Uwaaah, Tomo-chiiiin?!

But why?! I don't care about that Tenshouin bastard getting Wataru-chin—why'd he leave Tomo-chin behind?

This is terrible! Ohh, Tomo-chin, you look like an abandoned puppy!

Is this my fault? I said some mean stuff like "hurry up and die" to Tenshouin, so is this his revenge against me...?!

Cool your jets. Anzu, he's pissin' me off. Shut 'im up for me, will ya?

Gah?! Get off of me, Anzu! I gotta save Tomo-chin!

Nazuna Nito. Lemme tell ya three useful pieces of information.

One: Anyone who insists they can do somethin' they can't is a dumbass. All those morons yammerin' on about their dreams without any proof or backup plan⁠—

They're way harder to help than the morons who go with the flow without a single thought.

If you're gonna be one of those dumbasses, at least try to be a useful tool for the smarter guys to use. Like a pair of scissors, yanno?

Ya think ya can save 'im? How? Tomoya Mashiro's in the Dark Side of SANCTUARY right now—a completely isolated and closed-off space.

Ya couldn't bust in there no matter what you try. That Tenshouin bastard went through the backdoor usin' his power as the SANCTUARY's manager.

Two: Tenshouin didn't take Mashiro with 'im, didn't rescue him or nothin', 'cause that's exactly what he'd planned.

......?

From the very beginning, Mashiro was s'posed to be separated from everyone else, wanderin' around the Dark Side. 'Course, it's not like we got his permission.

But that's why it makes sense.

What do you mean...?

I'll explain it all to ya later on.

You oughta be grateful, yanno. All I'm here for is to deal with the problems that pop up. It's not my job to be holdin' your hand through this.

But right now, I'm all ya got. Everyone else left me behind to go off to heaven. Pain in the ass, but them's the breaks.

......?

Three: Our plans were thrown all outta whack thanks to that little stunt Wataru Hibiki pulled, but we're finally back on track⁠—

If things keep goin' like this, everything'll be taken care of peacefully, just like Tenshouin predicted. I'm sure you'll be reunited with your cute little buddy-boys soon enough.

So for now, why don'tcha just sit and look pretty?

It's pretty much the same in other regions too. All of them are makin' moves without my permission and throwin' the whole schedule off.

If they just followed my directions and stuck to the schedule, SS would be smooth sailin', no trouble in sight.

Ah well, no point in bitchin' about it now. I think handin' out them Orders as written up in my contract with Tenshouin was what pissed all those idols off and made 'em rebel.

Hm? What are you talking about? Orders...?

The one who came up with all the special rules for this SS—the Orders—was Tenshouin.

I'm just the guy who stuck 'em into the rules and used threats and whatnot to make sure they're bein' followed.

Of course, it was me who set up the Secret Orders to get 'em up and workin' toward my goals.

But ya could say all those worthless normal Orders are just Tenshouin playin' games.

I guess his aim's to discover and uncover some new sides to all the idols and units.

Most of the Orders are based around that idea, anyway. Tenshouin's the one who thinks 'em up and finalizes 'em.

Haha... I knew those Orders had to come from someone who personally knows a lot about us. It's like he's trying to make us do stuff we really don't want to, and his views of us are scarily accurate.

Right. Like tryin' to prevent all you idols from leanin' too heavy on your regular material.

Or gettin' the leader of a unit outta the spotlight, since they usually got too much power and influence⁠—

I guess what he's tryin' to do is get the idols and the units movin' in ways that aren't like their usual song and dance.

Keep 'em from gettin' stuck in a rut. Fans get pretty damn tired of watchin' the same shit over and over, after all.

And obviously the idols themselves, and the units as a whole, are gonna get bored too. That's just how the human brain works.

If you repeat something enough, your brain is gonna try to conserve its precious energy by turnin' off a good amount of its unnecessary functions.

That's when ya start gettin' distracted, gettin' careless in your studies, gettin' into accidents.

Even when ya think we're doin' the same thing in the same way, you're still makin' mistakes. And if your environment changes, ya won't be able to adapt to it.

And that's how ya fail, go into decline, and die out.

Well, that's what happens to everyone eventually. Guys like Seiya Hidaka who can keep on succeedin' anytime, anywhere are an exception to that rule.

Even the Boss got sick of bein' an idol and chose to go into hidin'.

If you think about it that way, Seiya Hidaka may very well be the only person other than the Boss who can actually be called a "super idol."

He's a transcendent human who reached the same heights the Boss did, albeit in a different sorta way.

I'm a little bit hesitant to even call 'im a human anymore. He's not a god like the Boss, but he sure as hell ain't human.

But the times call for people like Seiya Hidaka, who can always get results no matter what. Yanno, those guys who're always armed and ready to do anything they need to do.

That guy, though, I think he's just a glitch in the system, something his genes made on accident.

That's exactly why I don't think it's possible to mass-produce Seiya Hidaka.

The problem's that the higher-ups at ES are demandin' exactly that, chasin' after a dream that'll never come true.

But Tenshouin recognizes that "demand," and he's plannin' to "supply" it in a more realistic way.

Nah, I mean—that's the whole reason he built SANCTUARY.

......?