Footsteps clearly echo through the mists of the Dreamscape as its proprietress, dressed in a gorgeously woven gown, confidently struts through the corridor of what appears to be an opulent library, flanked on both sides by mahogany bookshelves, filled with tomes in various colours and sizes. It is but one of the space’s seemingly infinite labyrinthine aisles, the usual strict grid pattern and horizontal lines of a conventional archive being eschewed in favour of sprawling, spiraling baroque motifs, both on the shelves and in the way in which they are arranged. 

As she arrives in the library’s central atrium, decorated with a large, slowly rotating armillary sphere reaching all the way to the ceiling, which is displaying a beautiful starry sky in various shades of pink and purple, she performs a showy pirouette to welcome the two girls waiting for her, one of them sitting at a desk, browsing through a large encyclopaedia, while the other one leans against the nearest bookshelf with her arms crossed.

Niko: So… What do you think?

Mei: (The girl leaning against the bookshelf made great care to not disturb its contents as she pushed off, stepping towards the desk with a resigned sigh.) I mean… yeah, Diva, it’s impressive. And I can’t knock something without having a better idea of my own, so…

Kotori: (The other, flipping a couple more pages with a nod, closes her book, standing and brushing a strand of fiery red hair from her cheek) Genuinely impressive, Niko. It’s all there, and much more concise and organized. The mechanism is still beyond me, but I cannot deny the sheer value of this place. If Father ever found it… I daresay he would put himself into a coma simply to browse it until the end of time.

Niko: I mean… I’m not exactly a library dweller like your dad, Tori, but I realized that I have better control over the Dreamscape when it’s less… abstract? Like, for some reason it’s easier to contain all this knowledge Miss Nobunaga gave me when it’s something, like… concrete and not just a big, wibbly-wobbly ball of dreamy-weamy… stuff. So finding anything in this library may not actually be easier than just pulling it out of the void, but it makes more sense… if that makes sense.

Mei: Kinda? …Not at all.

Kotori: No, I understand it. A visualization to help aid the abstract, and thus, pull tangibility from the intangible. It helps in many cases for human psychology as well.

Niko: Sounds like you understand it better than I do… Well, anyways, I can’t wait to show this place to Yasu. And, err… sorry for involving you in this, Mei-Mei… I should’ve known this isn’t your jam.

Mei: Not that I had anything better to do… it kinda keeps me busy, at least. (She exchanges a knowing look with Kotori before closing her eyes.) You’re the boss down here, Diva. If this is my job now, then I’ll do it without a fuss.

Niko: (she crosses her arms) Okay, first of all, we don’t do jobs around here. You can do whatever you want. And second, don’t call me Diva! (she lowers her voice) … ‘Specially not if you’re not even planning on respecting my authority.

Mei: I-Is that an order? I just… y’know…

Kotori: (Not looking up from the next book in her pile that she started leafing through) Yui does not like Conductor titles either, Cadenza.

Niko: I dunno why you’re so obsessed with this Conductor stuff, Mei-Mei… Including the whole bit where you leave me out of stuff I should probably know about my own domain, hmm?

Mei: Wh-what?! I-I’m… I’m not… (She glances nervously down at Kotori.)

Kotori: …Ah, how astute. (Kotori gives a knowing smile in Niko’s direction.)

Niko: (she sighs) Did you really think you could keep your little discovery a secret from me? Seriously, like… come on, man! Does no one trust me to take care of this place’s problems?

Mei: N-No, it’s not that, it’s just…

Kotori: There’s no harm in it, now that you know. Assuming, of course, we are speaking of the same thing, Niko. And not something meant to cold read Mei. I swear, Mei, you fall for that trick far too easily.

Niko: Yeah, I don’t even know what “cold reading” or whatever is, I’m talking about Kae, of course. (she pulls a book labeled “Katherine Angnes Esposito” from the nearest shelf) There’s no use hiding things from me in here… and frankly, no reason to. Why?

Kotori: (she simply chuckles.) That is, in fact, what we’re talking about. (While Mei sputters nervously, Kotori continues.) We kept it under wraps because the more she is acknowledged and spoken about, the more she could be discovered down here. And while she seems content to not move on us, keeping her part of the domain under surveillance is enough to keep me content.

Niko: I guess in a way it makes sense. She’s kinda in… insep… inseparably linked to this place.

Mei: It is her old Barrier, after all. If she died, like for real, I’m not sure this place would even still exist. But then again, her Witch was killed, so was her sister…

Niko: Well, what even is really dying anymore with this place, huh?

Kotori: Oh, Katherine Agnes Esposito hasn’t died, not properly. Not out there, anyway.

Niko: … What? (she starts leafing through the tome she’s holding) Didn’t Nobunaga put a bullet in her head?

Kotori: Yes. She shot a Puella Magi in the head.

Niko: (she frowns, as if literally reliving the events from Anisa’s point of view) … She was… un-powered! She even said so!

Mei: So was Yui, after she zapped her own Witch. Katherine’s contract wasn’t exactly undone, though.

Niko: What? My contract was undone when I died! What a load of bull! 

Kotori: You actually died, died. As in, your Soul Gem was destroyed. You were also resurrected through a wish. Katherine was shot in the head while she was still a Puella. But Anisa Nobunaga did not crush her Soul Gem. You can verify that through her memory, Niko.

Niko: (she sighs) And you two just knew this all along? Why didn’t you tell anyone?

Mei: You think I just knew? I found out when I stumbled onto where her domain was a while back. I wanted to tell Master— …Yui, but…

Kotori: It is for the best that Yui does not find out Katherine is still alive at this time. Though, I suspect she knows. She and I have a second Impossible Task contract, and she asked me to find Kae’s whereabouts. I intend to keep my word, should she fulfill her other Task, but… it is for the best that the two forces do not coincide for now. Niko, I’m sure you understand why.

Niko: (her expression sours upon hearing Yui’s name) Ugh, of course. She’s playing everyone like a fiddle again. You see, Mei-Mei? This is why I don’t play along with this whole Conductors thing. The only Conductor who can tell me what to do is the Troub—err… the… guy who used to run this place.

Mei: Oi! Don’t talk about Yui like that! She’s not the scheming type! …Also, are you having a stroke or something?

Niko: Huh? Hey, it’s not because you wanna smooch her that I gotta like it? She was conniving with that Maestro dude to deal with that faker behind my back! She never takes me seriously, ugh.

Mei: Maestro? You mean that guy who died and got paraded around by his sister?

Kotori: Look, we’re not getting anywhere. Niko, it is protocol to keep my contracts for information confidential, unless it’s deemed necessary to reveal them. Yui’s intentions are more… instinctual. Like she can feel Kae is still alive. When next I meet with Yui, I will give her her Task and wait for its completion before revealing Kae’s presence down here. Is that answer more satisfactory? It isn’t my intention to hide anything down here. In fact, I find the exercise quite pointless since I’ve died.

Niko: So… You can just kinda feel that Arashi can just kinda feel that Kae is down here? (she sighs) What a mess… Anyways… (she holds out the book) This thing is so chock full of information it’s basically useless. Why she’s here and what she wants are probably somewhere in there, but I need more information to know where to find it. So yeah, I dunno, maybe it’s best to wait until Arashi has time to deal with it. I’ll keep an eye on our sleeping dragon in the meantime.

Mei: Yui’s not sleeping… is she?

Niko: No… She hasn’t been down here a lot, like… in general. Sorry, Mei-Mei… I know she’s also only human… And we do owe her a lot.

Mei: …

Kotori: For what it’s worth… when Mei and I were near Kae’s domain, it felt like she was… less dormant and more “observing.” if that makes sense. She doesn’t seem to have any desire to do anything at this time.

Niko: Still… We’re gonna have to keep an eye on her. Ain’t no one down here observing without me observing them.

Kotori: Indeed. Observation in her direction should, in theory, prove harmless. I think the catalyst is Yui observing her, or entering her domain. Still, in an abundance of caution, I recommend avoiding her domain entirely. (She closes her book and stands.)

Niko: Sounds like a plan… Err, what were you reading, though? Do you know how this place works?

Kotori: A little bit of my own history, in fact. (She shows Niko the front of the tome, her family’s name on the cover.) Anisa had tried dealing with our family in the past, but they also kept tabs on her, in turn. I was wondering about the illness that caused me such awful pain while I was alive. More importantly, if it was natural, or magical in nature. But I wasn’t getting anywhere on just a cursory glance through this tome.

Niko: Well, you’ve got time to read it all now, don’t you? … How about I put you in charge of this place?

Kotori: (She gives a little smile) I assumed that was your intention upon bringing me here. Regardless, I accept. Assuming, of course, I’d be given an assistant? (She glances back at Mei)

Mei: Whoa, hold on, I—

Niko: Hey, I can’t prevent word about this place leaking out… Someone’s gotta stop any, like, aspiring robbers from coming in here and looking up the passwords to the bank’s computer, and stuff like that!

Mei: Mmgh… Fiiiine, I’ll help too…

Niko: Hey, you’ll get to fight people!

Mei: I guess? It’ll break up the boredom, if nothing else.

Kotori: Come, assistant. Let us peruse this place.

Mei: Oi! (As Kotori gets up and starts walking away, Mei follows.) Oi! Who said I was your assistant?!

Niko: (she sees the two off with a melancholy smile) … Hope this gives you two something to… (she sighs) … live for.

As she turns to put the book on Katherine back in its place on the shelf, she suddenly tenses up as she feels the cold steel of a knife held against her throat. Slowly, she raises her arms.

Niko: … You know killing me in here is completely useless, right?

???: (the assailant’s voice is harsh, speaking in short, sharp hisses) I can hurt you.

Niko: … Not a fan of that.

???: I need information.

Niko: … You’re welcome to look for it. I’m not gonna stop you. Not much harm you can do with it, after all.

Niko gasps for air as the knife is taken off her throat. She quickly turns around to confirm her assailant’s identity, but much to her surprise, they have already vanished into thin air, their footsteps still echoing through the library.

Niko: (she sighs) … Never a dull moment, huh?