#mhdw

Mission 01. Nice to Meet You

“I got to experience the love of a lifetime. So much so that I didn’t care whether the world stayed intact or not.”

A young scientist reads these words on a big screen and finds herself feeling deeply emotional, despite the fact that she’s never fallen in love.

“Even if the whole world sees him as an enemy, our bond will stay strong. Before his soul is completely destroyed-... the time has come-...”

Your fate is being rebooted.

The scientist, Joshua Highland (Yoshua Hairando), wakes up in her sleeping bag to the sound of a small android. She’d fallen asleep reading a book her friend Yuuna had lent her, “My Great Love with my Husband.” She actually only managed to make it through one page. It’s a very popular book, and Yuuna wants Joshua to sprinkle some romance into her life… but she can’t be bothered, so she makes her android Gii analyze its contents so that it can summarize it to her later.

As if on cue, Yuuna calls Joshua and asks what she’s up to. Joshua says she’s repairing the upper duct of the royal capital’s energy core. Strong winds have been blowing from the polluted zone and damaging the device. Yuuna suggests she stop working and go on a date with someone instead, but Joshua’s never been into that stuff, and the entire capital is depending on this energy core. The core was made 400 years ago by Agartha City and is still being used today. But Agartha and all the wisdom belonging to its citizens have now disappeared. Joshua feels that she can “hear a voice” within these relics left from the ancient city state, and believes that listening to this voice will open up a path back to Agartha. Perhaps, beyond the polluted lands they live on, there lies an ancient form of technology that no one has discovered yet. Agartha ruled the world with its technology, but it can’t be replicated, at least not yet.

The war that occurred 400 years ago is now known as “the Doomsday War.” It is believed that it started because the weapons that humans had created started rebelling against them, and this led to the collapse of Agartha. The survivors of the war built new countries around the semi-permanent energy devices that stayed intact, and used these devices as their countries’ “cores.” Excavation projects are still being conducted to find more relics and ancient information. Joshua lives in Town 4 of the Pholus (Forusu) Kingdom, which was built over 300 years ago using the core of an excavated battleship. In the kingdom, they use automatic devices called “roids” as helpers and workers. They come in a variety of different shapes:

Joshua activates a device in her arm called “Arc” (Aaku), which allows her to dip her hand into the core and communicate with it. She asks if it knows where Agartha is, but doesn’t receive an answer.

Two figures walk up to Joshua, Captain Ortho (Oruto; the light-haired one) and Shiva (Shiiva), who both tell her she’s working too hard. Although Joshua feels extremely nervous around men, she’s fine with the guys on her team. 

She tells them it’s probably impossible to fix the energy control panel. Ortho tells her they’ll go excavate a new one. Shiva asks if she was able to learn anything about Agartha. Joshua tells him that the core stayed in use for so long that its voice has become distant. The roids they’ve dug up are losing their memories, but it’s alright; the Gods won’t give up on surviving humans.

---

Two human workers discuss the recent awakening of a weapon-type roid outside of Pholus’ borders. Luckily, Pholus has a barrier that makes it impossible for weapons to attack its residents. The large transport roid they were using breaks down, and before they can contact a repair team, Joshua sneakily fixes it, careful not to have to interact with the two men. The workers are surprised to see that the machine is working again, and one of them points out that broken machines have been getting mysteriously fixed around these parts, perhaps by a “repair fairy.” Joshua is happy to be called that. She’s never been to school, but she grew up in the Defense Roid Research Center’s Arc Laboratory surrounded by roids, so she can interact with roids more easily than she can with humans.

Joshua hops on her little scout plane and flies into the desert to find some spare parts, following the faint signals the ancient machines produce. She receives a call from Ortho who asks for an update, and she tells him that she’s received a signal from a large aircraft; they might be able to use it to fix the central core. Ortho reminds her not to get too close to the polluted zone because it might destroy her scout plane. Joshua is aware of this; what she’s really concerned about is that the signal is coming from an area near the Zirconia (Jirukonia) Empire, so she’s got to make sure they don’t reach the source of the signal first and use it for military purposes. Ortho says they’ll come to help her out once they’re done suppressing a weapon roid they’ve found in Area C8. Shiva aggressively tells her not to get close to the roid if it’s a weapon.

Joshua enters Area A14, where she finds three weapon roids. As per international law, once a weapon roid is discovered, it must be destroyed and dismantled. The weapon roids around her have all been deactivated, but she should still be careful. During the war, humans fought weapons using bombs that would destroy their cores, so the polluted zone still damages the weapons’ parts. Agartha City created a beautiful world, but war couldn’t be stopped. Joshua wonders why.

In Area A15, Joshua notices that the roid’s signal is coming from underground. Right after this realization, a large, flying roid called an Airscythe (Easaisu) appears near her, which had protected international borders 400 years ago. It’s Joshua’s first time seeing a functional one. Her roid Gii suggests that it probably got exposed when the ground cracked during a recent earthquake, got charged under the sunlight and started working again. Joshua is touched to see it trying to protect a country that no longer exists. Gii tries to warn her not to alert it, but it (Gii) abruptly stops working. A signal radiating from the Airscythe starts ringing in Joshua’s head and she hears a voice asking for help. The Airscythe’s eyes turn red like a weapon roid and it attacks Joshua’s scout plane. She falls into a crack on the ground.

Joshua wakes up underground, covered in a black web. She notices that she’s lying on top of a humongous weapon roid.

She’s amazed to have found a weapon in such a pristine state and wonders if she can find clues regarding Agartha within it, but the Airscythe tries to attack her from above. She hears a voice coming from the weapon.

“...firm… confirming… my master… our fates… together… contract…”

Joshua notices that the weapon is moving. She thinks she’s willing to sacrifice anything if it means she’ll get closer to Agartha, but she can’t afford to die yet.

She opens her eyes and finds herself in a white, empty space, connected with a string to a man who turns towards her and says he’s found her.

The machine attacks the Airscythe and destroys it. It changes from weapon to soldier mode, and its body turns into that of the man from earlier:

“OZ-009 will be guarding its master from now on.”

Joshua loses consciousness.

---

The Arc team have found a broken roid with its core intact, so they can use it to fix the central core of their town. They can’t figure out what’s broken the roid though. Shiva is furious at Joshua for going off on her own again, and the others tease him for how overly protective he is of her.

---

Joshua wakes up flying in her damaged scout plane, in the arms of the weapon roid in human form. He introduces himself as Guld Wing (Garudo Wingu), a transforming weapon roid. Joshua nervously asks what’s going on. Guld, operating the plane, says they’re going back to the capital of Pholus. He asks if she has to destroy and dismantle him since he’s a weapon. Joshua asks why he knows that and Guld reveals that he heard all about it from Gii. Guld says it’s sad that humans created weapons to satisfy their egos, forced them to fight their wars, and now that the weapons have become unmanageable, selfish humans want them all destroyed. With a creepy smile, he adds that Joshua had some nerve awakening an extremely powerful weapon like him.

Before Joshua can get scared, Guld pokes her cheek and says he likes her. He doesn’t have any memories from 400 years ago and he doesn’t hate humans. It’s thanks to Joshua inadvertently becoming his master that he was able to wake up, so he’ll act in accordance with their contract and dedicate his body and soul to protecting her. Joshua can’t understand why she’s become his master. Guld realizes that she didn’t choose him intentionally and pouts, which Joshua finds very human-like. As part of their contract, Guld has placed part of his core into Joshua’s head, so if she dies he’ll also die, and vice versa. Their contract is eternal, “til death do them part.” Joshua freaks out and tells him the system is ridiculous and people from 400 years ago must have been out of their minds. She demands that he cancel the contract, but Guld says she’s the luckiest person in the world. Guld is “widely celebrated as a God-like weapon,” so she must have done something amazing in her previous life to have earned this. Joshua thinks she’s dug up the worst thing imaginable.

Guld says he’s hungry and tries to bite Joshua’s face. Joshua pushes him away in panic and has to remind herself that Guld is not a man but a roid. Her arm has entered his torso and immobilized him; when Guld asks how she’s done this, she says she can use a lost form of technology called Arc, which lets her analyze roids and harvest their energy. She’s absorbed his remaining energy and noticed that his energy core is in a bad shape. She gives him a bit of the roid energy she’d absorbed in the morning. Guld smiles and says Joshua really is the type of person he’d thought she was, and refuses to elaborate when Joshua asks what he means.

Joshua wonders if Guld really is a weapon; she’d always thought that weapons were just violent machines that would massacre humans without question, but Guld seems to have feelings. This means he must have felt awfully lonely for 400 years.

Guld asks if the entire world is a desert. Joshua explains that there apparently used to be a lot of greenery. They’re flying past an explosion zone left from the Doomsday War, and Joshua notices that a Zirconian excavation machine is there.

A scout plane from Zirconia appears and starts shooting at them. Joshua is furious that Zirconians think they can attack vehicles from Pholus just because Pholus is a smaller country. Guld turns part of his body into a weapon and calmly tells Joshua that he’ll eradicate them. Joshua tries to stop Guld and makes him miss his target, so he shoots the plane’s wing off. He asks why she’s letting them escape when they tried to kill her. Joshua explains that attacking them will start a war and cause more people to die; they can’t give Zirconia a reason to invade Pholus. Guld says she should just let him destroy the whole empire. Joshua notes that he doesn’t understand the value of life, so he really must be a weapon. The pilot of the Zirconian scout plane escapes with a parachute.

Joshua tries to calm Guld down by saying she’s not hurt and she doesn’t hate Zirconia, which works; it seems like Guld’s actions are connected to her feelings. 

They’re close to reaching the capital of Pholus, where Guld will be destroyed and dismantled. Joshua tries to convince herself that this is the standard procedure, besides, he tried to eat her and arbitrarily put his core into her body. Guld interrupts her thoughts by apologizing for trying to kill the Zirconian pilot and scaring Joshua. He asks if she’s afraid of him. She says she isn’t; he was just trying to protect her. Guld explains that he was created for the sole purpose of destroying his enemies, but he’ll stop acting as a weapon if that’s what his master wishes. Joshua is touched that he’s willing to throw his life’s purpose away in order to coexist with a human, even though he’s about to be destroyed. But he’s not just a weapon; he has the soul of a human.

She tells him to call her Joshua, not “master,” and makes him pinky swear that he will never kill anyone. He’s not allowed to show anyone his weapon parts or to act in a way that may put others in danger. Otherwise, she won’t let him live with her. Guld happily accepts and says he’ll live with Joshua until they die, which Joshua says is inevitable thanks to his weird core-injection thing. She’ll have to teach him how to live like a human. Joshua thinks to herself that protecting a weapon like this may make the whole world see her as an enemy.

Guld says that what Joshua has just described to him is marriage. Joshua freaks out, and Guld explains that he learned about it from Gii. He starts reciting the book Joshua had made Gii memorize, “My Great Love with my Husband.” In the book, the characters recognize that they’re fated to be together right after they meet each other, and promise to be together until they die, which is similar to Joshua and Guld’s situation. Joshua doesn’t like the sound of that.

Mission 02. Meeting the Capital

Two people from the Zirconia Empire discuss who shot down their scout plane. The plane that attacked them was partially broken, so its national emblem wasn’t there; they can’t determine which country the plane was from, but based on the attack, they think their attacker may have been using a weapon roid. The authoritative figure with an eye patch says that Zirconia’s excavation work is the key to Agartha, so they can’t afford to let any strangers get their hands on it. He instructs the other person to find their assailant using spies and to obliterate them. Zirconia must become the first country to unveil the supreme wisdom of Agartha.

---

Having reached Town 4 of Pholus’ capital, Joshua explains to a local mechanic that her scout plane got damaged during an Airscythe attack. Guld proudly tells him that she landed on top of him and he promised to protect her with his life; Joshua tries to shut him up, but the mechanic finds this very charming.

Joshua thinks that Guld must be one of Agartha’s biggest masterpieces, so if she can manage to fully analyze him, she’ll be able to understand Agartha’s technology and perhaps even find hints to its whereabouts. Spending time with him might help her get over her fear of men as well. Joshua asks if she can analyze Guld in the laboratory, and he gladly accepts. She excitedly asks if she can cut his head open.

Guld says she should really consider letting him destroy Zirconia. Joshua, of course, rejects his proposal, and says they’re not in danger because their plane’s national emblem was broken, and Pholus’ scout planes are exported to many other countries. Even if they are found, Joshua can use the footage she has of the attack to claim that it was in self-defense. For now, Guld just has to do his best not to stand out.

As they enter the town, two guards talk behind Joshua’s back, saying she’s part of the Arc team; they shouldn’t make eye contact with her, or she’ll devour them. Her scout plane got destroyed, so who knows what sorts of dangerous activities she’s getting caught up in? Guld threatens the guards, saying “If this were a battlefield, you’d be dead.” His weapon parts start growing from his back. Joshua covers his back with her coat, tells the guards that he’s a newbie, and takes him away. She reminds him that he’s not supposed to let anyone see his weapon parts, but he wasn’t aware they were showing, and he’s too brilliant of a creation to lie.

Guld asks what the Arc team is. Joshua explains that it’s part of the Defense Roid Research Center’s Arc Laboratory. They mainly analyze and subjugate weapons. They’re all Arc users, and since their powers are so mysterious, some regular people find them creepy. Guld offers to destroy everyone that thinks that way. Joshua smiles and says the world wouldn’t be fun if everything was the way she wanted them to be. She thanks him for getting angry in her place.

The town is crowded. Joshua freezes, as she occasionally does in crowds.

Guld asks if she hates crowds. She says they kind of mess with her brain. Guld grabs her and tells her not to worry, she’s got the world’s strongest being by her side.

Guld carries Joshua on top of his shoulders and runs around town, which embarrasses Joshua, but she eventually notices that people are smiling at them. It’s like the world is sparkling. Guld points out that this is a fine, strong town, having come back to life after destruction. Joshua thanks Guld but asks to be put down now.

Guld starts feeling hungry again, so Joshua gives him a chocolate bar, which Guld describes as “a mass of lipids.” He likes it and offers to devote his life to protecting its maker, alongside Joshua of course. Joshua tries to drown his voice by asking the vendor for another bar of chocolate. She tells Guld that tons of people are making chocolate around town, so he can’t possibly protect all of them. Guld decides to protect the entirety of the capital.

Cute little roids appear and start demanding to see Guld’s ID. Joshua tells the roids that Guld isn’t a suspicious person, so the roids run away. These roids are Joshua’s own invention, “Mocchi-kun”s, and their job is to stop intruders. Guld will need an ID to stay in town, so she’ll arrange one for him in the laboratory.

A small boy runs past them, having stolen a rare human-like roid part from a man. Mocchis run behind the boy, which Guld finds adorable. As the boy is trying to cross the street, he falls, and an armored vehicle almost runs him over. Joshua runs towards the boy to grab him, but before she can, the kid disappears. Joshua notices that Guld has appeared behind her, holding the boy. Guld’s body is damaged but it immediately heals itself. Joshua is amazed that he saved the boy without her ordering him to do so. Guld says it’s a given that he’d do this, because no child deserves to die. Joshua realizes that he does know the value of life, and acts depending on his own understanding of good and evil, unrelated to his programming as a roid. She hugs and thanks him, and Guld asks her what “thank you” means. She says he did something very valuable and impressed her, so she said “thank you” to express that she is grateful and proud to be with him. Guld says he’ll work hard to receive more “thank yous” than any man in the world; after all, he’s trying to achieve a love story even greater than the one in “My Great Love with my Husband.”

The man thanks Guld for stopping the child and taking the roid part back. It’s an eye belonging to a human-like roid; the man’s dream is to acquire a roid like that, so he’s spent a lot of money on the eye. Unlike the roids used for labor, human-like roids haven’t left behind any remains other than their bones, so they must have had organic skin and organs. The man hopes that one day, Agartha’s secrets are revealed and these roids recreated. Joshua is very impressed and asks to see the eye.

A mysterious hooded figure watches Joshua and Guld from afar. When a Mocchi asks him for ID, the man is able to provide it. He notes that he wasn’t able to keep up with Guld’s movements when the armored vehicle hit him; the man may have found something even grander than what he was after. He shares information using a communication device: as part of the team that’s infiltrated Pholus, he has found the emblemless scout plane in Town 4. One of the two pilots of the plane may be a new type of roid. He will continue his investigations.

Mission 03. Going Down

Joshua takes Guld to the Arc team’s laboratory before the others come back, so that she can make a fake ID for him. She’s good at hacking, so she’ll be able to do it easily. He can’t get an actual ID because they can’t let him take a physical test. Pholus has great trade relations with other countries, so being a Pholus citizen is actually quite prestigious. But the energy cores of the country can only sustain a certain number of people, so receiving an ID is not easy.

They get on the elevator to the lab and Guld starts posing at a surveillance camera because “that’s what humans do.” Joshua says that after making him an ID, they have to report the Zirconian scout plane using the footage Joshua has on some sort of physical drive. The elevator doors close, and the mysterious figure from earlier watches them from afar and receives a message from his superiors: “We’ve contacted our spies in all 17 countries that use that type of plane. We’re certain that the only plane that’s engaged in battle with us and gotten damaged in the past 24 hours belongs to Pholus. Obliterate those pilots before they leak our information. If one of them really is a new type of roid, bring them to the Empire.”

---

In the elevator, Joshua tells Guld that the Arc laboratory is in a cave 100m underground. Guld doesn’t like the sound of that. Joshua receives a message from the rest of the Arc team: a weapon has appeared in Area F5, and they’ll come back once they’ve subjugated it. Guld is excited to hear that and tries to pry the doors of the elevator open so that he can go help them destroy the weapon. Joshua reminds him that he can’t let anyone see his true form. Guld dramatically declares that she’s wasting his unrivaled strength. The laws they must abide by are so sinful that he ought to destroy and write new ones. Joshua considers dismantling him there and then.

Guld asks if humans can even stand up against weapons, given how weak they are. Joshua tells him to get serious for a second: if the Arc team learns that he’s a weapon, they’ll devour him.

---

In Area F5, 20km north of the capital, two men run from weapon roids in their flimsy vehicle. Right as a weapon is about to shoot them, it’s destroyed by the Arc team.

---

Joshua explains that Arc is a power that lets its users eat weapons. Joshua can consume the energy of weapons and analyze them, so she eats weapons to discover their weak spots. Arc users are the predators of weapons. Joshua’s teammates specialize in combat, so Guld absolutely can’t afford to let them discover his identity. Guld doesn’t take this seriously at all and jokes about Joshua wanting his body instead. He says that in “My Great Love with my Husband” the protagonists have an accident on some mountain and the husband offers to let his hungry wife eat his body, which Guld thinks is the ultimate display of love. He tells her to eat him. Joshua punches him in the chest.

They reach the lab but Guld is annoyed that he has to be in a dark cave after being underground for hundreds of years. Joshua points out that the lab isn’t dark at all, it’s lit with a mineral that humans discovered after the war, called Blue Tear (Buruutia). It’s one of Pholus’ main exports. Guld is amazed, but he notices something ahead and pushes Joshua out of the way right as something shoots at them. She gets a cut on her face. Guld rushes towards the dark assailant with a gun, carrying Joshua, saying he won’t let them get away with hurting her. He says he’ll kill them and starts transitioning from guard mode to weapon mode. Joshua tells him to stop because there are people around. Lab workers inform authorities of an attack, and they speculate that the assailant may have been a foreign spy, or even a weapon roid.

Joshua assures Guld that she’s okay. Guld struggles to choose between killing the assailant and protecting his promise with Joshua. He starts freaking out, which Joshua explains to lab workers as “cave stress.”

The mysterious hooded figure from before, now in the lab, offers to treat the wound on Joshua’s face. Joshua, scared of men as always, kindly tries to get away. Guld, still confused and chanting something about killing, goes up to Joshua, having sensed her stress. To spare the man’s life, Joshua lies about knowing the man and agrees to let him treat her wound.

After placing a bandage on Joshua’s face, the man asks if she has any idea who could have attacked them in such a heavily guarded place. Joshua doesn’t know. She asks why the man isn’t uncomfortable talking to her, since she’s an Arc user. The man says she should ignore narrow-minded people like that; they’re trying to make themselves feel better by hating and rejecting things they don’t understand. The man is planning on using this moment as an opportunity to kill Joshua, but Guld suddenly grabs his hand and declares that he likes him, because he gets it! The man notes that Guld’s hand feels like that of a real human, so if he really is a roid, he must have been made with advanced technology on par with Agartha’s. He asks if Guld is an Arc user as well. Guld ignores his question and says he’s “Guld Wing, the only person who gets to share his fate with Joshua,” and asks for the man’s name while poking his cheek. He says it’s Virgil Hunt (Vaajiru Hanto).

Virgil asks if Guld is referring to Dr. Joshua Highland. Joshua says that is in fact her. Virgil says he’s read her thesis on how roid analysis can help unravel the mysteries of Agartha. He calls her a leading name in the research of roids. Joshua is excited to hear he’s read her work. She says that if they can acquire the power Agartha had back then, they can purify the polluted zone and make significant developments in grain production and livestock farming. They can also make it so that the cores they use can last forever. Perhaps governments will stop starting wars over small territories and they’ll achieve world peace. She believes that Agartha can make everyone’s wishes come true… and then apologizes for getting too excited and talking too much. Virgil tells her not to apologize. He says the assailant still hasn’t been captured, and he’ll go search for them.

He goes up to the dark figure that had attacked Joshua and absorbs him into the Arc symbol on his right arm. He is now certain that Guld is a roid; he may have been created by Dr. Joshua, so it will be a bit of a waste to kill him. He also believes that Guld is the one that attacked the Zirconian scout plane. Holding the drive that contains Joshua’s footage of the scout plane, he thinks that if Zirconia can prove that Pholus is creating roids that pose a threat to other countries, they can justify Zirconia destroying Pholus and obtain Joshua and her techniques.

Mission 04. You Make My Heart Flutter ☆

Joshua hacks her way into the kingdom’s database to create a fake ID for Guld. Guld says his fake job should be “king,” which Joshua promptly rejects. It should be a position that makes it seem logical for him to constantly be by her side. She offers to register him as her assistant or… her adopted child? Guld says he should be her husband. Apparently, the characters in “My Great Love with my Husband” get married the day they meet. Joshua rejects this as well because normal people don’t do that. She decides to go through with registering him as her adopted son because he acts like a newborn anyway.

The Arc team enters the building and Joshua starts to panic. If they figure out that Guld is a weapon, a literal war will begin. She rushes to finish Guld’s fake ID and completes it right as the elevator doors open and her teammates make their way in. They’ve heard of the shooting, so Ortho asks if Dr. Joshua is okay. Joshua greets them as Guld discreetly alters his ID settings on the computer.

Ortho asks why Joshua’s scout plane broke down, so she tells them about the Zirconian plane that attacked her. Shiva declares that he’s sick of Zirconia and they should just destroy them already, before noticing Guld and asking who he is. Before Joshua can present her lie about him being her assistant, Guld proudly calls himself her husband. Joshua panics and tells him that makes no sense, accidentally admitting that they’ve just met. One of her teammates, Crane (Kurein), asks if they arranged to met each other just so they could get married. Shiva angrily says that offering to get married right away is something a swindler would do. Guld once again calls himself “the only person who gets to share his fate with Joshua,” and Shiva calls this out as a stolen line from “My Great Love with my Husband.” Guld grabs Shiva’s hand and declares him his best friend for having read “Husband Love.” Shiva says that is not the official abbreviation of the series, so he’s got to be a faker. Crane says he’ll call it “Husband Love” from now on. Joshua wonders if she’s the only person in the world who hasn’t read the book yet.

A voice rings in the room ordering the Arc team to search for the assailant that shot Joshua, and for Joshua to go to the lab chief’s room. Guld still hasn’t figured out that Shiva hates him, so he’s very proud of himself for already having acquired a best friend. Joshua tells him to work hard to get the Arc team to trust him. Guld asks what “trust” means. Joshua says it’s believing someone, relying on them and feeling relieved around them. Humans trusted each other, worked together and rebuilt the world after the Doomsday War, so Joshua sees “living together in harmony” as her biggest goal. Guld kisses Joshua’s hand and says he’ll look into what “trust” is, become able to perfectly act like a human, and become a husband that Joshua will want to live with forever, even though they’ve only known each other for a day. Joshua gets flustered but calms herself down, thinking he’s probably imitating “Husband Love” again.

---

Joshua tells the chief of the Arc laboratory, Oz Highland (Ozu Hairando), that she got attacked by someone from Zirconia while flying near an excavation site, and that her assailant chased her into the capital. However, she notices that her small drive containing footage of the attack is missing, and realizes that Virgil stole it from her. Oz says whoever put Joshua’s life in danger has some nerve; the Zirconians don’t have to waste their time hiding whatever it is that they’ve excavated, because Oz will drill their heads open and ask their brains directly. They’ll beg for mercy in hell. Joshua explains to Guld that Oz is her legal guardian and a very important person in the research institution, so he’s got to be careful around him.

Oz adds Virgil to the database’s wanted list and offers to arrange a guard for Joshua to keep her safe until everything is sorted. Guld declares that he’s more than qualified to protect her. Oz says he would tell Guld to go ahead and protect Joshua… were it not for the fact that the two went and got married without even letting Oz know. Joshua thus finds out that the database now lists Guld as Joshua’s husband, not her adopted son. She, of course, gets very flustered.

As a roid serves them tea, Joshua explains to Oz that Guld saved her from an Airscythe. He didn’t seem to have any of his memories, so she decided to help him back, and they ended up forming a weird bond. Oz’s roid tells Oz that they faked an ID for Guld, and Oz scolds Joshua for doing something that would get exposed so easily.

Oz asks Guld what his hobbies and talents are. Guld proudly says they are “slaughter and destruction.” Joshua grabs his shoulder in frustration, livid that this is his so-called perfect impression of a human. Guld tries to backpedal by adding “...are the things I enjoy, like any other normal person.” He adds that he’s promised Joshua not to kill anyone, so there’s no need for Oz to worry. Joshua very loudly says that Guld is just nervous, he likes eating chocolate and he’s good at saving people. Oz tells the two that he’ll arrange a psychiatric evaluation session for Guld.

Oz asks if Guld is an Arc user. Guld says he isn’t. In this case, Oz is impressed that Guld was able to survive the desert. He reveals a photo he has of Guld striking a pose at the surveillance camera in the elevator. Even before Joshua talked to him, Oz had already arranged an investigation into who this mysterious new person was. But even after searching through every single country in their network, they weren’t able to find anything about Guld. He could be from a remote region not included in their network, but he could also be a foreign spy or part of a criminal organization.

Oz doesn’t understand why Joshua would protect a man suspicious enough to not even have an ID. Before he interrogates Guld directly, he demands that Joshua tell him exactly what happened between her and Guld. Joshua hesitates, knowing that Oz will learn that Guld is a weapon if he interrogates him. Oz asks if she’s hesitating because she’s so in love with Guld. Joshua decides that she really has to commit to the lie now, and declares that she wants to start a family with Guld. Her real intent, however, is to analyze his inner workings and find clues that will lead her to the lost technology of Agartha… at least, she thinks so. Guld holds his chest and folds in on himself. His self-destruct mechanism has been activated because he’s “dying of cuteness.”

---

The Arc team has excavated the head of an Airscythe. After a group of workers carry the head to a storage unit, it is suddenly activated.

---

Oz offers to call the medical team to help Guld. Joshua asks how she can disable Guld’s self-destruct mechanism, and he tells her to make it so that the atmosphere isn’t so romantic anymore, although Joshua argues it already isn’t romantic at all.

The Airscythe head appears by the window and demands to see its “God.” Joshua notes that it looks like a weapon. It shoots through the window, but Guld catches its attack with his hand, partially switches to weapon mode, and throws the Airscythe’s attack back to it. Oz is shocked and asks if Guld is a weapon.

Mission 05. Secret x Secret

Oz immediately forms a shield around Guld using his roids and informs authorities that a weapon has infiltrated the laboratory. He tells Joshua that she’s been fooled, and that she has to leave the rest to Ortho and the others. Oz notes that he didn’t know there were transforming weapon roids that could mimic humans. He’ll look into Guld’s abilities when he’s dismantling him.

Joshua destroys Oz’s shield roids with a stick and tells Oz that she won’t let him dismantle Guld. Oz asks if Joshua knew all along that Guld is a weapon. Joshua says Guld has used his powers to protect Joshua multiple times, and she can confirm that Guld is capable of living amongst humans. Guld’s body transforms back to its regular form.

Oz points out that Joshua is violating international peace treaty. If they don’t dispose of Guld right away, they will give other countries a reason to invade Pholus. Besides, weapons are programmed for slaughter and self-defense. Joshua insists that Guld is no ordinary weapon: he was able to form a bond with her. Guld tells Oz that he is aware the world sees him as something unwanted, but Joshua has sacrificed her own well-being to protect him, said “thank you” to him and accepted him as a human, not as a weapon. Her actions have swayed his goals, and he has decided that he wants to do whatever he can to protect Joshua, even if it destroys him. It may be hard for Oz to understand, but he is willing to dedicate his life to Joshua, the way a human would. Joshua realizes that she isn’t only protecting Guld to dig into Agartha’s secrets; she genuinely doesn’t want to lose him. Oz, however, can’t bring himself to accept that a weapon can know of sacrifice or love.

The dramatic tension is eradicated by Ortho and Shiva, who smash a hole on the wall of the lab despite the door being right next to them. Ortho asks if Oz is alright but is confused: where is the weapon he’d alerted them of?

Oz, much to Joshua’s surprise, introduces Guld as the man that defeated the weapon and saved him, and tells them that Guld will be working with them from now on. Oz admits that he, too, is able to see how human Guld’s soul is. Guld and Joshua are both very touched, and they jump on Oz in gratitude. Guld says Oz can use Guld for his studies as much as he wants. When Joshua thanks Oz, he says he’s aware that Joshua can almost-exclusively interact with roids, not humans, so he should have figured Guld’s identity out when he first showed up. Shiva notices Joshua’s happy tears and demands to know if Guld’s done something to hurt her.

Oz orders for Ortho and co to get rid of the remains of the Airscythe that Guld destroyed earlier. The team introduce themselves to Guld as they jump down to retrieve the remains. Crane warns Guld to be careful, since Joshua is Shiva’s favorite.

Oz tells Guld he’d like to talk to him. When Oz first took Joshua in as an orphan, she wasn’t able to speak and appeared to have aphasia, but her eyes would sparkle whenever she saw a roid. Her condition gradually improved and she became a talented roid developer. She became able to communicate with people, as long as roids were around. Having met Guld may change her life. Guld is touched to know that Oz “trusts” him. Oz does however pull out his drill and add that he loves Joshua like she’s his daughter, so he absolutely won’t let them elope or anything. 

Guld starts running out of energy, so Joshua takes him away. Her hand trembles as she holds his, her heart races so much it hurts, and she feels she may not ever get to go back to how she was before. Guld suddenly stops and kisses her. 

It takes Joshua a moment to realize he’s sucking her energy. She notes that she feels the same way she did in her dreams.

---

Six hours before these events, in the excavation zone in Area A15, two scientists converse: the emperor of Zirconia is awaiting an update about their progress. The core of the mysterious weapon they’ve been working on is not responding, so it may be impossible to reboot. 

The scientists are guessing this weapon was the main culprit behind the Doomsday War 400 years ago. If they manage to analyze this weapon, they may discover the exact coordinates of Agartha.

Much to the scientists’ dismay, Prince Sid (Shido) waltzes in with three beautiful girls, saying he’s glad he’s come all the way to this desert to see this “discovery of the century.” The scientists remind him that he’s promised to leave once he’s seen the discovery and tell him not to get too close, for his own safety. Sid, however, wants to add this weapon to his collection back at his palace. The scientists refuse, saying they must keep this as a secret from other countries. They’re quite annoyed that the “stupid prince” is refusing to leave.

The girls jokingly call the weapon scary, but Sid tells them there’s no need for them to worry since it stopped working 400 years ago; besides, if it somehow came back to life, Sid would use it as his personal guard.

Suddenly, Sid gets a headache and starts hearing a voice.

"Fate… together… contract… master recognized…"

Hungry for power, Sid declares that the weapon will serve him for eternity, and the area around him (and the girls) starts glowing red. He is officially recognized as the weapon’s master.

The weapon produces a huge shock-wave, which turns every regular roid in its vicinity into weapons. They demand to see their “God.” 

The big weapon tells Sid that he will be with it for eternity. Sid is overjoyed.

The weapon transforms from weapon mode to soldier mode, but instead of adopting its own body like Guld does, it possesses Sid. Having taken Sid’s body, the weapon no longer has a master that can stop it, and it can operate for all eternity. He hops on a scout plane to finish what started 400 years ago.

Bonus Content

Joshua’s Excavation Journal

Ignoring the workers telling her not to dig on her own, Joshua manages to excavate a roid equipped with exceptional cooking skills. But before she can analyze it, she trips and drops it in a pond. The pond itself, shaped like a big blob of goo (and adorned with a heavenly halo) rises up and asks Joshua what she’s dropped: a strong roid with the brain of an absolute meathead, or a yandere roid that will love Joshua to death. Scared, Joshua says she’s dropped a cooking roid. The pond determines that Joshua is an honest person and rewards her with a humanoid roid capable of all three things they’ve listed: Guld, who says they should die together 🖤

(As you may have noticed, this omake references Aesop’s “The Honest Woodcutter” fable, which was also referenced in the omakes of 07-Ghost volume 5!)

The Scout Planes

The planes have arm attachments for excavation, and their pointy bits can be swapped. The sides of the planes can be rotated to act as a gun meant to be used for self-defense.

These Pholus-made scout planes are exported to 17 different countries. They mainly operate using cores, but newer models have dual fuel engines that can also operate on blue tears, in order to ensure that the cores last longer. 10 grams of blue tear pellets can help operate the planes for 30,000 km. 

The planes are equipped with an anti-gravity system. They can carry up to one ton of excavated material. Their max speed is 380 km/h; it is thought that, after the Zirconian plane attacked them, Joshua and Guld flew at 380 km/h and destroyed the engine of Joshua’s scout plane.

Pholus

The city contains 6 towns built using remodeled battleships. In total, around 300,000 people live in Pholus. The Defense Roid Research Center is based in Town 4, where Joshua lives. Most researchers live in surrounding areas.

The weather is dry from April to September, and the capital and the north side of the state turn into a desert. Lake Rena on the south does not get affected by the polluted zone, so it is the state’s main grain-producing region. Water is brought from the lake to the capital using pipelines, but it is also possible to extract water from 2000m underground using the central core.

Pholus exists within the borders of ancient Agartha, so the scientists living here have many opportunities to excavate old roids in excellent condition. The machines and aircrafts they create using parts of these old roids are the most durable and intricate in the world, so they sell for a hefty price.

Blue tears, which are used for fuel, can be mined in Pholus, but also in the nearby countries of Zirconia, Barkley (Bakkuree) and Bisnio (Bisunio).

Products

Black bread: A stiff bread made using the Haimitsu flour grown in the east of Zirconia and south of Pholus. It has a uniquely sour taste. It’s often cut in thin slices and eaten with cream cheese, honey, or ham. It has more nutritional value than Roi flour and can last many days.

White bread: A soft bread made using the roi flour grown in the south-east of Zirconia and south of Tese. It’s one of the three big staple foods of the world and is particularly popular amongst the elderly population.

Tea leaves: Harvested from the south-east of Zirconia, south of Cavaros (Kavarosu) and north of Oz (Ozu). Zirconia tea can be in green, white or dark varieties, and older leaves are quite valuable. Cavaros tea is black and very fragrant. First flush Cavaros tea is seen as very luxurious and is often presented to royal families. Oz tea is also black, and very delicious; it’s perfect for milk tea. Since it’s used so much in daily life, it is sold more than the other types of tea.

Chocolate: Made using cocoa from a dry region to the south of Treden (Toreden). Pholus is home to many specialists of all sorts, so a lot of talented chocolatiers live here.

Roi snacks: Butter biscuits made with Roi flour. Joshua always has some on hand. Its jam, cocoa and plain varieties are popular, but salted butter flavored Roi snacks have been gaining popularity. Packages may contain coupons for a free pack.

Fresh Sasha leaves: Miere’s (Miire) special herb. Good for depression and stress when drunk after boiling for ten minutes. Tastes just like grass but is popular with people living in deserts and cold regions.

Cheese, dried meat, sausages: A lot of dairy products are imported from Coubel, although they are produced in Pholus as well. You can’t go wrong with Coubel cheese.

Vegetables: Mostly imported from warm climates with heavy rainfall like Tese and Crezel. Some drought-resistant vegetables are grown near Lake Rena in Pholus.

Neon Delivery: Drone delivery directly from the markets to any area within 25km. The drones emit light at night to remain visible. Costs around 50 chinos (1 chino = 10 yen).

Rein fruit: Grown in Crezel in September. Its skin is tough and inedible, but its insides are very sweet and squishy. They have a long shelf-life and are high-calorie, so they’re often brought on trips.

Joshua’s Excavation Journal 2

Guld is in pristine condition, so his body has parts that have decayed away on other high-level roids. The texture of his skin and the sparkle in his eyes are all top grade. Even the rate at which his hair regrows is excellent. So, Joshua believes that the scientists of Agartha were even weirder than she is! Thank you weirdos, long live technology!