Answers

The building still had most of the original structure intact, save for a few damaged areas that Rell assumed were refurbished by the Sisters. Elena, Rell, Rin, Rena, and the little girl trio entered the main hall, walking past two armed guards equipped with rifles. 

A Sister stood in the entrance hall, Dozens of Light Nin orbs fluttering around her. She wore a sharp military esque uniform that reminded Rell of a wedding dress,  with a curved cutlass at her side. Her silver hair was neatly tied into an elaborate braid, which gave her an air of authority and grace. She approached the group, the sound of her heels clicking against the tiled floor as she came forward. 

"The Commander wishes to speak to Sir Rell alone." She said. 

"But..." Rin opened her mouth to protest, but was silence by an icy glare. 

"Rena, please wait outside as well. I'm certain either myself or the Commander can handle him if he gets dangerous." The woman said. 

Rena nodded, walking towards a bench along the wall and taking a seat, pulling out a little novel from her coat pocket to read. 

"I'm not planning on escaping. I have answers I need." Rell declared. When I get them on the other hand... Rell thought silently. 

"And you shall get them." The silver haired Sister said. "Follow me."

"We'll be waiting out here." Elena waved, watching as he followed the woman behind a door. 

Rell followed the woman up the same staircase he had walked up many times before. In his perspective, it had only been a couple days since he had last been here. His memories drifted to those times. Squad Seven walked up these very steps to receive the briefing on his last mission. The mission that got him caught in that explosion, putting him to sleep for all those years. 

The woman stopped right before the door to the main office. It had been the office of the old Holy Knight Captain. Two Sisters stood guard outside it. They wore white uniforms that matched the silver haired woman, except they kept their eyes covered with visors. They saluted with their rifles as she approached, knocking on the door. After waiting a few moments, the door creaked opened. 

"After you." The woman gestured to Rell. 

He walked inside, followed closely behind by the silver haired woman. It shocked him how little had changed inside. Most of the furniture and fixtures were the same, except for the fact that they were showing their age. The books on the shelf were dusty with yellowing pages. The floor had new cracks that weren't there before. There was also a faint smell of mildew in the air. 

A woman sat at the desk. She was another Alicia lookalike, but a much older Alicia, like she was in her late twenties. The woman had long blonde hair that she tied loosely behind her. Her eyes were emerald green, the same as Alicia's and Elena's, but they carried an age to them, a sternness and maturity that the other two lacked. The woman sized Rell up and down, scanning him with a neutral expression. 

"Sir Rell, as you asked for Commander." The silver haired woman gestured. 

The Commander parted her lips, as if to speak, but stopped herself. She leaned forward, her expression still neutral. 

"Welcome!!!" She suddenly beamed. "A real-life human, and a Holy Knight too! I haven't seen one in years!" She chuckled, a huge grin on her face. 

The silver haired woman sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

"We we're so close to getting it right too..." She cursed under breath.

"Oh Jeez, Hina." The Commander chuckled. "Lighten up a little. You don't get to live as long as I do by scowling at everything. Military this. Military that." She mocked. "Oh, I'm sorry Rell. Please. Have a seat." She gestured to the chair in front of her desk. 

"Ah." Rell nodded, unsure of how to respond. 

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions." She said, leaning close to him. Her strong resemblance to Alicia made him uneasy. 

Hina walked to his side, placing a hand to the sabre at her side. 

"I said lighten up. You're going to make him feel nervous." The Commander directed. 

Hina reluctantly released her grip. 

"Before we get to the answers, introductions are in order. I'm the Commander of all those Sisters you see out there. I am Sixty-Seven. I'm a Sister of the First Generation, and the last surviving one at that." She pointed to Hina. 

Hina just stared at her. 

"That one is Hina. She is my XO, and controls all the logistics of the Sisters' military operation. She's one of the oldest of the Third generation." Sixty-Seven said. 

Hina bowed in greeting. 

"Miss Sixty-Seven." Rell addressed. 

"Call me Six-Seven." She corrected. 

"Er, Six-Seven." He asked again. 

"Yes?" Six-Seven tilted her head. 

"What exactly are you Sisters? You keep claiming you're not human, but I honestly don't see a difference." Rell asked. 

"Good question." She waved her finger. "How do I describe what we are?" She placed a finger to her chin, thinking for a moment. "I guess you can call us, incredibly human-like dolls." 

"Dolls? What do you mean?" Rell followed up. 

"We Sisters are created beings with the sole purpose of defeating the Shadows. My generation was born very shortly after you went to sleep I suppose." She explained. "I'm not sure how exactly we came about, but I has to do with that tree on the hill behind this building. You saw it when you were coming up, didn't you?" She said, placing her pinkie to her lips. 

Rell nodded. 

"We Sisters are born from within that tree." She said. "From our first day, till our last, we know only one thought. The destruction of the Shadows. I guess you can call it our programming in a way." Six-Seven got up. "Would you like some tea?" She asked. 

"Sure." Rell answered. 

Six-Seven walked across the room towards a boiling kettle in the corner. She returned, bringing it along with three cups. 

"So all the girls out there, even the little ones, were born from that tree? What happened to the Holy Knights? The rest of the humans?" Rell asked. 

"Wiped out." Six-Seven said, pouring cups of tea for the three of them. "When I was first born, I fought alongside the Holy Knights. I was integrated into their squads. But as the war went on, and with the sudden appearance of Lord of Thorns along with his Overlords, the number of combat capable humans dwindled." She handed Rell a cup, giving the other to Hina. "Soon, most combat operations were handled by Sisters, with the rest of the Holy Knights providing logistics and command. And then the humans started to die off, but Sisters kept being born." 

"So you continued the mission of the Holy Knights, even after all this time?" Rell said, taking a sip of tea. 

'That's correct." Six-Seven answered. 

"You said you were born after I fell asleep." He continued. "What about the rest of Squad Seven, Anto, Mara, West?" He bit his lip. "Alicia?"

"I don't know who those are, I'm sorry." She said, her pinkie lingering towards her lip. "They must have died in the same battle you were fighting in." 

"That's not possible." He said. Especially Alicia. She was too powerful to go out in a little explosion like that. "They have to be in the same situation as me. They probably were frozen like I was." 

"It's possible." Hina added. 

"But according to the report, you were the only one Elena found." Six-Seven said. "Was it incorrect?" 

Rell struggled to remember. They left the subway fairly quickly. He didn't have time to look around, so he didn't know if his friends were still down there. 

"I need to go back." Rell stood up. "Back to the place I was sleeping."

Hina put a hand to her blade, but Six-Seven waved her off. 

"Unfortunately, that's impossible. The last battle with Alpha Squad seems to have awakened the Overlord in that area." Six-Seven said. "It's been rampaging through the city ever since. It's already killed a dozen Sisters." 

"I don't care. I'm not leaving my squad behind. I'm not asking for any help, and I don't intend on staying here." He said, turning to leave. 

Hina blocked him with her arm. He glared at her. Hina reacted quickly, grabbing him by the arm, twisting it, and slamming his head down on the desk. 

"Don't move!" She ordered. 

Rell faded away in a red mist. It was an After-Image. He suddenly appeared behind Six-Seven, grabbing her by the shoulder. 

"Shadow Nin. A rarity. There were only a few that had in the Holy Knight ranks." Six-Seven said. 

Hina drew her weapon, pointing it at Rell from across the desk. 

"Don't move. I'm walking out of here. I have no intention of hurting any of you. Just let me go." He said. 

Six-Seven suddenly disappeared. Rell cursed as the woman appeared to his side in a flicker of light. Light Nin Flicker-Step. He attacked with a punch, only for the Sister to counter, delivering a hard right to his stomach. Six-Seven channeled Wind Nin on her fist, blasting Rell back against the wall with a loud thud. 

Rell created an After-Image, stepping aside as Six-Seven approached him. She channeled Light Nin, snapping her fingers. The flash of light destroyed the After-Image and revealed his location. Rell channeled more Shadow Nin, only for Six-Seven to channel Earth Nin. The concrete under his feet warped, wrapping around his legs and binding him in place. 

"Jeez, resorting to violence seems to suit you." Six-Seven sighed. "That's okay." She said, disappointment in her voice. "I like to use violence as well." 

Six-Seven channeled her Nin. Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, and Light. The runes of the different elements swirled around her unison. She formed blades out of each. A blade of fire, a blade of water, a blade of earth, a blade of wind, and a blade of light appeared, floating at her sides. With a snap, the blades lunged out, encircling  Rell's neck on all sides. 

"Let's renegotiate, shall we?" Six-Seven said with a smile.