"...I've proved it to be true once before..." a chilling, yet familiar voice called out over the dark void.

Kazon's haunting green eyes slowly opened, squinted slightly so that they could gradually adjust to the darkness that had engulfed him.

"...where....am I...?" he though as one gloved hand reached up to gently rub his eyes. As they finally adjusted, he peered around cautiously to figure out were he was. He was standing in a desolate, barren place that resembled the planet he was on that day, four years ago. He looked up to the cold night sky as his skin felt the chilly breeze that swept through the air. He stood there confused and wondered how he got to this place...

"...prove it again..." Kazon snapped to attention upon hearing this strange, phantom-like voice call out to him. He positioning himself in a defensive pose as his eyes narrowed.

"Who's there...?!" he called out nervously. His fist quenched tightly as his eyes scanned the area. Strangely though, no one was there...just him, alone on this planet. He relaxed a bit and carefully dropped his guard.

"...run away..." The voice called out again from behind him this time. Kazon turned quickly to see the image of a small boy, maybe five or six years of age, standing there wearing dirty, tattered clothes and his eyes shut. Kazon gasped slightly upon seeing this boy, eyeing his dark brown hair that was obviously un-kept. His skin was of a tanned tone, but not as dark as Kazon’s currently was, but his face was dirty, like it had been washed in ages. Before Kazon could say anything else, the boy's eyes opened at dove right into the Hunter's own eyes. Their color: ...a dark shade of green, identical to Kazon's. There followed a stare down between the two, as a single drop of sweat began to roll down the side of Kazon face in a nervous fear as to what was this was that he was experiencing...

"W-w-who are you...?!" Kazon finally said to the boy, breaking the long silence. The young boy didn't say a word, because Kaz really didn't need to ask such a question for knew exactly who this boy was. It was unmistakable, and Kazon's face flushed pale... "You're...me....?" The boy slowly nodded. Indeed, it was the splitting image of Kazon Locke as a young boy...

Kazon took a few steps back in fear. "What's going on...!? This can't be real!!" Suddenly, the boy raised a single hand, pointing at something that was behind Kazon. The afraid Hunter hesitated at first, but eventually turned his head and glanced over his shoulder...when he did, the boy slowly faded away into the darkness...

Kazon then saw something that he really couldn't believe. Off in the distance, he could see a campfire burning bright, illuminating this dark region. Sitting in front of it was an old man in a long black coat. Kazon's body immediately froze as he spoke so softly, it was if he was barely mouthing the words...

"...Ouspi...!?"

"Ouspi!!!" another voice called out from behind Kazon again, but the odd thing was that it was Kazon's voice...

Kazon immediately turned back around and his eyes widen to the site of a teenage Kazon getting knocked back from a punch of a huge, dark creature cloaked in ragged, brown clothing . Kazon's body began to tremble as he watched the confrontation play out...his memories coming to life again.

"This--...?! Zeiram!!" Kazon looked on in horror as the beast admisistered the final blow on to the younger version of himself, the last thing he remembered before he was out cold and he could only repeat himself. "This....isn't real....!"

"...run away....it's what's you're good at..."

"Stop it!!!!!!" Kazon screamed out loud, wanting this harsh visualization to end.

Then suddenly, the scene warped over to the campsite and Kazon was standing right in the middle of it. It startled Kazon at first, still confused as hell about all of this around him. But then he heard a rustling behind him in one of the tents he remembered setting up all those years ago. Kazon turned to face it, seeing this instructor lazily crawling out of it.

"What the hell has that kid got himself into now...?" Ouspi said in his rugged, scruffy voice.

"It's him..." Kazon's face went to an even paler shade than before. "I...can't believe this." Then his expression flushed into a look of shock. "Wait...!! This must be where--!!" but before he could get the words out, two shots were fired from a pistol incased in the shadows, Kazon quickly shielded his eyes. The only thing he heard was the sounds of a man crying out in pain...then every thing was silent again.

Kazon cringed in fear as he slowly moved his hands away from his eyes...and he looked down to see his instructor face down in a pool of own blood with two bullet holes in is back.

"Ouspi..." His eyes began to tear up just like they did four years ago...he was truly living this nightmare all over again. He fell to his knees and his gloved hands clenched into fists. He didn't want to see this again...and he cried out in a mix of sadness and anger, "Ouuuuusssspi!!!"

"...proved it once....before...." That voice was back...and it seemed as if it sounded more and more familiar with each word. Kazon looked over his shoulder with his eyes narrowed in anger, seeing the gun pointing right at his instructor and could hear the sound of a voice chuckling softly. The gunman slowly moved in closer to the campfire, it's light brightening his face. Kazon's jaw dropped in udder disbelief....

"Test....complete..." There stood Kross Tsutomegi, a younger Kross Tsutomegi, with his dirty blonde hair and is pale iris eyes peering down on the fallen Hunter. Kazon stared speechless as the words replayed over and over in his mind. 'Proved it once before', it all made sense...could Kross have killed Ouspi...?

Whoever did it, this vision Kross flashed an evil grin and gave a soft chuckle as he glanced over to Kazon, re-aiming his pistol right at the young Hunter's face. Kazon eyes widened and he gasped deeply as a loud bang was emitted from the gun...

******

Kazon let out a scream as his eyes shot open immediately as he sat up from his bed in a cold sweat and out of breath. He just sat there for a while, breathing in a deep as he could, his mind in total confusion as to what he just experienced...

"Was it...a dream....? Kross...did he--?" He was cut of as his sudden rush of adrenaline wore off and he could feel a sharp pain in his stomach that stretched throughout his body, immediately cringing and grasping in it to hold in the pain. While in this position, he examined himself carefully as his memory slowly returned to him. He was shirtless, his abdomen wrapped tightly in large regeneration bandages. He remembered holding his gun to Puttubayh's head, and Kross' bullet pass through the both of them. His lower body was still strangely clad in his armor, with the exception of his boots. It looked as if he was brought in here, where ever ‘here’ may be and let alone after treatment. He glanced around at his surroundings and saw that he was at in a bed. His eyes squinted slightly as he gazed over to the window. The Mycian sun was shining brilliantly, the shine of a morning sun. Kaz was still not sure were he was though, but the room was nicely furnished and rather large.

"Where am I...?...Bachnia...what...happened...?" he looked around a bit more and saw a nightstand beside the bed he was sitting in. On it were two picture frames, one with a picture of Iria and Kei goofing off with Fujikuro in the background with a dumbfounded look on his face. The other was another picture of Iria...a much younger Iria, standing next to and looking up, with much admiration, to a man with pale-ish green hair that was smiling down to her in return.

"...Gren...?" Kazon thought to himself. He remembered Iria saying something about Gren being her brother...but her story all seemed odd to him. He let out a deep sigh as he came to the obvious conclusion, he was back at Iria's house. One hand reach up from his stomach to gently rub his face, but to his surprise, another bandage was on his left cheek. "What the--?" He thought, as the visions of Zeiram crashing through his tube-like chamber and a piece of stray glass swiping his face.

"That's right..." he said softly. "I remember now...Zeiram...BETA...." his eyes began to narrow slightly. "Kross....!!!" Before he could get himself further worked up, the pain from his wound resonated through his body once again, making him hunch over and wince in pain.

Suddenly the door leading into the room slid open and in ran Fujikuro. He ran to anguishing Kazon's side and helped him sit up straight again.

"Hey, hey...!" He said in a kinda whispering voice. "...take it easy kid. Don't go so fast, take it slow for now....!" Kazon's eyes were closed tightly in pain, one opened at glance over to the aging Hunter, wondering why he was speaking in such a soft tone of voice.

Fujikuro looked over Kazon to something that was behind the young man. "You're lucky your moanin' and groanin' didn't wake her up..." Fujikuro said with grin. Kazon's expression shifted to a puzzled look as he slowly followed Fujikuro's gaze. Fujikuro, on the other hand, left the room rather quickly...

There she lay on the floor with a single blanket over her. Iria...wearing her blue and while pajama attire and fast asleep. She lay on her stomach breathing softly with her arms both folded under her head, serving as a pillow. She lay facing Kazon and she looked so tranquil with the morning sun gently beating down on her. Kaz was just in awe at this...beauty before him. It was like he had never seen something like this before, and from the same person that had been at his throat constantly recently, in his eyes at least. But more importantly, why was she in here? It was her room it seemed, with all the pictures, but with him? He was just in awe...that is, until Fujikuro poked his head back into the door.

"Hey, lover boy..." Fujikuro mocked him with a grin as tossed a blue T-shirt he just went to get at him. "Stop gawkin’, put this on, and get in here before ya do wake her up...then we’ll all be in for it..."

Kazon sighed softly as he slowly pulled the cover off of him and began to stand. "Tch, whatever..."

*****

Kazon had slipped on the shirt and was sitting on the couch with one arm clasping his stomach, the other with his elbow on his knee and falling across his other leg. Those dark green eyes just stared off into nothing as they usually did...but something was different from that emotionless gaze that usually plagued his eyes. This stare was icy, packed so full of thought and emotion you really couldn't tell what was going through his mind, but you could tell he was thinking of many things. Just then Fujikuro walked into the room with two mugs of black coffee...

"Iria told us the whole story of what happened back there..." Fujikuro said setting one of the hot mugs in front of Kazon, keeping the other for himself. "About Puttubayh...Tsutomegi...Zeiram...it was all really confusing. Hell, even Bob wasn't 100% sure of it all..." He took a sip of his coffee as he leaned back against the console of the large supercomputer that was in the room.

"How many days ago was the mission...?" Kazon asked softly, not even acknowledging the coffee, or Fujikuro for that matter really, just a question he threw out there. He kept his eyes on that one random place off to the side.

"You've been out of it for four days now..." Fujikuro responded. "...and when you get the chance, you should really thank Iria too." That got Kazon's attention, snapping a gaze toward the usually arrogant man. Fujikuro just nodded. "She got you back here in one piece after you two Transited out of there and was by your side the whole time you were out cold in the building, Zeiram chacing after you and all. ‘Weren't for her, you probably be back in Bachnia with Zeiramoids feasting on your ass. You really should thank her, yanno..." he said with a more of a commanding tone than a request.

Kazon just stared into his eyes briefly before slowly looking away. "...fine."

Fujikuro shrugged slightly. "Tedan Tippedai has been going nuts as well. Puttubayh's body no where to be found, Kross missing, and rumors of Zeiram sightings....it's all messed up. One good thing out of it all though is they released the Doc from whereever it was they were holding him. I guess with all the shit that went on last time Zeiram was around, they need a guy like Touka." He sipped his coffee again. "To tell ya the truth, it is like one year ago all over again, except now it seems we might end up fighting along side Tedan Tippedai and the Administration Army. Who'da thunk...?" Kazon said nothing he just sat there.

“I bet there will be another split in the regs of Tedan Tippedai again.” Fujikuro went on. "Those higher-ups that knew about the BETA-Zeiram Project and supported it and then those that didn't...man, this is gonna get wild probably." Kazon, still, was silent.

Fujikuro 's brow arched as he looked into the young man's averted eyes. The experienced Fujikuro could read him like a book. "You want to go after them don't you...?" Kazon shot another cold glance at him. "Yeah...you do." Fujikuro added after a brief silence. "I can tell. That brat of a kid, Kei, had that same look in her eyes last year when she wanted 'vengeance'. But let me tell you something kid, don't you go plannin' on running off without telling anyone. It won't happen..."

"...are you gonna try and stop me if I do...?" Kaz said, breaking his silence.

Fujikuro scoffed and pushed himself away from the console and made his way to the kitchen, but before he entered, stopped and turned back to Kazon. "You don't have a clue, you know that, kid? Hell, you're lost. If there's one thing you should've learned from 4 days ago is there are something's in life that you just can't do by yourself. Fine...go ahead and take that maniac and his hat-headed bastard child on by yourself...but just remember, Iria or anyone else might not be there to save you next time." He said with a grimace on his face. "...go take a shower or something, use the one in my room."

Fujikuro turned and continued into the kitchen, leaving Kaz with a somewhat surprised look on his face. However, the young Hunter shook it off and he sat there quietly. Maybe Fujikuro was right, maybe he couldn’t do this all alone. Look were ithat’s gotten him now. Kazon rubbed his hand over the wound on his stomach gently...he did go nowhere fast with his blind attack last time. His anger, his hatred...and maybe, his fears, blinded his judgment, causing him to become reckless during the mission. Yes, maybe he was right, but still, Kazon wouldn't admit it.

He just simply reached over to the table and took up the mug of coffee and took a short sip...

******

A little while later, the door leading inside Iria's room slid open again and in walked Kei, carrying freshly folded sheets. The girl walked over to the bed and began replacing the ones Kazon had been sleeping on the last couple of days. Kei examined the sheet s little closer and saw a few traces of crimson stains on them, probably from Kazon's wounds.

"Poor guy..." she said softy. She looked over he shoulder and saw that Iria was still sound asleep on the floor. "Iria...sticking her neck out for that guy, no matter how heartless and cold he was to her...it's weird really." She continued to change the bed as quietly as she could, as not to wake the sleeping Iria. "...She's changed a lot since a year ago..." Kei thought.

Just then, to Kei's surprise, Kazon walked into the room, drying his thick brown hair with a large towel, he must have just gotten out of the shower. He wore that same blue t-shirt but now with a pair of long sweat pants he must have taken from Fujikuro's room. Kei didn't notice, but under the shirt, the large regeneration bandage that was wrapped around his stomach was gone, replaced with a new one he had apply on himself after he got out of the shower. The older one on his face still remained on from before though. Kei was puzzled to why Kaz just waltzed in here, but then again, she didn't really understand him much anyway.

So, she just smiled and spoke softly. "Glad to see that you're up...I'd tell you to stay quiet but that doesn't seem to be much of a problem for you, yanno," she added with giggle.

Kazon moved the towel away from his head and looked over to Kei, that same icy look on his face. Kei was just finishing with the bed and she plopped down the edge of the bed letting out a soft sigh. She smiled over to Kaz, and patted her small hand on the spot beside her. Kazon hesitated at first, standing still.

"Ah, c'mon..." Kei said in a rather optimistic and cheery tone. "If you were going to listen to one of us at least once, then do it now...!" Kazon waited a moment before letting out a soft sigh, then joining her on the bed. He sat down next to her in a very careful manner, as to not hurt himself again.

"I think it's ok for you to take that one off now," Kei said softly. Kazon looked over to the girl with a puzzled look. Kei simply smiled and reached up to his face with both hands, carefully taking off the ornate bandage that covered his left cheek. Sure enough, it was healed, but there remained a long, slender scar stretching from the edge of his cheekbone, near his nose to the side of his face and about an inch under his eye.

"Hmm..." Kei pondered, "...it's scared over, but hey, at least it looks cool right? We may have to change the other bandage later."

"I took care of it already..." Kazon said in a quiet voice. Kazon shrugged if off, he just looked over his shoulder to Iria, her back was turned from them both now. "...she was really there the whole time?" he said in an even lower tone.

"Huh..?" Kei followed his gaze over to the sleeping Iria. "Oh! Yeah, she was...the whole time. She sat around day and night waiting to see if you were gonna wake up. That is until yesterday, her body was so pale and so exhausted that she could help but to fall asleep. I've never seen her like that before, but she nursed you back to health, and did a good job of it, it seems."

"Someone caring for me that much...?" Kazon thought to himself. "She doesn't even know me..."

"...umm...Kaz?" Kei asked after a brief silence. "I heard you and Fujikuro talking earlier. I could hear what you guys said from my room...."

Kazon glanced to her from the corner of his eye.

"I know he can be a real jerk sometimes. Just don't let it get to you..." Kei added, kicking her legs back and forth.

“Why should I let it get to me? He's right after all..." Kazon thought again. "I can't do this by myself...but I have too...I don't know why...I just do." There was another long silence as they both just sat there quietly, not saying a word. Kazon glanced over to the nightstand beside Iria's bed, at those two pictures...but mainly the one with Iria and Gren on it. Kei watched Kazon closely, and then broke the silence once again.

"That's Iria's older brother, Gren," she said. "I never got to meet him...Zeiram assimilated his body for it's own use a year ago. Iria loved him a lot and she still always talks about him..."

"...Gren...." Kazon thought to himself as his memories began to take over him.

******

A young teenage Kazon was standing in front of a locker in a small locker room inside the Myce Administration Headquarters, sliding his silver, alloy armor over his gloved hand and into position around his forearm. He was already decked out in the rest of his armor that covered his black, form-fitting body suit, this was the last piece that completed his get-up. Those cold, dark green eyes of his stared at a fixed point ahead of him as he adjusted the armor so that it fit properly in place. Suddenly, the door of the locker room swung open and in walked a tall, slender young man, maybe a year or two older than Kazon, with a few blue and gold hairbeads attached to locks of paleish, green hair.

"Hey man, ya heard the news...?" the young man said to Kazon. Kaz glanced over to him and shrugged a bit as he continued to fiddle around with his armor, acknowledging that he didn't know the answer to his question. The man laughed softly. "Never were much for talkin', are ya Kaz? Well, the news is that you're looking at a full-fledged Hunter!"

"...congratulations Gren," Kazon finally said in a quiet voice.

"Thanks man..." Gren said as he leaned back against a wall of lockers, letting out a relieved sigh. He smiled as he continued on. "I was gonna go out for a drink a bit later to celebrate. My friend Bob might be joining me, I don't think you've met him yet. So anyways, you wanna come, Kaz? My treat?"

"Can't, Ouspi and I are heading out." Kaz responded as he began to load a few ammo clips onto his belt.

"Really? Where to?"

"Some new planet they discovered outside of the Taowajan sector, on contract with Tedan Tippedai. We're supposed to survey it or something..." Kaz answered.

Gren's brow arched slightly as a confused look took over his expression. "Shouldn't that be left for a science team to deal with?"

"Yeah..." Kazon responded, taking his pistol from his locker, "...that's what I told Ouspi. It's supposed to be some big deal 'that only professionals of our standing can handle properly'."

"Hmm..." Gren thought for a second. "If you ask me, it sounds kinda fishy. I wonder why someone like Ouspi would take a job like that...?" Gren laughed a bit, "but hey, look on the bright side, at least you'll get your license one of these days and you won't have to lis--

"Next week..." Kaz cut him off.

"'Next week'...?" Gren said, a little surprised.

"Yeah..." Kaz said as he started to load his pistol. "I'm getting my license next week on my 18th birthday..."

Gren just cracked a smile. "You're a rare find, Kaz. You're still one of the newer apprentices and you're already getting you're up for early licensing!? Unreal man..." he chuckled. "I was lucky enough to get one now."

Kazon didn't say anything else for a while and a brief silence followed until the door swung open once again. This time, the rugged Ouspi made his way inside, wearing that long black trench coat with the two Katana's strapped to his back. He had a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Both Gren and Kazon glanced over to the aging Hunter who ran his hand through his short, scruffy, black and gray hair.

"You almost ready kid...?"Ouspi said in his raspy voice, removing the cigarette from his mouth. "We've only got one Transit time booked, yanno...hmm...?" he glanced over to Gren for a moment and smiled. "Weeeeeell.....look who got his license!!" Ouspi walked over to Gren and patted him on the shoulder. "Heard all about from the guys. Congrats kid!"

"Thank you, sir..."

"Where ya headed now? Not gonna go out and have a drink to celebrate without me and Kaz, are ya?!” Ouspi added, tossing his cigarette on the hard floor and stamping it out.

Gren chuckled softly. "I'm sorry for that sir, like you said, you only have one time booked right?"

Ouspi laughed. "Ah well, maybe when I get back then, you have some time to waste with an old fart like me?"

"I'm sorry for that too, sir. Tomorrow I'm heading out for Batabitajira to see a friend of mine."

Kazon glanced over to them from the corner of his eye...

"A friend, eh?" Ouspi repeated him, flashing a sly grin. "Well, I suppose gallivanting with girls is a bit more pleasin' for a yung'un like you," he added, nudging him a little. "And on an empty planet like Batabitajira...lots of room for bunch of little 'green-heads' to be runnin' around.

Gren began to blush a little. "No, no, it's not like that! ...her parents are gone and with everyone leaving the place for Myce City, I started to kinda look after her. She acts like I'm her brother, so I try to fill-in for the role I guess. I'm going to visit her and try to bring her back here with me."

Kazon began to wonder when they were going to stop their jabbering. He placed his pistol in its holster and turn to the both of them, he was ready.

Gren glanced over to Kaz for a moment, then looked up to a clock on the wall. "Well...I better go catch up with Bob before he leaves without me."

"A'ight," Ouspi said, giving his shoulder another pat. "We need to be heading out too, eh Kaz?" Kazon just nodded in response. "Well, take care, kid and congrats again!"

"Thank you sir," Gren said with a smile and a nod. "See ya, Kaz." he began to make his way to the door before he stopped himself. "Oh! Kaz, one more thing..."

"...yeah...?" he asked in a soft voice.

"Remember..." Gren said with a smile as he flicked his hairbeads once. He laughed softly as he turned back to the door. "Don't forget, Kazon..."

******

"...Kaz...?" Kei said trying to gain the man attention. Kaz seemed to be out of it again. "Hey, earth to Kaz!" Kaz snapped out of his daze as he looked over to Kei with a blank expression. "Is something wrong?" she asked with a confused look.

"Huh...?" Kaz shook it off quickly. "Oh...no. It's nothing," he said as he looked back to the picture of Iria and Gren. "I was just thinking, I guess..."

Once again, there was another long pause. Kazon sat there with his gaze fixed onto those pictures. Finally, Kei changed the subject...

"What about you, Kaz?" Kei asked again. "What about your family?"

Kazon's body immediately froze as he glanced over to the young girl from the corner of his eye. "What's with her now...?" he thought. "Why is everyone asking me these questions all of a sudden? Iria first, now her?"

Kazon simply shook his head slightly and look away from her. "...that's not something I like to talk about."

"Wha--?" Kei's jumped up from the bed. "You don’t like to talk about anything though! C’mon! What happened...?!"

"I told you, I’d rather not talk about it...” Kazon said, then thought to himself. “This kid better be pipe down...”

"But what about your mom and dad?!" Kei asked in a pleading voice. "I remember Bob told us you were raised in an orphanage...!"

"I said drop it..." Kazon said, snapping a cold gaze in the girl’s direction. Kei quickly shut up and stood there in silence for a moment. She remembered Bob telling the group not to push his buttons, so she did what Kazon told here to do and kept quiet...Kazon just went back to staring at that picture, trying to sort a few things out.

"Sorry for bringing that up, yanno...? It's just I know what it's like to be alone..." Kei paced around a bit before she glanced over to Iria again. "I think you remind her of him a lot..." Kei continued on, gaining Kaz's attention once again, "...of Gren, I mean. I think that's why she likes you so much...."

"Huh...?!" Kazon's brow arched slightly. "..'likes me'...?!"

Kei saw this clueless expression on his face and couldn't help but to giggle a little. "Ah, well, I got some stuff I need to fix on the Kreeper. Bob sent me out a few days ago and brought back a few things from you house that you might need later. like armor and such."

"How did you find out were I lived...?"

Kei grinned and winked at him, "Bob's a pretty resourceful little guy, yanno." She waved to him, turned to the door and started to leave, but she turned around and looked back to him. "Oh, and Kaz...? Umm...I know you want to pay Zeiram and that Kross guy back for what they did, so I understand if you want to leave and all....but please, at least tell Iria first...? Promise me...'k?"

Kazon slowly looked away from the girl and over his shoulder to Iria... then nodded slightly. Kei kept an eye on him for a few seconds before turning back towards the door as it slid open and quietly exited...

"You don't know how much they've done to me, kid..." he said softly, watching Iria closely, still wondering why someone would take the time as she did to take care of him.

Kazon turned around again and his eyes fell to the floor. He sat there and ran a hand through his still damp hair for a moment contemplating everything that has happened. All this information coming and returning to him in such a short amount of time, all of his thoughts jumbled into one huge mass of confusion....and maybe he was changing as well. He didn't notice it at the time, but he just opened up to Kei, even if it wasn't all that much. Kazon shook his head slowly as he stood up from the bed slowly, grabbing the towel he had brought with him and made his way to the door.

...but little did the Hunter know that Iria, whom he thought was sound asleep behind him with her back turned to him, wasn't asleep at all. She lay still on the carpet floor and with her eyes wide open, as if she had been awake for a while. As she heard Kazon leave the room, she sat up straight, and looked over to the door. She had heard nearly all of Kei and Kazon's conversation, but she remained silent the whole time so that they wouldn't find her out. She glanced over to the old picture of her and Gren beside her bed and began to speak softly...

"...I'm sure I can find out...Kazon..."

*****

"So far, there have been no reports of anyone seeing Tedan Tippedai President Puttubayh, nor the Vice-president Kross Tsutomegi," a male reporter on the television said solemnly. Fujikuro, Bob, and Kei watched on. It was around mid-day now. "However, all leads seem to point out the Bachnia Center, a top secret science facility located outside of Myce City and is owned and operated by the Tedan Tippedai Corporation..."

"Not very top-secret anymore, now is it?" Kei added her own bit of info into the report.

"...Administration and Gounbak have tried to contact the center for the past 3 days now, but as received no response. Satalite surveillance shows signs of an unworldly growth engulfing the building exterior, as well as an increased number of Zeiramoid creatures roaming the secluded area around it. The image strikingly resembles that of the Tanjenkanbaran Construction Site in which the interplanetary being known as 'Zeiram' took over one year ago. Although no contact has been made with the troop squadrons and science teams from inside, Puttubayh, the Vice-president, and a new Zeiram-like creature have been rumored to be inside. Administration may be planning a type of 'invasion' of the Bachnia Center, and could very well begin mobilizing its troops and sending them into the building to see what exactly is causing this--"

Fujikuro had heard enough. "Those guys have no idea what they're getting themselves into...you'd think they would've learned the first time..!"

"Zeiram is assimilating them..." Bob said in a soft voice as his AI image spun around on its screen. "...the scientist that were already in the building that is..."

"Huh?" Kei's brow arched slightly. "What do you mean? The clone can do that too?"

"Think about it," Bob went on, "the original Zeiram Unit had to assimilate victims in order to survive, and those victims become the naturally created Zeiramoids. Why should the BETA Unit be any different? It would also explain why the Zeiramoid numbers are increasing and why no contact has been made with the center."

"Tch, yeah...I guess Zeiramoids don't know how to pick up a phone," Fujikuro added, then he had a quizative look on his face. "Hey, Bob...you think it's very safe for a clone to be making clones? What if something in the whole genetic crap of the new Zeiram is missing or...or...well, you know--?!" Fujikuro wasn’t much of a scientist so it seemed...

"Who knows..." Bob answered. "All we know is that Kross said BETA was stronger than the original Zeiram...."

"But what if there was a flaw in its production...?" asked an approaching Iria, emerging from her bedroom and gaining everyone's attention. She was still wearing her pajamas. "What if a part of it was missing? Then it might be a weak point. Dr. Touka told me that you couldn’t clone something that's already dead right? Maybe they did find a way to clone a copy from a dead Zeiram, but then again, maybe something could have been left out because of it?"

"That could very well be the case," Bob continued, "but like Dr. Touka also told you, it's dangerous to assume anything, at least not right now. We'll come up with something, just give it some time...."

Iria and the others simply nodded and the group fell silent. Iria looked around for a moment then looked over to Bob's screen.

"Bob, where is Hunter Locke...?" she asked.

“The last time I saw him, he was outside messing around with those two swords of his...” Fujikuro butted in. “He didn’t say anything before hand either, he just walked out. The guy gives me the creeps...”

"Iria..." Bob with a sigh, "...if you're planning on doing what I think you're going to do..." he stopped himself. "Just leave him be for now..."

“Sorry Bob, but there is just a few things that I want to know and I want to hear it straight from him...”

"Persistent, ain't she....?" Fujikuro whispered to Kei silently. Kei looked at him and nodded slightly.

"And besides, he's supposed to tell me when he leaves before hand..." she turned to Kei with her hands on her hip, flashing a sly grin. "Isn't that right, Kei...?"

"Eeep!!" Kei yelped in surprise, "Y-y-y-you heard that...?!"

Iria laughed softly as she walked by the girl on her way to the elevator that was in the room. Iria patted Kei on the head. "Don't sweat it kid." She turned around once she was in the elevator and pressed a button. "I'll be right back guys." Then the elevator began to hum and she descended out of view.

Fujikuro glanced over to Kei with his arms crossed and with a stern look on his face. Kei just chuckled nervously and shrugged...

*********************

Author's Notes:

Cliffhanger-esqe, but this thing was getting a wee bit long so I decided to cut it off at a point. Besides, the next couple of scene will be worth the wait anyways! As for this episode....I don't really like they way parts of it turned out. The scene with Kaz, Ouspi, and Gren, however, was very fun for me to write. (Just because Gren kicks ass....). Also, I kinda like the way I've made Kaz open up a little bit more in this episode. It helps bridge the gap between the cold, hard Kazon and the Kazon that you're gonna see in the next episode...heh heh. Read on to find out what happens next!

NEXT TIME!!:

Iria meets up with Kazon outside under the burning sun, looking for answers. Kazon is reluctant as usual, but can Iria bring out a new side of Kaz that has yet to be seen? Find out in the next episode of IRIA: TSoS Episode 9: ‘The Soul of Silence’! (Hey, with an episode bearing the same name as the title, it HAS to be good, right? LoL)