-I-I di-did n-not fi-fight him…- The Beast Knight lowered his head. -I sur-survived-d en-encountering him…- Callis spoke with a sad tone. –A-and e-even that fe-feat is not-t on-only attributed-ed to my skills, as a-after eve-events to long to di-discuss some-mething chan-anged on me.- The Errant Knight heavily sighed. –I w-was be-being helpe-ped by so-some kind o-of spi-spirit or creature pre-predicting the mo-moves of the one ca-called Ikari…- His voice slowly got weaker as he talked before fainting. The Doctor checked his pulse and sighed in relief. He turned to face the group. –I think he just needs rest, we will move him to facility close by with better equipment, the only thing keeping him alive is his genetic modifications right now…-
The Doctor checked his equipment. –Never seen anything like it, he seems human enough, but there are complete sections of his body that seem closed off, hidden.- The physician asked help from a couple of workers to move the stretcher as he mumbled how much he would like to examine Callis with proper permission and left. Norio walked towards the remaining group. –I think we will be able to clean this up before next morning, if you feel able you are already free to go, just sign the wavers before leaving.- The Old Inspector tone and demeanor was much more calmed as the new node was placed and the other one was being taken to be analyzed in the HQ. He bowed to all of them.
–Thanks to your efforts we managed to avoid a much greater problem, if the node was turned off or stolen Kyoto could have turned into a Hidden World hotspot in less than 1 hour and that would’ve been bad.- He gave a quick glance to the ambulances taking Akuto and Beatrix. –And you captured to extremely dangerous criminals, you should be pleased with yourselves. And in the name of the JHWAB I would like to officially thank you for your efforts in keeping the peace.- He took some of his business cards from inside his jacket, giving Talia and Jose one each, but skipping Haruko for obvious reasons. –If you’re ever in need of a job, being freelance or more stable just call me, the JHWAB always looks for new talent.-
Norio left them to their own devices as he went back to keep supervising the reconstruction of the castle and the surrounding areas.
The dazzling blue light flooded the secluded underground location. A strange platform, clearly high tech, was the one that received the sudden lighting blast which transported Kuro-san and Lazarus back to this hidden location. Kuro-san and Lazarus walked down a small metal staircase to meet two individuals handling the controls. One was a familiar face, a tall and decrepit old man, with a large scar covering his face dressed in a spotless white lab coat over a loud purple suit. The other one was a bit less familiar, with bandages climbing to the top of his head in a cone, covering his heavily scarred and burnt face, he was dressed with a long coat and a suit under it. The first one was the infamous Geneticist Dr. Kago and the second one was Kuro-san’s specialist in weapons, the deranged Engineer Dr. Shikishima.
-So you’re already here, I thought the teleporter would shred you apart, considering the sloppy work this third rate does.- Kago talked to them while he glared at the Bandaged Weapon Master, who was comfortably sitting on a chair with his legs over one of the consoles and leaning as back as he could. He replied to the taunt with surprising ease. –I always do good work, I’m not a money obsessed hack who doesn’t care about the real “art”- Kago frowned upon hearing his pair and snarled while moving towards him and pushing his finger into Shikishima’s chest. –Real “art”? My enhanced soldiers are much more effective than any of your “works of art”…- Kago turned around and lifted his arms in a very dramatic fashion shaking his hands with frustration. –Not to mention you got caught…- He turned around again glaring at Shikishima with deadly intent clearly reflected on his eye. –And in Brazil, by that crappy and corrupt DMO… What the hell were you doing in Brazil by the way you two bit hack?-
Shikishima’s smile widened under his bandages and replied. –I was working on my tan, you should do too, it would really help your complexion, you spend too much time underground near glowing tubes of shit.- Kago looked at him with the same expression Lazarus had for the last minutes of their discussions. The Infamous Geneticist roared in complete disbelief. –A TAN!? ARE YOU FUC***** KIDDING ME!? YOUR WHOLE BODY IS BURNS AND SCAR TISSUE YOU CRAZY SON OF A *****!- Kuro-san was smoking waiting for the voluble scientists to burn out. That happened after 5 minutes of constant insults echoing in the large underground chamber, with both of them panting and huffing sitting in chairs not looking at each. Kuro-san dropped his cigarette to the floor and stepped on it, the sound getting everyone’s attention.
-Esteemed Dr. Lazarus, I suppose everything is ready for the procedure to start, right?- Kuro-san looked at the old frail man with a dusty blue suit. –Yes, I will activate them and your man will have a direct line to the JHWAB Mahoureiko mainframe.- Lazarus took a control from inside his coat, tinkering with a series of buttons and levers until a surprisingly cheerful ding emanated from the device. –They are active, is just a matter of time before they reach the mainframe… but how did you know that they would take the node?- Kuro-san barely seemed to notice the whole conversation, his eyes were almost blank, as if his soul was trying to escape his body. For a moment of awkward silence nobody talked until the Forgotten Emperor regained the color on his eyes as suddenly as he lost them.
-How?- He looked at the nearby shadows of the massive underground room. –I have a man with inside knowledge.- And with this said, from darkness itself surged Ikari, his face contorted in an angry grin, his eyes covered in inky black and his veins popping all over his face, laced in black, as if a very dark vine grew under his skin. The Renegade Agent was taking wavering steps forward, his body trembling as if he was rejecting something. –Wh…what?- Ikari forced his throat to emit sounds through his almost locked jaw. Kuro-san looked at him without much interest, while the others had different reactions. Kago was shocked, Shikishima seemed interested, almost hypnotized, and Lazarus… Lazarus just stared sadly at the clearly suffering Ikari.
-W-WHERE….WHERE AM I?- incapable of controlling the volume of his voice, the Renegade Agent shouted while his body convulsed, evidence of the unholy amount of pain he was feeling at the moment. Kuro-san ignored the question and walked towards him shaking his head in silent disappointment while he whispered in his usual monotone voice. –So it wore off earlier this time, the last two times in Kyoto lasted much more…- A particularly violent movement from Ikari, which landed him on his knees, was followed by Kuro-san final observation. –So he is developing immunity to it? I will have to do it more regularly.- The Forgotten Emperor stopped right in front of the pained Avatar of Hatred and looked down on him. Ikari, using all the discipline he could muster under such duress tried to move only managing to end up flat on his back, looking Kuro-san. A spark of acknowledgement shone on his eyes as he uttered the words. –I…I remember you… I remember the blood… the blood… in the walls…in the ceiling… the blood… in her dre-
Before he could finish the sentence Kuro-san kicked Ikari's side without changing his expression, no rage, no hate, no sadness, just an automatic motion, like a robot. The kick was strong enough to make Ikari bend over and grab his side. The disgusting cracking sound was a clear indicator of at least one broken rib. The Forgotten Emperor crouched down and took something from his coat pocket, placing it just over Ikari’s forehead. It was the Memory Medal and from it a golden drop fell down, splashing on Ikari’s forehead, stopping his convulsions and his movements, his body relaxed and his face turned into an emotionless mask. Kuro-san whispered something and as suddenly as he stopped moving he stood up, going back to his usual demeanor. –Boss, what are we going to do next?-
The Scientists shared from surprised looks between them after witnessing this, as Kuro-san stood up and looked at Ikari. –Everything Ikari… Everything… Return to your hideout, I will contact you when the time comes.- Ikari nodded and once again vanished as if his body was made of paper in a bonfire, turning into millions of small black fragments that were blown by an inexistent gust of wind. Kuro-san walked towards the Scientists who were still in complete awe. –Are all the preparations completed for the next mission?- He asked to them. For a moment they stood in silence, still looking at Ikari’s former location, but finally they snapped back to reality after Kuro-san snapped his fingers. Kago took the job of replying. –We are done, so is your hacking boy wonder… but she isn’t so cooperative.- For a single instant there was a glimpse of frustration in the always imperturbable Forgotten Emperor.
-I will deal with this, you focus on packing and moving to the next location, we don’t want to be caught by the JHWAB, they might be less than efficient, but even them can track the teleporter given enough time.- Kuro-san left the large room through a concrete hallway and walked for a good stretch, leaving the scientist, who started arguing again, behind him. He reached a wooden door and gently knocked the door. Something made of glass or ceramic crashed against the inside of the door. Without showing any kind of surprise Kuro-san ignored the impending danger and opened the room to find Sakka completely pissed off, her hair turned into a wild tangled mess, her eyes bloodshot and goggled. The room was a chaotic vortex of broken papers, scratched furniture and broken notepads. –Jakuuma-san, stop wasting your time and start writing, your deadline is coming.-
The effect was instantaneous. Sakka dropped the flower pot she was about to throw, which crashed in the ground, shattering in dozens of pieces. The Crazy Writer arms hanged lifelessly besides her chest and her demented, haggard eyes, half hidden behind her messy bangs, returned to normal. –Yes… the deadline… I can’t fail the deadline… no matter how much I fUcKiNg hAtE tHiS uNbEaRaBlE bOrE oF a gEnRe.- Her hands curved like claws as she spoke those last words, her back arched like a wild beast as the crazy light returned to her eyes. Kuro-san cleared his gently throat and this sudden surge of insanity stopped as suddenly as it started. –Finish it as soon as you can… and stop breaking things, we don’t want to leave a trace for the JHWAB to follow.- She stayed still until he left, and then she frantically ran towards he desk and kept scribbling. Sakka was totally scared of Kuro-san… especially when he acted like that. Gentleness was the same as being threatened when her employer was the source of it.
1 Week Later – JHWAB KANTO HQ
Hours upon hours of effort, determination and knowledge poured in a single Mahoureiko Node… and nothing was found. The best magicians, the best scientists and espers the JHWAB had enlisted all tried to found out if the Node was tampered with both none of them was good enough to discover what Lazarus did… or, more precisely, they were too good for it. As the small colony of nanobots Lazarus injected to the Node had a very peculiar set of features. First and foremost, the Shin'nyū-sha (Infiltrator) series of robots had an unique cloaking device, so high tech it made Kago’s and Shikishima’s work pale in comparison, being that the main reason they didn’t taunt Lazarus.
They had the ability to hide from prying eyes in a pocket dimension they generated by siphoning the psychic energy of the individuals who searched for them. Lazarus worked in the past creating artificial humans with Esper powers and from those experiments he learned a lot about how to harness the human mind as energy. The more effort somebody makes trying to find the Shin'nyū-sha Nanites the stronger their cloaking becoming, folding several dimensions into themselves hiding in a miniature dimensional labyrinth. The Nanites avoided detection and slowly crept their way to one of the Mahoureiko computers, learning about them in the same way the Espers created by Lazarus could absorb information from their victims.
Now DGT, Kuro-san’s Shindo Hacker, had a direct line to the JHWAB files, able to alter them to his pleasure. A tool important enough to allow somebody to see Kuro-san so his mere presence worked as a smoke screen to divert attention from the node. Another piece moved towards the checkmate...
TO BE CONTINUED IN….
THE LAMENT OF DR. LAZARUS