We tune in after some point after dozing off and wake up in a familiar room with a circular ceiling that reveals a star filled sky and a metallic floor that thrums with motion. You are surprised by this since you were elsewhere beforehand, but you recognize this place. The Broker asks if you’ve woken up and says it’s been some time since he saw you, and you turn to face him. He speaks politely as before, yet there is an evil glint in his eyes.
The Broker comments that you are the first person he’s ever called back twice in such a short time, and he says it’s fascinating that you’ve exhibited far better specs than he thought you would. You shout in recognition of the Broker, and he seems pleased that you remember him despite having only met him once before. He then apologizes and comments that you probably wouldn’t have been able to forget, and having seen how you were treated over there he has a good idea of what you’d think of him. He laughs in an eerie manner, but his smile shows no trace of any warm emotions. And just as a shiver runs down your spine, the Broker straightens up.
The Broker comments that while he planned it out, the experiment wasn’t a waste and notes that he saw some interesting results. When you ask him what he means by experiment, the Broker explains he was checking to see if you actually observe an absorbed existence whose feelings weren’t directed at you. But in the end, its feelings were so strong that the thing went on a rampage so that even the heroes beside you were able to observe it. But now that he knows that you can see someone who is gone, he knows that your observational abilities are greater than he imagined. He also notes that you’re gradually stabilizing that power and controlling it, which he considers great progress.
You have an idea of who the Broker is talking about when he mentioned an absorbed existence, and you ask if he really means Sui’s mom. He brushes the question aside, mainly because he doesn’t know much in particular about that person. But if you have an idea as to who it is, he figures that’s who it must be. All he knows is that based on the Earth’s time axis, it was someone eaten by a Monster that appeared on the moon four years ago.
The Broker starts explaining that when people are eaten by a Monster, the observational strength of how much they were observed becomes food for said monster, which they use to grow as a vessel to expand into this universe. And since they are just vessels, they don’t have what makes life forms living things. They have no emotions or intelligence, and they just devour whatever exists in this world to make a part of themselves. As such, it’s normally impossible for them to take action that has any thought put into it.
However, since Monsters exist here as empty vessels, it’s easy for them to be eroded existences with strong thoughts. The Broker compares this to a solid object having clear acid thrown on it, and the result is that said person’s thoughts take over the Monster. He adds that it wouldn’t take long for it to be melted away by those thoughts though.
You start to ask about the Monster having Sui’s mom’s thoughts, so the Broker tells you her existence had held out for four years while holding intense thoughts towards her child. There were scores of concerns for him in trying to figure out how to handle this. It is such a bother having something so annoyingly persistent stay on and interfere with his usage of Monsters, he’ll have you know.
You react in shock to the Broker talking about using Monsters and demand an explanation about that, but the Broker continues on as if you didn’t say anything. Normally something like that gets absorbed easily if he directly does something to intervene, but circumstances were a little different this time around since said person’s thoughts were directed at someone near you.
You ask the Broker if he’s talking about Sui, and he confirms as such. Having said thoughts remain in the Monster would have it overtaken by said thoughts until her life was completely absorbed. That would be a huge loss with nothing to show for it...yet he was interested in it. If that monster was overtaken by those thoughts and rampaged, it would try to contact the subject of those thoughts, which meant there would be a possibility you’d come in contact with it. And in that case, if you confronted it, what would you see? And what would you do? That’s what he wanted to know. The Broker mentions he was really surprised to see the Monster imitate the form of the being whose thoughts it was taken over by, and it even sent a letter. How ridiculous interesting...
You express outrage at the Broker, and the Broker says the results regarding that woman were unexpected. The moment she finally reunited with her daughter, she lost all strength and faded away. He says this is proof of your abilities since you were able to see that though, and that you really are special. It has been centuries, and you are the best Observer yet. He smiles in satisfaction, but you see a glimpse of his endless contempt for you and all life in this world.
You lunge at the Broker without thinking about it, but you end up running through him like he isn’t there. He comments that unfortunately for you, you can’t interfere with him because you two exist in different phases. When the Broker becomes visible again, he says he didn’t bring you here to tell you what his experiment was all about. He called you here to give you new instructions...or request rather.
You ask the Broker what he means by that, and the Broker says that his request that you live as you please has come to an end. He worries he may be jumping the gun a bit here, but the situation has become somewhat urgent now. But anyways, his request for you now is for you to “erase” a certain man as he swipes his hand, bringing up a hologram of Exio.
You ask about Exio being brought up, and the Broker confirms it’s him as he says he knows you’ve already met him and know where he likely is. The Broker says that Exio is abusing the power he gave him, which is causing him trouble. He’s pushing aside the Broker’s ability to interfere with you, made him unable to contact you without taking care, and continues to watch you. That’s why the Broker has to bring you somewhere physically far from Earth like so, but he cuts himself off here and says it’s irrelevant to you.
You have one response to this request, and you either refuse outright or ask what he’d do if you said no. The Broker seems surprised as he says you don’t seem to know the position you’re in and tells you you don’t have the right to refuse him. He disappears from sight for a moment, and when he does reappear again he grabs you by the neck and lifts you off your feet, slowly choking you as he adds on the pressure.
The Broker tells you that as long as he can observe you, he can kill you whenever he feels like. He can send the Monsters at you, or he can throw you out from this world or your original world to Somewhere Else, and it’d be no trouble for him either way. In the end you are nothing more than his pawn, and he expects you to fulfill this request. You vision grows hazy and darkens as you struggle to breathe, and soon you black out.
You eventually awaken back on Maculata’s ship as someone is calling to you. You wake up confused, and Sui asks you what’s wrong in concern since you were moaning earlier. Mokdai figures you’re just tired from Operating all day, then tells you that you conked out upon sitting down in here. He also teases you about seeing how you look when you sleep.
Maculata says she’s tired too and will need some treatment later. She warns everyone to take care of themselves because stress can show through your skin and hair. And on that note, she’s surprised Crowne can drive the ship like this. She’s glad, but she also asks if Crowne’s sure she doesn’t need a break. Crowne says she can handle a little driving and says Maculata should just rest. She promises it’ll be a smooth ride so that she can sleep as soundly as you did.
You talk to yourself and wonder if you were just dreaming, but you suspect otherwise. Sui starts addressing everyone saying she needs to talk to you guys, so everyone turns to look at her. She talks about feeling like she needs to apologize to everyone again, then does so for losing her head over her mother and putting everyone in danger. You either call Sui’s name or stay silent, and Crowne says she doesn’t have to apologize since her mom was that important to her. If anyone did anything wrong, it was the monster for toying with Sui’s heart to begin with. If Sui is going to reflect on this incident, she should figure out how she’ll use this experience to cut her way forward. Bitch is the only one to decide how she lives. If she messes up here, she just needs to learn how to do better next time. Maculata says that Crowne does have a point. She adds that she’s proud as Shizuku’s close friend to know that Sui loves her so much, and that she needs to concentrate as her guardian so she won’t shame Shizuku.
Sui is touched by Crowne and Maculata’s remarks, then steels herself before she turns to talk to you. She admits that she’s thinking of trying to be a hero, and you are surprised by this. Sui nods, and she says she knows it’s dangerous and not something to treat like a casual side thing. But she feels that if there are people who feels the same way she did and she’s able to help them, then she wants to use her power that way. She was saved, and thanks to everyone there she’s learned to look forward and live for the future. She can’t be the only one who was trapped by their thoughts looking for an escape, so this time she’ll be the one to save them. She can pay it forward, though she asks what you think.
You say you think it’s a good idea. Mokdai says he supports Sui in this if she’s sure about it and wants to be a hero while looking towards the future. He wants to cheer her on if he can, and he’s glad to have more friends around in the business. Sui thanks Mokdai, and Maculata starts asking Huckle what he thinks of all this. Sui is surprised by this and sees Huckle’s hologram on Maculata’s phone. Huckle says he’s heard and asks if Maculata is okay with that. Maculata nods and says she’s check with Sui last night, and Sui seems determined about it. In which case, she’ll let her as she doesn’t see a reason why Sui can’t. She’s thought about taking Sui to her own hero agency, but she figured she’d have an easier time getting along with you guys since she knows you guys already. Maculata asks if Huckle saw the live of the day before and says she thinks Sui has room to grow.
Huckle agrees that Sui could stand to get better at using her abilities and get some training. Ryekie is excited about it too, so they can take Sui in. He’ll need to have Sui tested when you all get back though, but he asks if Sui’s okay with that. Sui agrees, looking taken aback. But after giving it some more thought, she says she’ll do her best. You either welcome Sui to the team, say you guys should do your best together, or ask if she can keep up with it. C gets an extra line where Sui nods and says she’s decided.
Mokdai cheers about Sui joining the office, and Huckle reminds you guys that Sui has to be tested first. Crowne says there’s no reason to be a downer about it though and says it should be fine for you guys to celebrate. Huckle concedes the point and says that once you guys have four heroes on the roster there’ll be some leeway in how the office will function.
You get confused by the mention of four heroes and ask if Huckle is including Ryekie in that count. Huckle realizes he never told you guys because of what was happening earlier, and he’s about to do so when Ryekie forces himself onto the phone and kicks Huckle aside. Ryekie greets you guys and says you all did good. He then says the doctors have said the observational period is done, so after some more rehabilitation he’ll be able to go back to hero work again.
You cheer about the news, and Ryekie promises to bring about so much justice to make up for his down time. Mokdai cheers about the lead hero of the office coming back, and Sui is happy for Ryekie. Crowne says that’s another thing to celebrate when you guys return so the party is going to be big. Maculata sighs that Crowne just wants to drink and is terrible about trying to play it casual. But anyways she congratulates Ryekie and asks that he look after Sui for her. He promises to raise her to be a great hero and loudly welcomes her aboard.
Ryekie then prompts Akashi to not just stand there and to say something too since they’re on the line. Akashi protests that he could just wait for you guys to get back first before Ryekie shoves him into the hot seat. Sui is surprised to see him, and Akashi fumbles a bit before saying he’s glad she’s okay. He has a bunch of stuff he wants to say, but he’ll save it for when she gets back and tells her to stay safe on her return home.
Sui thinks aloud on the idea of ‘going home’ to Earth, causing Akashi to wonder if he said something weird. Sui assures him he didn’t and says she feels she can agree with the idea now as she thanks him. He accepts it, though he comments it’s weird to be thanked like this by someone he’s argued a lot with. Ryekie says that if Sui is going to be a hero now, he needs to give his best too. He talks about needing to come up with different training plans aside from Akashi’s and Mokdai’s, and Sui asks that he take it easy on her if he can.
Maculata’s spaceship hits the atmosphere as everyone talks excitedly. Mokdai gets surprised when he notices something on your neck and asks about it saying it looks like someone had grabbed you there, and you react with surprise. Meanwhile at the Broker’s ship, he closes his window he was using to watch Earth and looks up to his ceiling. He sighs about your insolence and wonders if he chose the wrong person. But then he talks about how he made plans to deliberately send you(?) to the same city for backwards/forward compatibility issues. All he can do is hope it doesn’t turn out to be a waste. He’s been doing the same trials for a long time now, but this is the first time it’s taken so long. This ingratitude truly is vexing, he says. And on that note, the chapter ends.
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