[Coldsaturn]

- I love this WU very much and in my head what went down in the ocean plays out like Blair Witch Project. I so wish they made a horror movie of that expedition lol

- Pretty much what you learned is that a whole bunch of people are interested in Lemuria for all sorts of reasons, Ever is involved as usual, and Raf is killing and scaring people off like he always does (what happens to the team seems to mirror what happened to the Ever guys who drowned while looking for Lemuria's ruins in chap 8 of the main story). Also very important the introduction of "Raincoats" we'll be seeing them again. Also very funny (not) and ironic (also not) that Ever stalks and makes people disappear and die and...that's also what Raf does. Ever has a hit list, and Raf does as well. He even hires the same hitman Ever had hired first.

- "only Professor Sean answered! He sounded weird, not energetic at all."
To me this sounds like the hypnotic state some of Raf's victims get (Raymond, [redacted]).

- "The fifth person who was dressed like them... It was a skeleton! I really wish it was clearer... Wait, is the skeleton holding a... weapon? It looks like a Protocore weapon! What's going on? Protocore weapons were only invented in the last decade or so... How could this one have appeared in the ruins of Lemuria? Is it possible the underwater city didn't sink naturally...?"
So much in this part. "Dressed like them" meaning like a human? Like a present day human? Tony is surprised by the sight of the protocore weapon, like he recognized the skeleton as way older than the current modern times, but how could he tell really? If the skeleton was wearing old-fashioned clothes, wouldn't that be in the text? And it wouldn't be described as "dressed like them"
So is the skeleton another raider, only from the past? Was it an actual Lemurian in their human form?
The city not sinking naturally parallels what happened to Romirro. Either this is the same Lemuria, or Lemuria went through another cycle of rebirth and then resinking.

- But then, the text does say "Those Protocore weapons had nothing to do with us, but this matter implicates the Ever Group."
Which might imply that the skeleton is someone from Ever that Raf disposed of.
(the blue fish is also tied to Raf as seen in several of his cutscenes)

[ChicletPrime]

Chapter 6 - Sealed In Dust

• Without looking and going just by title -- Zayne?
  
• immediately has to look up what the hell a "duckbill cap" is.
  
• "at the window a man in a raincoat..."  hello Mr. Rain Coat! are you a new raincoat or the one we just met?
  
• well, raincoat guy tells duckbill hat guy that he looks older, so we can rule out duckbill guy as Lemurian.
  
• briefcase, handkerchief so no fingerprints transfer, case smell like a bomb site. inside: 4 yellowed pages with a story from "14 years ago". so, something about the Chronorift.
  
• oooh its about Grandma! well, written by Grandma.
  
• oooh its about me: dead then me: with vital signs. and by "me" i mean Subject 001
  
• so due to suspected mishandling my energy values rapidly increased, peaked at 2:39am which resulted in death by self-contained energy burst. i re-alived myself 4pm the next day. 
  
• oh. OH. "a comprehensive physical exam revealed a newly created, unidentified substance in her heart."
  
• like. wut.
  
• so previously my heart was... fine? then due to some unexplained thing, perhaps interference by someone else, i died, was reborn and only now do i have "protocore syndrome"?
  
• wow. "unknown element / never seen before". what did i doooo? Caleb, were you the instigator? were you there? did you see what happened?!  ... speaking of, where the hell is the video footage of 2:39am?
  
• Josephine is asking a better question: if the element is non-existant, what kind of existance am i, exactly? 
  
• another researcher: Leon
  
• they dub the unknown element "aether" and the object an "aether core"
  
• like true scientists dedicated to the science, i gotta die again to see if i will reborn again. its no good unless its repeatable i guess. so i'm guessing that's the first time i died. which means... they were just experimenting with the anhausen evol itself, and not me in particular? or.. something?
  
• i could be a mythical creature.. a unicorn.
  
• oh good god, really? phoenix is RIGHT THERE.
  
• Grandma is somewhat unsure about this course of action. but only somewhat. you bitch, Josephine.
  
• Unicorn is now my code name instead of Subject 001. bad idea people, never humanize your experiments especially if they're actually human. lets not make this a sympathetic thing that can feel pain or anything, exploring her new world like a newborn creature using primitive instincts. i started from scratch again with no memory but picked up things very quickly when taught.
  
• dear moses, i truly hope i punched that hole through space and time and killed them all.
  
• great. they prepare me to die again and also prepare "emergency measures".
  
• okay, so they wind me up even higher than the previous explosion, so i go out at an even higher energy burst. and yup, i live again. Leon is relieved. so is Josephine.
  
• oh boy. the aether core is stronger on the second resurrection. yay!
  
• we haven't entered Phase 6 yet when the Chronorift Catastrophe happens (soooo, i died five times? four times?)
  
• so Josphine gets out of the wreckage, i'm nowhere to be found. days later, she finds me in a shelter. i call her "Grandma" for the first time, out of nowhere. Josephine didn't even know i knew the word, and i did not seem to actually recognize her from the lab (again).
  
• two months after the Catastrophe, i am calm and doing well, but i still tend to forget things, like my memory is wavering in and out like a 'faint signal'.
  
• Caleb is not mentioned anywhere in here except for one little part where Josephine's record trails off, saying "I never had children, nor did I ever imagine having relatives. Its always been just me at home. But with her and... things have started to change."
  
• The other researchers on the project have started to disappear, those that survived the Catastrophe in the first place. Josephine suspects EVER is pulling them in / away.  She decides to get ahold of Dr Noah as he's in cardiology and she still trusts him.  I get a checkup and the energy peak in my heart is half of what it used to be.
  
• okay, back to the present and Rain Coat and Duckbill.  so apparently Duckbill silenced Josephine and Rain Coat is unsatisfied with the report pages. Rain Coat tosses a vial to Duckbill (as payment i assume).
  
• ooooh, THAT'S INTERESTING.  Rain Coat takes the pages, returns the briefcase to Duckbill, commenting that "it stinks" and that hunters might scent it back to Duckbill.  Duckbill sneers the same thing back about the handkerchief used to hold the briefcase. "When its tainted with that, you won't make it out either."  Duckbill checks (the vial?) that the drug is "the right one", his old voice trembling with excitement. "When are you planning to make your move?" he asks.
  
• Rain Coat: "Why should we rush? Her powers aren't complete yet. Besides..." 
  
• !!
  
• "Your Prince Xavier has been glued to her side watching. I've been curious. Do people still practice feudalism where you're from? Isn't that regression?"
  
• "Xavier can only guard her for so long. He's too busy dealing with his own issues. Don't say I didn't warn you, its not just EVER that wants her. Strike first and gain an advantage."
  
• "The one who strikes first is helping her cultivation." if Duckbill can get rid of Xavier in the process, it would help Rain Coat. "Kill Xavier and let EVER crown you as prince." 
  
• A thin beam of light cuts his neck. A wrinkled hand grabs his throat and lifts him. "I can't kill Xavier but I can do more than deal with a two-legged, carbon-based monkey like you."
  
• "But how long can you survive in this era?" Rain Coat smiles, pointing at Duckbill's pocket where the drug is.
  
• "Tell your masters that they better get their hands on her fast. Her existence isn't as simple as the records suggest. If you keep stalling, EVER will end up losing more than they bargained for once she develops."
  
• .... the substance mixed in the drug hasn't been discovered yet.  EVER hopes to control the Backtracker with the drug. and then controlling Xavier shouldn't be that far off. He will soon beat other Raincoats and join the 'real plan'.
  
• Since Unicorn's power isn't complete yet, its perfectly fine to let her absorb some power - Xavier's specifically. Let his lightblade serve her and becoming the strongest weapon in her hand is something the Resonance Evol can easily achieve. Xavier will surely give her every bit of himself.
  
• Love is truly a wonderful thing.
  

like, fucking WILD. i am going to have to come back and break this down, this was A Lot Of A Lot.

EDIT:

okay, so. the biggest questions IMMEDIATELY are:

-- dying is what gave me an aether core? is this something i bring back from death!?
-- i wasn't in the experimental labs because of the core, but something more likely to do with my evol. 
-- the drug in the vial. has to be something extracted from Lemurians as Duckbill was "older" / "wrinkled hands" so likely looking to extend his lifespan in this primitive age because Philos doesn't exist yet to keep him young and immortal.
-- the drug is laced with something that will give 'control'
-- the commentary about "carbon-based two legged monkey" implies Duckbill, as a Backtracker, is None Of Those Things.
-- are the Backtrackers crystal-based then? Wanderers??? are the elite of Philos not even human anymore?!
-- they are content to allow Xavier to be near to me without undue interference because its assumed I will drain him? or subjugate him? or both? 
-- Duckbill Backtracker 'can't' kill Xavier because why? Xavier's too good at what he does? some other reason? 
-- what was on the briefcase that made it "trackable" and quite apparently dangerous in some manner? not so dangerous that they just didn't turf it. was it the pages inside it then? but they were just "pages" which i assume just meant paper. that part was super ambiguous as to why both of them were leery of it.

[Coldsaturn]

FINALLY THIS WU I WAS WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT
I love how we get certain events from the main story from MC's POV, and then you start getting more angles from other characters. So here we have the immediate aftermath to the explosion that kills MC's grandma and almost killed Caleb.

- Interesting wording from Duckbill toward Raincoat: "as you kept an eye on Ever"

- Important part about MC resuscitating herself: she doesn't die and is then reborn, her corpse literally comes alive again continuing on as if nothing had happened. This ties to your past question (was it during Xavier's latest myth?) about MC not being born and growing up normally, but seemingly appearing already X years old.
Also another poignant wording "like a planet evolve and be reborn via an explosion."

- She was called Unicorn by the researchers at Gaia. How is her unit at the Hunters Association called again?

- We don't have an exact number of experiments, but it all seems to have happened in the span of less than 2 months before the Catastrophe hit and MC left the research lab.

- Leon? Shouldn't it be Phil?

- We don't know what's in the drug that Ever is giving Backtrackers like Duckbill, but Lemurian blood is a fair assumption to make. And yes, the problem is of course that Backtrackers aren't getting immortal energy from Philos, so they're turning at least mortal. If there's also something else on the horizon for them beyond death (like turning into wanderers), we'll see.

- "Carbon-based two legged monkey"
Yeah, the implication is that Duckbill is not. Is it because they're born from the energy of the planet? Is that how they've evolved for centuries on Philos? Is it about specific families on Philos while the rest of the subjects are humans? This definitely cements the fact that Xavier and the Backtrackers are humanoid aliens through and through.

- "Duckbill can't kill Xavier"
My impression was that it's because Xavier is too powerful, and Duckbill is losing energy and life-force.

- "what was on the briefcase that made it trackable"
From the text, I understood it to be the pungent scent of the explosion. I can imagine hunters with evols that enhance their sense of smell would easily trace that smell from the briefcase to who handled it.

[ChicletPrime]

Chapter 7 - With Light

• going by vibes on the title -- Xavier?
  
• Tara is trying to con Nero into going on a company retreat? stay true to yourself, office turtle! don't be swayed by peculious arguments and promises of cheesecake.
  
• Nero.. is in the computer? or something? oh. heh. just hiding behind the monitor like a true LED crustacean.
  
• Tara wins some random good thing on a bet if she can get Nero to go to the bonding event, as nobody else thinks he will.
  
• oops, phone call of doom, Nero bails out of the office entirely. poor Tara.
  
• RANDOM GUESS: Nero is in cahoots with Jeremiah and something big just went down on the dark web.
  
• Nope! There's a poll going on for "Top Hunter" and Nero's charged off somewhere to make sure Lumiere emerges on top. again.
  
• are you telling me Nero ditched work in the middle of the day to go home and start his campaign for Lumiere dominance?! i admire his comittment to a lack of work ethic! ...i wish i could get away with that every time a Caleb-centric thing drops.
  
• awww, he has a secret identity as the Leader of Lumiere's Ultimate Fansite.
  
• note to us: we need to step it up ourselves
  
• Lightchasers.  huh. /eyeballs top of forum for potential name change. could re-do everything in tasteful spring green and goldenrod?
  
• OH NOES! somebody has a grainy back alley N109 picture of Lumiére and .. he's going to be unmasked?!
  
• "a burst of light near a florist transforms into a hooded figure." oh shit, this might be legit. no, wait. under hood, the face has "wrinkles". the real Lumiére is a dewdrop and we know that because he keeps leaping down onto our balcony at inopportune times to make sure our plants are still okay.
  
• ohhh. okay. so some troll has dropped this "exposé" just before the voting begins for Top Hunter, trying to make out like Lumiére is some old hack.  Nero will not stand (sit) for this injustice!
  
• fantastic. Nero tears this obvious deepfake to shreds. truth prevails. (i have sudden flashbacks to V For Vendetta).
  
• Nero been into this fandom since he was a kid.  I Am So Proud.
  
• Next hot take: somebody got a picture of Lumiére napping with a Wanderer.  like, okay! this one i could get behind because of that one time when i (we) personally saw the boy reaching up to a Wanderer as it was reaching down, soft and sweet and not at all violent. if Wanderers are transformed humans, maybe Lumiére recognizes them sometimes under the crystal? and they recognize him back as their king? 
  
• awww, he was just taking a nap because he was so tired after defeating the creature and before it dispersed.  that goddamned collar.
  
• Random Aside: I still have the suspicion that the Hunters Association is in league somehow with EVER, being comprised of Backtrackers at the top echelons. And that captured protocores that are turned in are funnelled over into EVER's labs.
  
• oh NICE! the girlfriend has been pulled into this as a mysterious figure, as the subway attack/sighting have to be 'elaborate hoaxes' and 'the other person fighting alongside Lumiére' has to be the true mastermind. its a money grabbing scheme push him into the Top Ten Hunters to allow him to rule the hunter world with an iron fist!
  
• i feel like i know these fans.
  
• in his quest to put down the troll clickbait articles, Nero collates documents that start to paint an uneasy picture. Xavier's name is all over the reports to do with how protocores are handled/destroyed by the Assocation, the subway incident and the attack in Azure Square (that was a fun one!)
  
• (i presume this next is from the various documents, put out onto the web by this troll/hacker:) The Light Evolver's Evol limit cannot be defined. Tech attempts to probe its limit triggers a special neck suppressor which prevents the Evolver from using their full power. It can't be explained, no physical form detected, no scars, the energy suppression field acts like a Protofield anomaly. After conducting experients, the techies finally unravelled the suppressor's mechanism, boosting its threshold.
  
• Then there are pictures of the collar on someone's throat, 'pulsating a constrictive red ring of light'. in the corner is a bit of silver showing, a tassel earring.
  
• Nero, super fan that he is, knows that decoration in the dark and backwards. He is cut adrift! Lost in the data! He's never seen anything like this before and he is the numero uno fan leader, how could this be!? THAT HAS TO BE LUMIERE.
  
• The rest of the fanbase goes nuts (naturally) with this new material.
  
• Nero is trapped at work, his Hunter watch beeping with health warnings. i guess his blood pressure must be through the roof.
  
• Xavier (hi, boyfriend!) wanders over with the noise to see if something's going on.
  
• Nero nearly throws the screen with the image of the collar and the tassel at Xavier. this! this is what's going on! its a DISASTER!
  
• "Lumiére could be DEAD!"  oh noes. that would be terrible!
  
• (it would be terrible, the girlfriend would tear apart Linkon City for vengeance.)
  
• Xavier offers a paper bag for hyperventilation.  good man Xavier, muahahah!
  
• Two weeks later, the Top Ten Hunter poll results are released. Lumiére wins handily again.
  
• The troll under the name "QuantumSocialite" appears in 10th place on the list. wow. well, antis are popular for a reason i guess.
  
• Nero takes Xavier into his confidence, correctly inferring that Xavier has to be Lumiére's number one fan actually, with his hands all over the reports about the various events Lumiére's been involved in, including the movie gig offer after the subway thing. "A real Lightchaser!"  awww, Nero is in fan-cahoots-love!
  
• Jonah Jameson, meet Peter Parker.
  

after the angst fest of the previous Chapter, i was not really prepared for this one. THIS WAS ADORABLE.

but yeah. who got their hands on Lumiére and when? are the "techs" part of the Association or EVER, or a hybrid of both? Or Professor L's little cohort maybe? Did Lumiére consent to this in the hopes of getting the collar off his neck, or was he actually captured/held and then escaped?

[Coldsaturn]

- "Lightchasers. huh. /eyeballs top of forum for potential name change. could re-do everything in tasteful spring green and goldenrod?"
I'm not going to stop you either way. It's cute.

- "Random Aside: I still have the suspicion that the Hunters Association is in league somehow with EVER"
Entirely possible considering how our team unit is called UNICORN and that's also the name Ever scientists gave to MC when they experimented on her. That's definitely not a coincidence. Catch-22 also gives an interesting funhouse mirror twist on reality, framing the Association in a particular light.

- "the movie gig offer"
That's a direct reference to Xav's limited myth!

Nero is the cutest nerd. Infold really did a good job making CUTE NPCs related to each LI, and Nero is the cute male NPC on MC's side.
Slightly unrelated, but this Xav/Lumiere double identity plays in my mind with full on magic girl transformation and everything.

[ChicletPrime]

you're telling me Lumiére has a henshin sequence?! oh.. my.

[Coldsaturn]

if it's not this I don't want it