Defusion - Chapter Five
Title: Defusion
Fandom: Rockman.EXE
Rating: PG
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple experiment. Nothing was supposed to go wrong. Unfortunately, it did, and now Enzan, Netto, Rockman, and Blues are finding out first hand what happens when a dimensional area shatters.
Warnings: The chapter is complete. The story is not. I have no idea how long it will take me to finish the story, so if you don't want to be holding your breath indefinitely, don't read.
Looking for chapter one? You can find it here. Need to go back to the previous chapter?
Defusion - Chapter Five
Haruka made a sound of frustration as she hung up the phone for the third time. "Papa must not be in his office," she said. "I just can't get hold of him."
"Maybe he's in one of the other labs," Netto suggested. He paused to stuff the last bite of pancake in his mouth, then continued before he'd even finished chewing it. "Ah mean, he'sh prob'ly worried 'bout me an' Enshan an' he's whorking on finding ush." He swallowed the pancake, then washed it down with a glass of milk before leaning back in his chair with a sigh of satisfaction. "It'd probably be faster if I just went back to SciLabs myself. I should do that anyway so I can help them figure out what happened."
Haruka shook her head at her son's bad manners, but right now she didn't feel inclined to scold him. "All right," she agreed. "But be careful. I already thought I lost you once."
"Don't worry, Mama," Netto reassured her. "I will." He picked his dishes up off the table and carried them to the sink, then headed up to his bedroom to grab his backpack. After checking to make certain that his skates were inside of it, he went back downstairs and to the front hallway where he'd left his shoes. He didn't put them on, though. Instead, he traded them for the skates. Skates would get him to SciLabs much faster, and they were more fun, too.
However, before he could leave, Haruka came up behind him and put her arms around him for another hug. "Call me when you find your father, all right?"
Netto squirmed around until he could hug his mother back. "All right," he said. One last squeeze, then they let each other go. "Bye, Mama!"
Haruka sighed as she watched her son disappear through the front door. "Goodbye, Netto." Please come back safe.
-o-
It wasn't even mid-morning when Rockman and Enzan finally found what they'd been looking for: a road. Granted, it was only a hard packed dirt road, practically overgrown with weeds, but it was a sign that were or had been people here at one point. It was also a path that they could follow to hopefully find those people. The only problem was that it led away from the river and they had no idea how far they would have to walk before they found another source of water.
"We'll use your helmet to carry water with us," Enzan announced. "We'll just have to ration it and be careful not to spill."
Rockman glanced at the horizon in the direction the road ran. "And if our water runs out before we find anything?" It was a possibility they had to take into consideration. One helmetful of water between two boys wouldn't last them very long, especially in this heat, and they had no idea how far they were from civilization. "What will we do then?"
"The average human can survive three days without water," Enzan said. "Five days without food. If our water runs out, we'll decide then if we want to turn back or risk going on. I'm hoping it won't come to that."
Rockman hoped so, too, but he had a sinking feeling that they were farther away from people than they thought. Still, he nodded his agreement with Enzan's plan. What else could they do? They couldn't stay by the river forever. "We should drink as much water as we can before we go," he said, pulling off his helmet as he approached the bank. It was the kind of advice he would have given to Netto if his operator had been in this situation. It felt really strange to be applying it to himself.
Actually, everything about this situation felt strange to him. His chest hurt, his stomach was growling intermittently, and he could feel the wind in his hair. When he drank the water, he could taste it. He wasn't certain he liked how it tasted - was that how water was supposed to taste, or was that the taste of river mud and algae? - but that wasn't the point. The point was that he could taste and feel and smell things now that he never had before. Now that he was getting used to it, it was exhilarating. How many times had he wished to be a part of the same world his operator lived in?
I wonder how Netto-kun will react when he sees me. Then another thought, following close on the heels of the first. I wonder if this is permanent...
He had just taken his helmet off and had started to fill it with water when a distant rumble distracted him from what he was doing. Rockman looked up at the sky, but there were only a few white clouds to be seen. Not thunder, then. He turned his head left and right, trying to figure out which direction the sound was coming from. It was getting louder. Actually, it sounded an awful lot like-
The speculation was cut off in mid-thought when an old, battered pick-up truck appeared at the top of a hill, kicking up a cloud of dirt as it trundled down the road. Rockman and Enzan exchanged a brief look of surprise before both boys jumped up and ran to the side of the road. The water that Rockman had filled his helmet with spilled out, but he didn't care. It looked like they weren't going to need it after all.
"Over here!" Enzan called out, waving his arms to catch the driver's attention. The truck slowed down, then came to a halt right in front of them. The driver's window rolled down and a middle aged woman with short red hair poked her head out.
"What're you boys doing out here?" she asked, giving them both a funny look.
"We're lost," Rockman replied. His eyes watered from all the dust in the air and he had to resist the urge to cough. "Can you tell us where we are?"
"And do you have a cell phone we can use?" Enzan added.
The woman gave them a level look. "I have a phone, but before I let you use it, why don't you tell me what's going on and where your parents are?"
Uh oh. How were they supposed to answer that? Enzan and Rockman looked at each other, then the older boy stepped forward and answered briskly, "My name is Ijuuin Enzan and this is... Hikari Rock. We were both involved in an experiment at SciLabs, where Hikari's father works, and something went wrong. The next thing we knew, we were out here. Now, may I please use your phone to call SciLabs and let them know where we are? I wouldn't be surprised if they think we're dead."
Rockman blinked at Enzan in surprise. Hikari Rock? Enzan obviously didn't think it was a good idea to tell this woman the entire truth, and the name made sense, but it still took him by surprise. Hikari Rock. A human name...
The woman was frowning now, but she turned off her ignition and got out of the truck, reaching into a pocket to pull out a cell phone. She was dressed in a tan shirt and khaki pants that could have blended right in with the dirt. "You can call me Ms. Router. Isn't SciLabs clear off in Densan, Japan?" She handed the cell phone to Enzan, who nodded in response to her question. "Boys, this is Amp County in Ameroupe."
Enzan nearly fumbled the phone in shock. "What?"
"I said-"
"I heard what you said. It's just that it's-"
"Not possible?"
Enzan shook his head. "It's so far. If it wasn't possible, we wouldn't be here in the first place." He took a deep, steadying breath, then started punching numbers into the phone.
While he did that, Ms. Router turned to give Rockman a better look. The former navi fidgeted nervously under her scrutiny, clutching his helmet with both hands. Did she suspect the truth? It seemed painfully obvious to him. With armor like he was wearing, what else could he be but a Net navi who'd been stranded in the real world? Surprisingly, the first words that came out of her mouth had nothing to do with his armor.
"You're hurt," she said. "Let me get out my first aid kit and see what I can do."
Again, Rockman was taken by surprise. He'd almost forgotten about his injury. Cleaning it would be a good idea, though. "All right," he agreed, moving closer to the truck.
"Hello? This is Ijuuin Enzan. Is Dr. Hikari there?"
-o-
Blues was having a difficult time concentrating. He really shouldn't be, though. A warrior with his training and discipline should not be bothered by something so small and trivial. I am not used to it, he reasoned. That is the only reason why I cannot ignore it. But even with this rationale, he couldn't help but feel that he was somehow failing at something that should be easy. Really, any human in the world could ignore the feeling of their clothes brushing against their skin, so why couldn't he?
"Is something wrong?" a nurse asked kindly, to which Blues shook his head. He wasn't about to inform these people of anything that might further convince them that something was wrong with his mind. The last thing he needed was to be labeled with some kind of attention deficit disorder and given medication for it.
As the nurse continued on her rounds, Blues gave up on trying to answer the questionnaire he'd been given and leaned back in his chair. The fabric of his hospital pajamas shifted to accommodate the motion, causing him to reflexively lift his hand as though to brush something off. When he realized what he was doing, he felt a mild flash of irritation and quickly aborted the movement. He would get used to it. Eventually.
To take his mind off of the distraction of his clothes, Blues turned his attention on his surroundings. He was in a lounge-like area with several other patients, some of them eating, some of them filling out paperwork like he'd been doing, and some of them just chatting with each other or the hospital staff. Blues had placed himself in a corner, away from most of the activity, and for the most part, people had respected his unspoken desire for privacy. Every once in a while, though, a nurse came by to check on him, but he shouldn't be bothered again for another ten minutes at least. Blues picked up his cup and took a sip of orange juice. Orange juice was quickly becoming one of his favorite things to drink, never mind the fact that he had nearly choked the first time he'd tried to swallow some.
"Mr. Blues?" Another nurse approached him, proving his estimate wrong. She was young, with dark hair and dark eyes. Pretty, too, he supposed, although he'd never found himself particularly attracted to anyone, human or navi. He idly wondered if that would change now that he was apparently human. The prospect was slightly disturbing. "There's someone here to see you."
Blues' head shot up, all thoughts of clothing, orange juice, and attraction vanishing from his mind in an instant. There was only one person who would be here to see him. "Where?"
The nurse smiled. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you to where he's waiting."
Blues needed no second bidding. He rose from the table and followed the nurse out of the lounge, leaving his cup and questionnaire behind. And if there was a definite spring to his step, who could blame him? He would finally be leaving this hospital and returning to his operator's side.
From the direction they were traveling, Blues guessed that they were going back to his room. That made sense, of course. Dr. Nakamura would no doubt wish to speak with both him and his visitor to confirm Blues' identity, and that was the kind of conversation that was best kept private. They turned a corner. There was his room at the end of the hall, and there was Enzan opening the door and- wait. Enzan?
Blues came to an abrupt stop as he stared at who he thought was his operator, only to realize that the man was far too old to be Enzan, the white of his hair a sign of age rather than careful styling. He was also wearing the light blue hospital scrubs that many of the staff wore. Just an orderly. As the man entered the room, Blues shook his head at himself. Perhaps I have been thinking about Enzan-sama too much.
A light touch on his arm reminded him that he was not alone in the hallway. "Mr. Blues?"
Blues glanced at the nurse accompanying him, then started forward again. He didn't even make it two steps before he was knocked off his feet by the force of the explosion that filled the halls. The nurse fell to the floor, too, and screamed as she covered her head with her arms. Blues pushed himself up off the floor and crawled over to shield the nurse with his body, but the gesture proved unnecessary. It was all over within seconds, and they were far enough away from the source of the blast that the ceiling and walls around them remained relatively undamaged. Only the finest sifting of plaster drifted down around them. Panicked voices and moans of pain echoed down the hall, overlaid by the insistent wail of the fire alarm.
"...what happened?"
"Oh my god..."
"...get help..."
"Somebody call..."
"...sion accomplished. Ijuuin Enzan is dead."
Blues' head snapped up. What? Who had spoken? He twisted his head around sharply, but only barely caught a glimpse of someone disappearing around the corner Blues had just come from. For a moment, he was torn. Enzan had been the target of the attack, and if he was still alive, he would need help, but if Blues went to help him, his attacker would get away. The decision should have been obvious. Enzan's life came before all.
Then he remembered the man who had gone into his room. The timing could not have been coincidental. Blues turned his head to look down the corridor, confirming his suspicions that the blast had indeed come from his room, an explosion that had not occurred until moments after a man who resembled Enzan had gone in. Blues had no idea what business that orderly had had in his room, but it became obvious that he had triggered a trap meant for Blues' operator. Which meant Enzan was in danger - and that danger was coming from or was directly linked to the person who was even now escaping.
It only took a second to realize all this, and it only took another second before Blues was up on his feet and running, his course of action clear. He skidded around the corner, his white hair whipping around him in a flurried frenzy which he paid no heed. Where- there! There were several people in the hall, but only one man was heading away from the scene of the attack. Blues wasted no time in dashing after him. "Stop that man!" he shouted. When people only murmured in confusion and twisted their heads to try to figure out who Blues was talking about, he pointed and repeated himself. "Stop that man!"
But it was too late. His quarry had already slipped down another hall, and by the time Blues turned the next corner, he was nowhere to be seen. Damn it! He stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, his fists clenched at his sides. He had failed to neutralize a threat to his operator. Enzan was in danger, and here he was, stuck in a hospital.
But not for long.
With a determined expression on his face, Blues started walking down the hall.
-o-
Sato Michiki hung up the phone, a thoughtful expression on his face. What on earth were Enzan and Netto doing in Ameroupe? Or, more precisely, how were they in Ameroupe? Obviously, the accident with the dimensional area was to blame, but how had it managed to transport two boys all that distance to deposit them relatively intact in the middle of nowhere? The scientific part of Sato's mind itched to answer the question. The possibility of instantaneous travel...
But he had other priorities which must come first. Sato picked up the phone again and leaned back in Dr. Hikari's office chair as he dialed the number that would call his boss's cell phone. It was answered within two rings.
"Sato. I thought you were working on deleting the evidence. Don't tell me you're finished already."
"Almost," Sato replied, wary of the slight hint of menace in the other's voice. You had better not be wasting my time, it said. But he was confident that his boss would want to know this, and so he continued. "I just received an interesting phone call." He paused for dramatic effect. "From Ijuuin Enzan."
"Ijuuin Enzan is dead. The man I assigned to the job reported in an hour ago."
Sato frowned, absentmindedly deleting another file from Dr. Hikari's computer. "Then he got the wrong person. The boy I spoke with was Ijuuin. I've heard his voice enough times that I ought to be able to recognize it, and he spoke of specifics about the accident that only someone who'd been there would know. He said Dr. Hikari's son is with him, too."
"Hmm. This is unexpected. Where are they?"
"Amp County in Ameroupe."
"How did-? Never mind. That is unimportant. Do you have an address?"
"4512 Joule Drive. He isn't there yet, but that is where the woman who found him intends to take him. I told him someone would be sent to get him shortly."
"Indeed."
"Do you want me-?"
"No. I will send someone else. Finish what you are doing, then get back to your 'investigation'."
"Understood." A soft click, then silence. Sato hung up the phone.
He wondered briefly who the victim at the hospital had been. It seemed too strange to be coincidence, that someone who looked like Ijuuin Enzan and who claimed to be Blues would be hospitalized there so soon after the dimensional area accident. Actually, come to think of it, no one ever said that this "Blues" looked like Enzan. Sato ran a hand through his short black hair, then leaned forward to type a command into the keyboard. The assassin might have accidentally targeted someone who looked like Enzan, assuming it was the one who thought he was Blues. Another file deleted. But why-?
An indignant voice interrupted his thoughts. "What are you doing to my dad's computer!"
-End Chapter Five-
Ready for the next chapter?
Once again, constructive criticism, praise, comments, encouragement, whatever you have to say is always welcome!
Fandom: Rockman.EXE
Rating: PG
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple experiment. Nothing was supposed to go wrong. Unfortunately, it did, and now Enzan, Netto, Rockman, and Blues are finding out first hand what happens when a dimensional area shatters.
Warnings: The chapter is complete. The story is not. I have no idea how long it will take me to finish the story, so if you don't want to be holding your breath indefinitely, don't read.
Looking for chapter one? You can find it here. Need to go back to the previous chapter?
Defusion - Chapter Five
Haruka made a sound of frustration as she hung up the phone for the third time. "Papa must not be in his office," she said. "I just can't get hold of him."
"Maybe he's in one of the other labs," Netto suggested. He paused to stuff the last bite of pancake in his mouth, then continued before he'd even finished chewing it. "Ah mean, he'sh prob'ly worried 'bout me an' Enshan an' he's whorking on finding ush." He swallowed the pancake, then washed it down with a glass of milk before leaning back in his chair with a sigh of satisfaction. "It'd probably be faster if I just went back to SciLabs myself. I should do that anyway so I can help them figure out what happened."
Haruka shook her head at her son's bad manners, but right now she didn't feel inclined to scold him. "All right," she agreed. "But be careful. I already thought I lost you once."
"Don't worry, Mama," Netto reassured her. "I will." He picked his dishes up off the table and carried them to the sink, then headed up to his bedroom to grab his backpack. After checking to make certain that his skates were inside of it, he went back downstairs and to the front hallway where he'd left his shoes. He didn't put them on, though. Instead, he traded them for the skates. Skates would get him to SciLabs much faster, and they were more fun, too.
However, before he could leave, Haruka came up behind him and put her arms around him for another hug. "Call me when you find your father, all right?"
Netto squirmed around until he could hug his mother back. "All right," he said. One last squeeze, then they let each other go. "Bye, Mama!"
Haruka sighed as she watched her son disappear through the front door. "Goodbye, Netto." Please come back safe.
-o-
It wasn't even mid-morning when Rockman and Enzan finally found what they'd been looking for: a road. Granted, it was only a hard packed dirt road, practically overgrown with weeds, but it was a sign that were or had been people here at one point. It was also a path that they could follow to hopefully find those people. The only problem was that it led away from the river and they had no idea how far they would have to walk before they found another source of water.
"We'll use your helmet to carry water with us," Enzan announced. "We'll just have to ration it and be careful not to spill."
Rockman glanced at the horizon in the direction the road ran. "And if our water runs out before we find anything?" It was a possibility they had to take into consideration. One helmetful of water between two boys wouldn't last them very long, especially in this heat, and they had no idea how far they were from civilization. "What will we do then?"
"The average human can survive three days without water," Enzan said. "Five days without food. If our water runs out, we'll decide then if we want to turn back or risk going on. I'm hoping it won't come to that."
Rockman hoped so, too, but he had a sinking feeling that they were farther away from people than they thought. Still, he nodded his agreement with Enzan's plan. What else could they do? They couldn't stay by the river forever. "We should drink as much water as we can before we go," he said, pulling off his helmet as he approached the bank. It was the kind of advice he would have given to Netto if his operator had been in this situation. It felt really strange to be applying it to himself.
Actually, everything about this situation felt strange to him. His chest hurt, his stomach was growling intermittently, and he could feel the wind in his hair. When he drank the water, he could taste it. He wasn't certain he liked how it tasted - was that how water was supposed to taste, or was that the taste of river mud and algae? - but that wasn't the point. The point was that he could taste and feel and smell things now that he never had before. Now that he was getting used to it, it was exhilarating. How many times had he wished to be a part of the same world his operator lived in?
I wonder how Netto-kun will react when he sees me. Then another thought, following close on the heels of the first. I wonder if this is permanent...
He had just taken his helmet off and had started to fill it with water when a distant rumble distracted him from what he was doing. Rockman looked up at the sky, but there were only a few white clouds to be seen. Not thunder, then. He turned his head left and right, trying to figure out which direction the sound was coming from. It was getting louder. Actually, it sounded an awful lot like-
The speculation was cut off in mid-thought when an old, battered pick-up truck appeared at the top of a hill, kicking up a cloud of dirt as it trundled down the road. Rockman and Enzan exchanged a brief look of surprise before both boys jumped up and ran to the side of the road. The water that Rockman had filled his helmet with spilled out, but he didn't care. It looked like they weren't going to need it after all.
"Over here!" Enzan called out, waving his arms to catch the driver's attention. The truck slowed down, then came to a halt right in front of them. The driver's window rolled down and a middle aged woman with short red hair poked her head out.
"What're you boys doing out here?" she asked, giving them both a funny look.
"We're lost," Rockman replied. His eyes watered from all the dust in the air and he had to resist the urge to cough. "Can you tell us where we are?"
"And do you have a cell phone we can use?" Enzan added.
The woman gave them a level look. "I have a phone, but before I let you use it, why don't you tell me what's going on and where your parents are?"
Uh oh. How were they supposed to answer that? Enzan and Rockman looked at each other, then the older boy stepped forward and answered briskly, "My name is Ijuuin Enzan and this is... Hikari Rock. We were both involved in an experiment at SciLabs, where Hikari's father works, and something went wrong. The next thing we knew, we were out here. Now, may I please use your phone to call SciLabs and let them know where we are? I wouldn't be surprised if they think we're dead."
Rockman blinked at Enzan in surprise. Hikari Rock? Enzan obviously didn't think it was a good idea to tell this woman the entire truth, and the name made sense, but it still took him by surprise. Hikari Rock. A human name...
The woman was frowning now, but she turned off her ignition and got out of the truck, reaching into a pocket to pull out a cell phone. She was dressed in a tan shirt and khaki pants that could have blended right in with the dirt. "You can call me Ms. Router. Isn't SciLabs clear off in Densan, Japan?" She handed the cell phone to Enzan, who nodded in response to her question. "Boys, this is Amp County in Ameroupe."
Enzan nearly fumbled the phone in shock. "What?"
"I said-"
"I heard what you said. It's just that it's-"
"Not possible?"
Enzan shook his head. "It's so far. If it wasn't possible, we wouldn't be here in the first place." He took a deep, steadying breath, then started punching numbers into the phone.
While he did that, Ms. Router turned to give Rockman a better look. The former navi fidgeted nervously under her scrutiny, clutching his helmet with both hands. Did she suspect the truth? It seemed painfully obvious to him. With armor like he was wearing, what else could he be but a Net navi who'd been stranded in the real world? Surprisingly, the first words that came out of her mouth had nothing to do with his armor.
"You're hurt," she said. "Let me get out my first aid kit and see what I can do."
Again, Rockman was taken by surprise. He'd almost forgotten about his injury. Cleaning it would be a good idea, though. "All right," he agreed, moving closer to the truck.
"Hello? This is Ijuuin Enzan. Is Dr. Hikari there?"
-o-
Blues was having a difficult time concentrating. He really shouldn't be, though. A warrior with his training and discipline should not be bothered by something so small and trivial. I am not used to it, he reasoned. That is the only reason why I cannot ignore it. But even with this rationale, he couldn't help but feel that he was somehow failing at something that should be easy. Really, any human in the world could ignore the feeling of their clothes brushing against their skin, so why couldn't he?
"Is something wrong?" a nurse asked kindly, to which Blues shook his head. He wasn't about to inform these people of anything that might further convince them that something was wrong with his mind. The last thing he needed was to be labeled with some kind of attention deficit disorder and given medication for it.
As the nurse continued on her rounds, Blues gave up on trying to answer the questionnaire he'd been given and leaned back in his chair. The fabric of his hospital pajamas shifted to accommodate the motion, causing him to reflexively lift his hand as though to brush something off. When he realized what he was doing, he felt a mild flash of irritation and quickly aborted the movement. He would get used to it. Eventually.
To take his mind off of the distraction of his clothes, Blues turned his attention on his surroundings. He was in a lounge-like area with several other patients, some of them eating, some of them filling out paperwork like he'd been doing, and some of them just chatting with each other or the hospital staff. Blues had placed himself in a corner, away from most of the activity, and for the most part, people had respected his unspoken desire for privacy. Every once in a while, though, a nurse came by to check on him, but he shouldn't be bothered again for another ten minutes at least. Blues picked up his cup and took a sip of orange juice. Orange juice was quickly becoming one of his favorite things to drink, never mind the fact that he had nearly choked the first time he'd tried to swallow some.
"Mr. Blues?" Another nurse approached him, proving his estimate wrong. She was young, with dark hair and dark eyes. Pretty, too, he supposed, although he'd never found himself particularly attracted to anyone, human or navi. He idly wondered if that would change now that he was apparently human. The prospect was slightly disturbing. "There's someone here to see you."
Blues' head shot up, all thoughts of clothing, orange juice, and attraction vanishing from his mind in an instant. There was only one person who would be here to see him. "Where?"
The nurse smiled. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you to where he's waiting."
Blues needed no second bidding. He rose from the table and followed the nurse out of the lounge, leaving his cup and questionnaire behind. And if there was a definite spring to his step, who could blame him? He would finally be leaving this hospital and returning to his operator's side.
From the direction they were traveling, Blues guessed that they were going back to his room. That made sense, of course. Dr. Nakamura would no doubt wish to speak with both him and his visitor to confirm Blues' identity, and that was the kind of conversation that was best kept private. They turned a corner. There was his room at the end of the hall, and there was Enzan opening the door and- wait. Enzan?
Blues came to an abrupt stop as he stared at who he thought was his operator, only to realize that the man was far too old to be Enzan, the white of his hair a sign of age rather than careful styling. He was also wearing the light blue hospital scrubs that many of the staff wore. Just an orderly. As the man entered the room, Blues shook his head at himself. Perhaps I have been thinking about Enzan-sama too much.
A light touch on his arm reminded him that he was not alone in the hallway. "Mr. Blues?"
Blues glanced at the nurse accompanying him, then started forward again. He didn't even make it two steps before he was knocked off his feet by the force of the explosion that filled the halls. The nurse fell to the floor, too, and screamed as she covered her head with her arms. Blues pushed himself up off the floor and crawled over to shield the nurse with his body, but the gesture proved unnecessary. It was all over within seconds, and they were far enough away from the source of the blast that the ceiling and walls around them remained relatively undamaged. Only the finest sifting of plaster drifted down around them. Panicked voices and moans of pain echoed down the hall, overlaid by the insistent wail of the fire alarm.
"...what happened?"
"Oh my god..."
"...get help..."
"Somebody call..."
"...sion accomplished. Ijuuin Enzan is dead."
Blues' head snapped up. What? Who had spoken? He twisted his head around sharply, but only barely caught a glimpse of someone disappearing around the corner Blues had just come from. For a moment, he was torn. Enzan had been the target of the attack, and if he was still alive, he would need help, but if Blues went to help him, his attacker would get away. The decision should have been obvious. Enzan's life came before all.
Then he remembered the man who had gone into his room. The timing could not have been coincidental. Blues turned his head to look down the corridor, confirming his suspicions that the blast had indeed come from his room, an explosion that had not occurred until moments after a man who resembled Enzan had gone in. Blues had no idea what business that orderly had had in his room, but it became obvious that he had triggered a trap meant for Blues' operator. Which meant Enzan was in danger - and that danger was coming from or was directly linked to the person who was even now escaping.
It only took a second to realize all this, and it only took another second before Blues was up on his feet and running, his course of action clear. He skidded around the corner, his white hair whipping around him in a flurried frenzy which he paid no heed. Where- there! There were several people in the hall, but only one man was heading away from the scene of the attack. Blues wasted no time in dashing after him. "Stop that man!" he shouted. When people only murmured in confusion and twisted their heads to try to figure out who Blues was talking about, he pointed and repeated himself. "Stop that man!"
But it was too late. His quarry had already slipped down another hall, and by the time Blues turned the next corner, he was nowhere to be seen. Damn it! He stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, his fists clenched at his sides. He had failed to neutralize a threat to his operator. Enzan was in danger, and here he was, stuck in a hospital.
But not for long.
With a determined expression on his face, Blues started walking down the hall.
-o-
Sato Michiki hung up the phone, a thoughtful expression on his face. What on earth were Enzan and Netto doing in Ameroupe? Or, more precisely, how were they in Ameroupe? Obviously, the accident with the dimensional area was to blame, but how had it managed to transport two boys all that distance to deposit them relatively intact in the middle of nowhere? The scientific part of Sato's mind itched to answer the question. The possibility of instantaneous travel...
But he had other priorities which must come first. Sato picked up the phone again and leaned back in Dr. Hikari's office chair as he dialed the number that would call his boss's cell phone. It was answered within two rings.
"Sato. I thought you were working on deleting the evidence. Don't tell me you're finished already."
"Almost," Sato replied, wary of the slight hint of menace in the other's voice. You had better not be wasting my time, it said. But he was confident that his boss would want to know this, and so he continued. "I just received an interesting phone call." He paused for dramatic effect. "From Ijuuin Enzan."
"Ijuuin Enzan is dead. The man I assigned to the job reported in an hour ago."
Sato frowned, absentmindedly deleting another file from Dr. Hikari's computer. "Then he got the wrong person. The boy I spoke with was Ijuuin. I've heard his voice enough times that I ought to be able to recognize it, and he spoke of specifics about the accident that only someone who'd been there would know. He said Dr. Hikari's son is with him, too."
"Hmm. This is unexpected. Where are they?"
"Amp County in Ameroupe."
"How did-? Never mind. That is unimportant. Do you have an address?"
"4512 Joule Drive. He isn't there yet, but that is where the woman who found him intends to take him. I told him someone would be sent to get him shortly."
"Indeed."
"Do you want me-?"
"No. I will send someone else. Finish what you are doing, then get back to your 'investigation'."
"Understood." A soft click, then silence. Sato hung up the phone.
He wondered briefly who the victim at the hospital had been. It seemed too strange to be coincidence, that someone who looked like Ijuuin Enzan and who claimed to be Blues would be hospitalized there so soon after the dimensional area accident. Actually, come to think of it, no one ever said that this "Blues" looked like Enzan. Sato ran a hand through his short black hair, then leaned forward to type a command into the keyboard. The assassin might have accidentally targeted someone who looked like Enzan, assuming it was the one who thought he was Blues. Another file deleted. But why-?
An indignant voice interrupted his thoughts. "What are you doing to my dad's computer!"
-End Chapter Five-
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