The trip lasted a full week, enough for Julius to consider it a proper break and enough for Gabriel to become increasingly anxious that Julius might decide to interfere with the ongoing investigation.

By the end of the seventh day, Gabriel had made it clear several times that the case in Japan fell strictly under Revenant Knight jurisdiction. He wanted Julius far from it. And so, Gabriel stayed behind in Japan while Julius, Isolde, and Anneliese boarded their flight home.

Anneliese sat in her seat. Her legs were too short to reach the floor, so she let them swing back and forth while wearing a bright Pokémon hat.

Half her tiny body was buried under the mountain of anime merchandise she had insisted on carrying herself.

Julius placed his carry–on in the overhead compartment and glanced down at her. She was humming, completely absorbed in adjusting the hat so Pikachu’s ears were at the perfect angle.

Moments like this made it hard to believe the older Anneliese had ever existed at all.

"Comfortable?" he asked.

"Mhm!" Anneliese held up a plush. "Mister, look! Anne named her Miso!"

"Miso?" Julius raised a brow. "Like soup?"

"No!" She puffed up proudly. "Like kitty! Meee—so!"

He stared. "...That’s still soup."

"No it’s not!"

From the aisle, Isolde approached, having spoken with the private attendants. She looked noticeably calmer than earlier, where she was frantically hiding from the animatronics.

"Mister Schneider, Anne, are you both settled?" she asked, adjusting her glasses.

"Yes, Doctor," Julius said. "She’s already named her new plush."

"Miso!"

Isolde blinked. "Like... the soup?"

"Mommy...!"

The girl deflated instantly, scandalized that her own mother betrayed her naming logic. Julius smothered a laugh behind his hand.

As soon as the seatbelt light turned off, Julius rose from his seat and walked over to where Isolde and Anneliese sat.

"Doctor," Julius said, resting a hand lightly on her headrest. "You didn’t get to use anything last time since you fell asleep the entire flight. But the plane has amenities. Feel free to use them."

"...Am I really allowed to?"

"Of course."

It was a Schneider-owned private jet and one of Julius’s personal assets. The cabin had been designed for long-distance diplomatic travel, complete with full amenities and a staff trained exclusively under the Schneider name.

No other passengers were on board as this flight existed solely for them. In the air, just like on the ground, the Schneiders traveled in their own world.

Anneliese, who had been hugging her new plush, leaned forward eagerly. "It’s true, Mommy, there’s eve a big bathtub!"

Unlike her mother, Anneliese had made full use of every amenity the jet offered during the flight to Japan, guided and indulged by both Julius and Gabriel while Isolde slept through the entire trip.

Anneliese tugged her mother’s sleeve excitedly. "Mommy, let’s go! Anne will show you everything! The bathtub! The movie room! The fridge that opens by itself!"

"Okay, okay," Isolde said, chuckling as Anneliese tugged insistently at her hand. She let herself be pulled toward the lounge area, already knowing resistance was pointless.

Julius watched them go, exhaled through his nose, then turned and made his way toward the cockpit. He pushed open the reinforced door and stepped inside, where the captain and co-pilot regarded him immediately.

"How long until we arrive?" Julius asked.

The captain checked the display. "If we maintain our current route and speed, we’ll reach Berlin in approximately thirteen hours, sir."

Under normal circumstances, he would have let the plane continue as scheduled. But these weren’t normal circumstances, not after what had hapenned in Japan.

"Change it," Julius said. "Extend the route. Avoid Russia’s airspace entirely. Add an additional loop along the southern corridor. Increase altitude for the majority of the trip."

The captain blinked in surprise but nodded immediately. "Understood, sir."

In truth, Julius didn’t particularly care how long the flight took.

What mattered was eliminating every possible risk. After dealing with yakuza involvement, a trafficking network connected to Revolutionary supply chains, and the sudden reminder that Schneiders were always targets beyond their borders, he wasn’t in the mood to gamble.

He rested a hand on the back of the pilot’s chair.

"Send me updates every thirty minutes. I want full visibility on air traffic around us. And lock the cabin for the rest of the flight."

"Yes, sir."

Julius nodded and returned to his seat near the center of the plane. He lowered himself into the leather chair, then flipped open his laptop. The screen lit up immediately as the system connected to the plane’s internal network.

In 2149, even long-haul flights had smooth high-bandwidth connectivity. Private aircraft, especially one owned by the Schneider family, had access to encrypted satellite networks that rivaled ground-level data centers.

Julius typed in a few commands, opened the Directorate’s secured portal, and began reviewing the compiled reports the Directorates had forwarded.

[Commissioner Sabine Eleanor Schneider will be on indefinite administrative leave effective immediately. All inquiries, authorizations, and matters requiring commissioner authority within the Berlin region are to be directed to Commissioner Gunther Derek Ackermann.]

"Good."

At least she had listened, for once.

It was practically Julius who had handled the paperwork on her behalf. Sabine had always been stubborn to an unbelievable degree, and getting her to agree to take a break had required less convincing and more coercion.

The memory of the phone call replayed in his head.

’If you don’t listen to me, I’ll tell my brother you’re with the Directorate.’

There had been a sharp gasp on the other end of the line.

——You wouldn’t do that, Juli...

’Try me.’

——So mean... Ah—you already filled out the form?! It’s scary how quick you are...

He had, in fact, completed the form long before he even called her.

Julius shook his head and scrolled further, letting the portal load the next batch of reports.

When he read the header of the next report, his expression flattened.

"...."

A notification detailed an escape. One of the Glasshearts detained in a concentration camp had broken out. The location was listed as Braunfels, a small fortified district in central Germany.

Julius clicked the file open fully. The report displayed thermal captures and a short status summary.

The Glassheart had slipped past patrol routes, eliminated two guards, and vanished into the surrounding woodland. The Directorate estimated no more than thirty minutes before the escapee crossed into civilian zones.

This was not good. The escapee’s designation, ability profile, and prior offenses were redacted.

This meant the Directorate classified the individual as high-risk, possibly dangerous enough to threaten national stability if left unchecked.

"Ah."

But there was a name. And a name was all Julius needed. He let SIBYL sync directly to his retinal interface and began scrolling through its archives.

"Joachim Pascal Beißwenger..."

This was it.

This was the Glassheart responsible for the Triplet Towers Incident of 2158. It was one of the most catastrophic domestic attack in the German Republic’s modern history. Thankfully, it was still 2149, so the event hadn’t happened yet.

He had lived through the loss.

The report reopened in a larger projection across his vision. It showed the infamous footage burned into the memory of every German citizen.

A hijacked aircraft veering off its assigned route and plunging straight into the East Aurelian Tower. Seconds later, remotely triggered explosives detonated in the West and Central towers, turning the skyline into pillars of fire.

Twenty-two thousand casualties.

Seven thousand students trapped in the central plaza during a school-sponsored field trip.

And among them had been Sabine and Jeremy’s daughter, Julius’s niece.

"...."

Julius’s hand tightened around the armrest.