Yuri's death shocks the party, but before they can react, the man turns to Ivan. He introduces himself as "Maou" and demands to know what the party are doing there. Ivan does not respond, and Mari draws her sword and advances. Maou points his gun at her to stop her, which she does, and she berates him over all the people he killed. Maou retorts that the party did the same. He states that the large, purple mecha at the end of the hangar, which he calls "Meiko" is the one thing he will never relinquish. He moves into the mecha, keeping his gun trained on the party, and an elevator carries it off to the surface. Anastasia is the most severely affected by Yuri's death. Without a leader, and, by extension, a mission, she has no idea how to continue. She crawls into the nearest mecha and closes the door, refusing to leave (or she would have, if anyone had asked her to). The other party members investigate the other mecha. Mari accidentally powers one on, and is greeted by a young lady on the screen, who introduces herself as Branch, an AI or "Decision Tree" assigned to that mecha. Mari pretends to be a new test pilot to ensure Branch will cooperate. Branch wonders when the other Decision Trees will come online. Meanwhile, Véný, having gotten sufficiently comfortable, manages to boot her mecha. Its Decision Tree is Poll, a young boy who quickly causes Véný significant frustration with his inquisitive nature. Ivan's stochastic approach finally bears fruit, and his mecha comes online. The Decision Tree, a young girl named Quine, is quickly wooed by Ivan's protective and reliable nature, even if Ivan does not completely understand the situation. At this point, Quine realises Meiko is gone, and the other AI cannot contact her. Véný also lets slip that the party are not actually test pilots, but are stealing the mecha. Mari is afraid Branch will hate her, but it seems the AI do not mind who is controlling them, nor do they mind the killing of the inhabitants of the facility. Anastasia turns on her mecha accidentally whilst despairing grandiosely, and a lively young teenage girl appears on the screen. Execute, the Decision Tree, tries to cheer Anastasia up. Upon hearing that Maou killed her superior, Execute vows to destroy the "evildoer". As the four humans and four programs discuss their next move, Andris calmly boots up his mecha. He initially ignores the appearance of the Decision Tree, Interrupt, but upon learning he is an AI, freaks out and leaves the mecha. Unwilling to hand over control to a machine invented by the Empire, he runs out onto the hangar floor only to find the others engrossed in their mecha. This causes Andris to despair that his friends have been mind-controlled by the Empire, but the other party members are able to convince him that the Decision Trees cannot harm him, and that taking the mecha is the best approach. Andris reluctantly agrees, and returns to his mecha armed with the threat of explosive violence at any sign of betrayal. The party discuss their next move. Andris and Ivan want to return to the Kingdom, while Mari and Véný want to keep their new toys to themselves. The argument is broken up by the revelation by Interrupt that a large number of signatures have appeared on his radar. Anastasia, afraid that they have been found, pressures the party to make a swift retreat, and so they engage the elevators to the surface. The party emerge in a snowfield where Maou is making a not-so-swift retreat. His Decision Tree, Meiko, informs him that the mecha has thrusters. Maou turns to face the party, but as he does, a female voice screams his name over the comms. On the far ridge behind him appears Hoshimoto Kaori with her 1st Armoured Division. Maou, addressing her playfully, reminisces their shared past, but Hoshimoto is putting up with none of it, announcing her intention to bring him back to Japan. Meiko provokes Hoshimoto and the fight erupts. Hoshimoto ignores the party and orders the 1st Armoured Division to annihilate all targets. Maou fires a railgun round at Véný's mecha, breaking one of its massive legs in one shot, then activates the thrusters and engages the 1st Armoured division. Lasers from the mecha's surface pierce the armour of the T501 Asahi tanks, and no-one is able to hit Maou as he dances the battlefield, laughing madly.