Miraculously, we did not actually miss anything. Once they they got the portal open, there was still a real world week countdown before something could come through. It made me sigh. Ostensibly, it was so other factions could catch up to the ones in the lead. I could see that it would be a bit mean if one faction being ahead by a single day meant that they were instantly unbeatable for the rest of the game. Playing anything else would be useless. We had the military, the syndicates and gangs and the 3 factions of the cyborgs. Not being to play anything aside from the winning faction or simply being a tourist that did not do any main questline missions would be boring. It was lucky that there was a coalition. You could then choose between the 2 cyborg factions and further their aims at least. Having a countdown was the most fair. They could intercept and just sabotage the project. If not, then they deserved to be crushed unless they could pull of a massive comeback play. The Void and Wind clans both confederated. Technically, they could try to stop us. I doubted it. They each had 1. We had 6.
We also could make much more than they could. Our clan could finance and unlimited amount of XX-frames. It would be a matter of not being able to keep replacing the number of AEP units before our money ever ran dry. That was what it meant to go up against Devils. The command was given there was nothing that the other factions to do. Unless they could take out 2 or more of our XX-frames in time, we would summon something from the other side of the universe. 03 called me. He was actually angry. He demanded I switch sides and help out his clan and faction. "You said that we were friends, Brianne! You can't go back on that now. Friends don't let friends get killed by the progenitors!" he growled. I rolled my eyes. "03. You know damn well if you were in the lead, you'd kill all my Advocate faction friends and not even feel guilty at the pain it would cause me. If you and 01 are worried, come over here. You know that we will shelter you. Even if you have to put on the front of a final stand against my clan, I'll get it. We'll fight and I'll take you in." I said. "We're right to kill them." 03 protested.
03 did not want to let this go. "You still don't get it. Why should these stupid normal humans have anything!? They don't deserve it! Brianne! Please, I'm asking you to see it my way. At this point, we're going to have to kill you." he said. I paused. "Is that what your leader said?" I asked him. "No. It's worse. The leader of Void Clan said all members of PBJ Clan are to be killed on sight." he told me. That was concerning. We had an alliance for all of this time. They really were getting desperate here. I sighed over the phone. "Listen to me, 03. This is the path we're on. We're in different factions. I'll never kill you, but if you try to hurt my clanmates, they will gang up on you and kill you. We've already proven the best you can do is come to a draw with me. That's if we are in a tightly enclosed space like the dojo. The only thing that you can do is just come over with 01. You can go down with honor and then surrender." There was a pause on the other end of the line. "03. I mean it. This is the best that I can do for you now." I said firmly. "That's nowhere near good enough and you know it Brianne." he spat.
Even I had a limit to my patience. "Listen 03. It might not be enough, but I'm not the one breaking our truce. Your confederacy is. If you hurt any of my clanmates, you will be. I'm not stupid. I know you can't stop Void Clan, but if you really want to survive this, you and 01 really need to either stay at your clan building and never come find us again, or come and surrender. Those are the only options that we have now." I said, annoyance now seeping in my tone. There was a really long pause at the end of the line. I hoped that meant that he was listening to me and weighing the options he had. "Fine then. I get it, Brianne. I do." he said angrily. I sighed in relief. He got it. 03 then followed it up with "Tell me where you are so I can put a bullet in you and bring you to my clan." He clearly did not get it. I sighed gravely. "If you really want to do all this, I'll be at the temple. Come get me." I said before hanging up. It was time to have our final battle. I guess it really was only a matter of time before we would have to end our friendship. It made me very sad. I got up and went to the PEA lab. I needed weapons.
