our eyes after it had managed to retrieve the Guyvers from the Relic’s interior. So it’s as I told you: none of the people who have gone inside have ever come out alive."

"Then, how could we hope to do what no one else could?" Sho asked, turning to look from Sumio to Makashima.

"You and Agito possess the Bio-Booster Armor Guyver, just like the Advents who controlled the spacecraft originally," Sumio explained. "That will most likely be enough to grant you access to the Relic’s interior and protection from whatever lies beyond the hypodermal layers."

"Very well then," Makashima said calmly, rising from his place at the table. "Fukamachi and I will attempt to enter the Relic."

Sho stood up just before Makashima had finished speaking, nodding his assent. "Right, Agito."

Almost as one, everyone else who had been sitting at the table stood up and made their way out into another of the smaller, secondary laboratories.