Maria tests a rocket for Mystere to confirm that the 10,000-meter altitude limit is still in effect after 20 years. Launching a rocket ain’t cheap, but Maria waits until after the failed test to ask why they’re conducting one. Mystere is light on details, but she believes Histoire to be up in the sky, whether in orbit or on the Moon. As for why an effigy of Kanata is tied to the rocket, well, that’s just Synduality’s patented goofiness.
Mystere and her Master Pascale were able to briefly hack into the Histoire network once, decades ago, and because the signal came from beyond the atmosphere, that’s where she believes Histoire to be. But her memories are still being restored; she demonstrates how she can now switch between herself and Noir at will, and it’s while Noir is awake that she enters a self-repair mode.
Mystere hasn’t stopped calling Kanata “Hack”, but she does believe she can mold him into someone capable of locationg Histoire with her. So she begins an intense training regimen, insisting that he push himself to his physical and mental limits. Mystere then reveals their destination: Carthage, where there may be surviving equipment for observing heavens beyond the atmosphere.
Even during down time, Kanata is eating and drinking all the muscle-building protein he can, and he proudly presents Ellie and Ange with his new six-pack. But during drinks at the bar, Ellie notices something “off” about Noir. Spending the night with her sister, she’s getting vibes that Noir is sad and feels out of place ever since Mystere returned.
Like everyone else besides Kanata himself, Maria knows all about Ellie loving him, but while it’s easy to say she’s projecting her own insecurities on Noir, the bottom line is, if she considers Noir a friend and wants to help her, then the only thing for it is to accompany her/Mystere and Kanata to Carthage.
As soon as Ciel learns where Kanata and the “Key” are headed, she reports it to Macht, who confirms that they’ll be meeting him there to take Mystere/Noir from him. Ciel sneaks back to Kanata’s to find Mystere awake. Unlike Noir, Mystere can tell Ciel is conflicted, but assures her she doesn’t intend to pry.
She only gives Ciel some advice: Humans and Magus can only ever be friends at best, and the time always comes when they have to part ways. With that in mind, she urges Ciel to live life boldly for today, right before switching to clueless Noir Mode.
Ciel joins Mystere and Kanata on their trip to Carthage by lending them her Subaru carrier, and Ellie arrives with Ange and her own carrier, a wrinkle I’m sure Ciel doesn’t love. Then again she can’t very well tell Ellie why it’s best if she stayed home. As for whatever Tokio and Mouton are up to, they discover via hacking that Kanata is in danger. Knowing that, I imagine they’ll be headed that way too, just in case there’s any trouble.