As another of November’s increasingly grey and gloomy mornings breaks, Niko ascends the stairs leading up to Paradise Gym’s common area, putting her hand to her mouth as she yawns.

Niko: Ugh… I feel like I’ve slept for days… (she groans)

Anisa: I’m afraid you did.

Sitting at a small table that has been hastily set up in one the area’s sole remaining corner not riddled with training equipment, Anisa takes a sip of her mug of tea before putting it down.

Anisa: … but I’d say you deserve it after what you’ve done. That was quite the achievement.

Niko: (shocked, she takes a few steps back, which causes her to almost stumble and fall down the stairs) W-Who the hell are… (she raises her voice) G-Guys! There’s someone here! N-Not one of us, I mean!

Anisa: (she stands up, holding out a hand urging Niko to calm down) W-Whoa…! It’s alright, miss Segawa. Miss Arashi — Yui — knows I’m here.

Yui: (Yui is leaning against the corner turnbuckle of her ring, arms folded across her chest) S’alright, Niko. She was let in while I was down there with ya. Didn’t bring me a milkshake, though…

Anisa: I’m afraid all the places selling those in town are closed, for obvious reasons…

Niko: That doesn’t explain who the hell you are supposed to be!

Anisa: … I’m… a painful memory for most of your friends… My name is Anisa Nobunaga. I could tell you my whole history, but… it might actually be easier if you search the Dreamscape’s collective consciousness for a… full list of charges.

Niko: W-Wait, you know about the Dreamscape…? (she turns back to Yui) Who is this woman? Is she with the Conductors?

Yui: Anisa Nobunaga, a.k.a. the Third Angel, a.k.a. Shinobu Nagano, Director of the Mitakihara branch of the former Sixth Bureau. I stopped her and Aoi from killin’ each other a while back. 

Niko: …. What?!

Yui: … Also, long time ago, I killed her. I wouldn’t say she can be trusted, per se, but in terms of her knowin’ shit here and now, she’s fine. She knows about the Dreamscape, and her plan is… well, not the worst I’ve heard. 

Niko: … Third what of the sixth branch of the what now?

Yui: So uh, just hear her out, yeah? And know that if she were a danger, I’d beat the shit out of her. (she nods towards Anisa) ‘Kay, Boss. Floor’s yours again.

Anisa: (she winces) Well… remember Kae, Niko? The woman who was both Puella Magi and Witch? I… used to be a creature like that.

Yui: An’ me.

Niko: … and you got… better?

Yui: I got better too, y’know.

Anisa: To a certain extent, yes. When I was younger, I made a contract with Kyubey. But what I wished for was… messy.

Niko: … It kinda has to be, no?

Anisa: I craved the knowledge of a God. Which, as you could probably guess, did quite the number on my sanity. Guess you could see me as the first member of this city’s ever growing rogue’s gallery. I was defeated, killed, tried… and punished.

Without hesitation, and with a bit of Yui’s help, Anisa calmly explains her entire history to Niko, explaining her death, rebirth and punishment at the hands of the Hierarchy, recapitulating her second life as director of Mitakihara’s branch of the Sixth Bureau, as well as conveying her desperate attempts to escape her otherworldly shackles.

Niko: … So, like… God gave you an… ankle monitor?

Anisa: … That’s… one way of putting it, yes. I would call it a life sentence, though that might be stretching the meaning of the word “life”.

Niko: But… I don’t get it. I mean… I used to be dead. I came back to life, and… I don’t remember there being, like, a heaven or an afterlife or anything… There was just…

Anisa: That’s the thing, now, isn’t it? I have… reason to think this “afterlife” is not exactly what we commonly believe to be the afterlife. I have my theories, but…

Niko: … You’re not gonna tell me there’s two Dreamscapes, right?

Anisa: Err… No, that… wasn’t what I was going to say… It’s possible, I suppose, but—(she shakes her head) No, no, sorry, but we don’t have time to theorize about the afterlife right now. The point is… Yui told me that in the Dreamscape, you were able to manifest the powers you used to have as a Puella Magi, right?

Niko: Y-yeah…! I got some help, though, but…

Yui: …

Anisa: You see, Niko, this… knowledge I wished for… It is still inside of me. I was resurrected with all of my powers intact, but the Hierarchy put a kind of… lock on it. So I can only use them with their permission. But the thing is, if you lock something away, it is still there. A lock can be forced open. Bypassed. Ignored, even.

Niko: (she looks at Yui, grimacing) … Does she always take this long to get to the point?

Yui: She’s bein’ pretty straightforward, actually. She has the knowledge she wished for, an’ she wants you to access it by takin’ her into the Dreamscape. Mei uses Vox Memoria and manifests it into Valkyrie, and boom, we know what God knows. At least, in theory. ‘Course, if Valkyrie explodes and Mei dies for good, there’s no afterlife judges that’ll be able to dish out more pain than I would. …That said, I don’t really… object to the plan, as it stands. I know what Mei’d say.

Anisa: I believe that… with me in the Dreamscape, it would essentially become a library. A vivid manifestation of all the knowledge in the world. It would become—

Niko: … Kazoo?

Anisa: … Well, yes, but… without restrictions. Without limitations. Without… ads. It would become a repository not just of human knowledge, but of all the information in existence… including things that haven’t been discovered yet… that haven’t happened yet… or haven’t even been conceived of.

Niko: … but who’s saving that won’t drive me insane? Or turn me into a monster?

Anisa: Well… This is just a theory, but… The Dreamscape is a barrier, isn’t it? Kae’s barrier, not to mention. If it can contain the madness of a Puella Malefica, it should be able to withstand that which causes it…

Niko: Yeah, I dunno if that sounds as convincing as you think it does… ma’am.

Anisa: Hmm. There’s something else, though. How many people are… in the Dreamscape at this point, Niko?

Niko: Err… Pretty much everyone in town, I guess? Worldeater pulled ‘em all in.

Anisa: Indeed. And how does the saying go? Many hands make light work.

Niko: Err… r-right. I gotcha. (she shakes her head) No, actually, I don’t gotcha at all! … Can anyone translate this into gyaru for me?

Yui: … Startin’ to question the logic in trusting a disaster lesbian with everything important. (she sighs) …With all those souls in the Dreamscape, they’ll each bear a bit of that load. It shouldn’t strain you until you’re used to the knowledge.

Niko: (she crosses her arms) Hey now, do you think I just walk around with the memories of everyone in the Dreamscape in my head all day long? It’s just like Ms. Nobunaga said… if you need a bit of information, it’s more like looking something up online. You enter the right search terms, and… hey, presto!

Anisa: That’s… certainly reassuring. But yes, as Yui explained, I believe we can have every single soul in the Dreamscape help you out with carrying this load.

Niko: You… believe we can.

Anisa: Yes… This is just a theory, Niko. But I’m afraid it’s one we can only prove by giving it a try.

Niko: That’s way too much of a risk, though… Y-You do realize there’s people in the Dreamscape who have nowhere else to go if the whole place goes under, right? What if it gets corrupted?

Anisa: … It’s already a Witch’s barrier, though. How much more corrupted can it get?

Niko: Sure, but… I mean, still. Cool idea and all, but I’m not putting the entire Dreamscape on the line for a shot at all the knowledge of a God, or whatever! I don’t need the knowledge of a God!

Yui: Maybe, maybe not. But let’s say that fuckin’ Genie Cat gets it in its head to try this again? Would be nice either knowin’ ahead of time, or havin’ a better plan of action. One omniscient clearly ain’t enough… I can say that ‘cause Sis an’ Yuzu went off to strategize in their own way.

Anisa: This could allow us to finally get ahead… Prevent the next disaster before it hits this city. It can’t take much more, don’t you think?

Niko: I… I dunno, this sounds like… a lot. Like, a lot a lot. I… I just saved the Dreamscape… I… I dunno if… That place, those people… they’re my responsibility. I can’t just use them as the stakes in some… game of poker.

Anisa: I understand if you have to give this some thought… but… consider this. The secret to defeating Kyubey and his Balancers might be in here… (she points at her own head) You’re the only one who could dig up that information, Niko. I… I know, when push comes to shove, it’s the lives of the wandering souls in the Dreamscape versus the lives of all the people in this city. That’s… a tough choice to make. But I trust you’ll make the right one in the end

Niko: The right one? Isn’t this literally that drawing you see everywhere online, with the guy with the trolley? There is no right decision!

Anisa: … I, err, I guess so, yes. But… I’m sorry, Niko. You’re gonna have to make one.

Niko: (she sighs) I guess… responsibility is more than just punching Italian douchebags in the face, huh?

Yui: Sorry, Niko. Forgot to tell you that little detail when you got drafted into bein’ a Conductor.

Anisa: Consider my offer… and let me know when you’ve made your decision.

Niko: (she nods, slightly and awkwardly) … Yeah. Will do.