Rebels
---------------------
The fact that people are also animals is a truth that is commonly pushed
aside. The only thing that sets us apart from other species is our petty
culture, language, social rules, and technology. But this is only a mask to
cover up the primal instincts that human beings try to hide. In
order to be ‘different.’ We would not be able to accept that we are as
‘base’ and ‘archaic’ as those creatures that live beyond the boundaries of our
sterile homes. But we are. We are the same, both in dreams and nature. And one
way or another, these instincts arise from the human heart and take control of
their host, sending the rider on a neverending
rollercoaster into an oblivion of passion and
insanity.
No animal wants to be repressed, captured, controlled, exterminated.
And like all other species of animal, humans fight among themselves. The rich,
the ones that are chosen by Darwin’s theory to succeed above the weak, abuse
their power and milk the resources of the lesser people to further their own
goals. The ‘others’ react to such brutality with violence, an instinct that
tells them that such repression is unnatrual. That
freedom is more important than any amount of wealth or power. More important than life itself.
Human beings are no different.
...
“I am god's child
abandoned to this corrupt world
How do I live on such a field?
I wasn't born for such a purpose.”
--- Onitsuka Chihiro, “Gekkou”
...
...
...
...
...
“Shortcut my ass....”
“Shut up, Double!!!!”
Double steeled his annoyed profile forward as Yoshime gave him a glare
that was now routine.
“Since YOU have an internal power generator, you don’t get tired,” said
Yoshime. “But I do! So I want to take this shortcut, it’ll take us out of the
city in half the time!”
Double rolled his eyes.
“I still say it’s a bad idea,” he grumbled. “I doubt the police could
keep up with us at the pace you’re setting... the lazy fools. Nothing to worry about. Even if they catch up, surely I can
overpower a couple of rookies like them. Besides, none of the data in my files
even covers this area. Perfect place for an ambush.”
“You’re just paranoid!” said Yoshime, turning her eyes upward and pouting
childishly.
Meanwhile, Edge trotted behind the both of them, not knowing whether he
should take sides or keep his hands out of the fire. He glanced up dreamily at
the surrounding neighborhood that they had been walking through as the two of
him continued to bicker. The buildings here weren’t nearly as massive as the
skyscrapers of the city, but they managed to be just as degraded, if not more
so. In fact, the whole area seemed to reek of some spreading infection of
poverty. Yet, there were more signs of population in the last three blocks then
there had been in miles of the former metropolis district. A rotting air of
decay suddenly seemed to permeate the area, though both Yoshime and Double
seemed to be oblivious to its presence.
The sun became blotted out as the long shadows of dark buildings streaked
across the barren fields of broken concrete. A moist atmosphere enveloped the
group, and Edge suddenly became aware of small puddles of water beneath his
feet. Double looked up from his conversation, his attention diverted in streams
of dangerous caution. In seconds, the assassin became fully aware of the
surrounding environment to which he was oblivious only moments ago.
“What is this place?” said Double as his senses suddenly became alert,
prickling with an eerie sensation of jeopardy. Why was this so familiar? Why
did he seem to remember all of it?
Memories flooded through his mind in waves, a torrent of violent
reminders from his past. An order placed long ago from his employers, an
uprising in the vicinity, eliminate their leader, destroy
him. He had fought bitterly, as he had been ordered to. And yet a hidden
animosity had still remained. He never did complete that mission, had he? That
was one of few that he had ever failed, the leader had still lived...
“I don’t like this,” he said absently, his fingers twitching at his side.
Something from the past was here. He did not appreciate the nostalgia. “These
are the kinds of places where assassins lurk...”
“And how would you know?” said Yoshime, only to be reminded by Double’s curt glance that
he had once been hiding in the surrounding darkness himself.
The killer suddenly stopped in his tracks, crouching low in an
instinctive animal defense. The dark street stopped in a dead end about 150
meters ahead.
“What’s wrong?” asked Edge as he came up beside him, but Double didn’t
move. His stare was firmly placed on the dark path before him. Confused, Edge
tried doing the same, an interesting parody beside the face of serious
discharge.
“No,” said Double. “Use the tools that were given
to you, not your petty vision.”
Edge frowned as he relaxed his metallic joints and let his computer float
in the never-ending sea of information. Slowly, he noticed the infraction that
his partner had been focused on, but it was something more than just an error.
Looking closer, he saw a mysterious energy discharge that seemed to be subdued
beneath a cloaking field. Something very subtle, but
potentially disasterous. And there was more
than one. His face changed to a look of horror as the radar traced a dozen
moving targets. Two dozen. Three.
The targets stopped moving, a hundred gentle blips surrounding them on all
sides.
Edge took a step back in fear and let loose the reins of his power,
realizing the threat that stood before them. Electricity flowed between his
parted fingers and the air about him wavered in its frame. Double simply stood
his ground. Yoshime absently stared at them both, not understanding the danger
they were in.
Out of the corner of his eye, Edge watched Double’s
lips part to say something.
“Cavaliers,” said Double dryly.
Behind him, Yoshime gasped. Edge’s head spun with the word, but he
couldn’t seem to grasp its meaning.
“Rebels,” said Double. “A
group of renegades plaguing the Republic. Bonding together through
common cause, they formed a ruthless group against the government. They live with
only one purpose: to reinstate themselves in society by tearing down the lives
of others. Resistance is unacceptable.”
Edge stared at the fuming Double, as did a surprised Yoshime. The
assassin was tense, hands clenching into tight fists and searing eyes staring
vehemently into the surrounding shadows. Despite whatever alterations Yoshime
had made on Double, it seemed that he still inherently
carried a deep loyalty to his former employers, or at least a hatred towards
their enemies. And this infraction upon his beliefs carried him into a personal
vendetta, the mercury in his body shifting as he prepared to fight.
Edge blinked for a moment. Double had a corazon
chip. Were his feelings now a result of that device? But how could the assassin
become so passionately driven towards his dreams when he himself felt nothing?
They were the same inside, the sick and twisted products of a mass corporation
killer. Logically, they should be equal. But they weren’t. Did this mean that
he was an inferior…?
The street suddenly came to life, lights suddenly blared down from above
as a blur of movements filled the shady streets. Nothing touched him just yet,
but he still felt the rush of air as figures bustled all around. He and Double
moved to protect Yoshime, and the lights from above suddenly dimmed. New bulbs
shone from either end of the street. Double whirled about angrily, eyes
shooting daggers of unrivaled heat.
“Damnit!” he hissed. “It’s a trap!”
A man stepped forward from the massive crowd, a silhouette in the light,
nothing more than a ghost walking on air. His tall figure stopped a hundred
meters from Double’s crouched figure, holding pride and posture. The man
snickered loudly.
“All new and ready to go,” he said softly, looking Double up and down.
Double simply stared at him, never loosing the powerful grasp he held with his
eyes. Edge watched as Double’s fingers slowly loosened, molding themselves into
sharp daggers to pierce through the persona’s heart. The man simply stood
there, sizing up his opponent. He made a short laugh as he turned around to
walk back, hands stuffed in his pockets as he reformed once more with the
collective entity.
“Government issue,” he mumbled.
And then the dark shapes suddenly swept in from all sides as the subtle
order took hold of the mob. Double moved between them with bizarrely erratic
agility, trying to sink his raw blade into the flesh of the one who had taunted
him. Bemused at the suddenly explosion of movement, Edge frantically tried to
get in position to protect the girl behind him, but he was already at a
disadvantage from the loss of his partner’s combat experience. The assassin was
too busy making a mad dash to the man who had already disappeared in the
shadows, and the cloaked figures went straight for him, little more than
distortions in the air that the young boy could barely see.
“Don’t walk away from me you bastard!!!!” shouted Double.
He brought his left arm around in a curved blade, only to have it blocked by a
rebel who had suddenly dropped in front of him.
Failure.
That pounded so hard into his head, imprinted so deeply into his worst
memories so that he could never turn away from its dominating face. Want. Wish.
Desire. Sometimes he wanted so badly to win that he
forgot about everything else. He forgot what was important to others and himself. What had Edge done to him? He had released him from
the bonds that tied him down, allowed him to finally be free of petty orders.
But this thing remained, his sole shame. Despite
everything, there was still pride in the work he had accomplished, a solace in
knowing that no matter how horrible his job might have been, he was the most
skilled of his profession. Except for this. He had
been eluded in the heat of battle, deprived of his fullest fulfillment. And now
it was the only thing that seemed to keep him back from total freedom…
He couldn’t think straight. He saw that man of shadows again but this
time the face was clear. Long hair, glasses, the stolid face.
A government profile of the Cavalier leader. An artificial hate infused for
complete and utter prejudice. Without that singular death, he could not be
whole…
He followed...
Silent Jealousy.
“Goddamnit!!!”
He greeted the approaching shadows with his mounting desperation, his
right arm cleanly severing a man’s head from his dark body in a fountain of
blood.
...
...
She watched patiently from the shadows. It was better if the others could
win the battle themselves. It tended to raise the overall morale. That was only
too important to who they were and what they fought for.
Her sensors quickly scanned over the intruders, picking out the strengths
and weaknesses of her targets. The blood red mecha
had already established himself as the main threat of
the group. His violent nature and high level of fighting skill indicated that
he was government trained, assassin techniques too. Yet those types were
crafted for the purpose of espionage and disposal of the individual, not melee
warfare. In time, he would fall to their numbers. As for the others, the girl
was nothing. A normal human with abnormal wave outputs, but
hardly enough to face the battalions before her.
But the last mecha- the green haired one- his
powers were far beyond the limits of the other two if her readings were any
indications. She could see the invisible ripples of energy oscillate outwards
in slow circles from his being, the landscape shuddering before his very
presence. Did he even realize the magnitude of the gravitational fluxuations he was emitting? She shivered at the thought.
Gravity powered government issues were considered a fierce threat in the Rebel
forces, the comprised dream of the perfect soldier for those who were raised
properly. There had only been two other mecha
assigned with those types of powers, and both times the Rebels had gone to
extensive lengths to infiltrate government facilities and eliminate them while
they were still in their prototype testing stage. Thousands of good men and
women sacrificed their lives for the benefit of others. Those powers were too
powerful to keep. But this mecha was different. He
was obviously unexperienced in his ability and the
blows he struck were not fatal. Why? Surely the government would not send off
such a prize without the knowledge to fully implement its skills on the
battlefield. Were these really government agents posing as civilians or had
they made a dire mistake?
There was a constant. The last mecha was
different. He almost acted naive as he helplessly tried to harness a power he
did not understand.
She would fight, but only if she had to.
...
...
Edge had never lashed out his powers with such brutality, but it was the
only thing he could do to fully protect Yoshime. He swung his right arm around
towards a line of approaching rebels, releasing a sudden wave of energy that
cut them short of their goal. Chunks of earth flew into the air as broken
concrete shattered into a hail of shrapnel that blinded his vision. His sensors
suddenly flashed a warning, and he spun about to find an intruder aiming his
rifle at Yoshime.
Yoshime...
Blinded by abrupt rage, Edge swung his hand upwards as his slicing palm
cut through the atmosphere with a searing hiss, releasing a vertical blade of
gravitational void that rendered his target in two. It took him a moment to
realize what he had done. The ruptured body did not simply disappear as it
split apart down the middle, blood and entrails slithering out as he looked on
in horror.
Such brutality. Why was he capable of such a thing?
He stared at the bloodied halves as they floated listlessly to the
ground, nothing to cover up the murder he had committed. He had killed a man, a
human being. He had cut loose the string of life that had supported the frail
puppet before him, destroying chance, possibility, and future. What did that
make him? He stared at his hand momentarily, caught in his own world of
self-consciousness. He had done it according to his primary goal, programming
installed to be called upon as instinct. But did the lives of others justify
his petty order?
He had watched Yoshime weep over the corpses of her deceased friends. He
wondered who would cry over that dead man’s body…
A rain of bullets narrowly missed his head and Edge snapped back to
reality, forcing himself into a low crouch as he rolled. Double’s brief
training was beginning to pay off, but Edge’s power levels had already dropped
dangerously low. And from so little at that. Even if
he received another chance, would he be able to kill with such thoughtlessness
again?
If things kept up like this, they would all be dead.
...
“DIE!!!”
Double’s roar of anger cut as clearly through the air as his blades did
through the rebels. He didn’t even look human anymore amongst the masses of
human bodies he flung aside. His body had turned into a distorted pot of
churning mercury, spinning madly, whipping out red and silver blurs that
retracted back into the core covered in crimson liquid, spitting them out again
to draw fresh sustenance. He was growing tired of dealing with grunts. Something
deep inside of him was screaming....
The government’s little ploy, a game really. In each and every soldier was programmed with a
special memory that dominated every other bit of data that entered the mind of
the heart. A semblance of destructive hatred in order to maintain the loyalty
of a single alliance. An unwanted retrospection of a profile
and a horrendous act. Every soul was born in innocence, wasn’t it? Thus,
they turned about the newborn soldiers in their own ignorance to make them do
the bidding of the devil…
...
An act of injustice... a killing... a need for
revenge.
Something that fed off the corazon
chip?
He saw him clearly now, the one who had stepped forth and then walked
away as if the matter did not concern him. That man, sono otoku. He’s the one who commanded the
death... no, the murder of ...
..................
........
.....
...
..
.
.
.
Revenge.
That was it...wasn’t it? Revenge...
Double’s insanity tore through the sky as his body was pumped full of
desperation and malevolence. In a mass of whirling blades, he escaped the
mountain of bodies and leapt high into the heavens, riding the updrafts of the
cool night air. He spotted the same wrath he had seen earlier, a still figure
wearing glasses, standing silently behind his masses of loyal followers,
watching the scene with interest sparkling in his eyes. His eyes followed Double’s
as the assassin ascended high above, watching him dive back towards the ground
in maddening aberration, down towards him. Irises diluted into mere dots, and
the mislead child pulled his wicked scythe back to take the life of the object
of his greatest loathing.
‘I’ll kill you.’
...
‘Now,’ was the thought that came to mind. Yashiro
was in serious danger. She knew he enjoyed experiencing the heat of battle for
the sake of himself and his followers, but government-type mecha
were far out of his league. That was her category.
A loosening of the sheaths on her back and a single-bladed sword came
loose. The metal melted into pure energy as her chi began to flow through the
blade. Katana held in the left hand, she was gone with a sudden wind, and then the
darkness was suddenly very still.
...
...the fierce rush of death flew forward as the flowing blade fell
towards its target...
***
Double’s arm was mere inches from the man’s face, blocked by a shinning blade
of light in a shower of sparks. The hand holding the noble sword led up to the
lightly illuminated face of a blue haired girl, her lengthy ponytail swaying
down to her feet like a cape in the breeze. Her face held years of burden
behind her eyes, but also a handsome beauty that perfectly exemplified her
power and confidence. It was marred only by the long scar on the left side of
her face, a horrible gash that cleaved from the top of her brow to the bottom
of her chin.
The cloth on her white shoulderpads rustled as
she expertly flicked her wrist about and knocked back Double’s
reaper, the metal on her gauntlets glinting ferociously in the waning light.
Upon witnessing her expert strength and speed, the assassin abruptly became
aware of his opponent’s classification.
“What?” said Double. “An android?!” The blue haired girl was already in motion.
She stepped in front of the man, her back turned towards him as she blocked the
way to the killer’s goal. Her whole body suddenly whipped towards him as she
lashed out with a twisting roundhouse to Double’s
face. Double felt himself fly backwards from the impact and shifted his
molecular structure to catch the friction of the ground beneath him.
“Damnit---!” he shouted, and his right arm
suddenly burst into gleaming spikes as his feet caught pavement. The fire still
lingered, the horrible pain that echoed throughout his head. Unfortunately, he
was given no time to contemplate the meaning of his unexplained malice. The
blue haired girl was already inches from his face when he looked up, her face
as cold as stone. Her sword thrusted
up from the ground and through Double’s chest with ease.
“Gu---” Double managed to sputter out as he
felt the gleaming blade retract from his breast. The anger pent up in his soul
burned like an inferno.
...
...
“DOUBLE!!!”
Edge heard Yoshime’s cry from behind him, but
he didn’t see it until it was too late. The assassin’s eyes slowly glazed over
as the young boy watched the glowing energy sword withdraw from Double’s
midsection. Burning fear rushed through his veins. They were cornered, no way
out, he had to protect Yoshime.
No way out.
“GUUUAAAAAAA!!!”
The insane roar of defiance accompanied a powerful gravity wave that
plastered the remaining attackers into the walls of the crumbling compartments
around them. Electricity crackled loudly in the air as Edge hunched over like
an animal, his body shaking with uncontrollable passion. Desperation.
They were loosing. He was loosing. The thought of the poor fool he had
slaughtered flew free from his consciousness, the burden no longer resting on
his morale. He had one purpose now; survival. At any cost.
Yoshime could only watch in fear as the poor young boy she had rescued
from the junkyard slowly accepted the ecstasy that consumed him.
...
The blue haired girl stepped away from Double’s body, drawing a second
katana that erupted in a blue hum of plasma. Nervously, she eyed her new rival
with a questioning glance. Edge mere stared back with vacant globes as he
shifted his weight beneath him, fueling his depraved body solely on rage.
“What the hell is this...” muttered the girl, and shifted her stance to a
defensive position. Her swords moved before her face as Edge’s eyes seemed to
pierce straight through the back of her skull. A
transformation. No longer did the gravity-wielder hold the semblance of
an inexperience rookie. She could feel the gravitational pulses pound out from
his generator, the vacuum tears in space threatening to rip apart her armor.
The sheer intensity was both breathtaking and frightening. If she was to fight
this one, she would have to dispatch him quickly. The first pass,
that would be the most important.
“... bakemonome.” (“...
monster.”)
However, she didn’t have to do a thing. Edge’s concentration suddenly
strained, and then he came to his senses, wobbling from side to side on unsure
feet. The rush was gone. He felt the drain in his system, his power levels
dangerously low. Numbness filled his body as he craned his neck upward. The
mysterious woman’s shadow blotted out the small amount of light that peaked
into the alleyway, and then she was gone. Edge whirled about to meet her, but
the hilt of her katana stopped him before he was a fourth of the way there. He
reeled from the impact and wildly swung his arm about as he uncontrollably
released huge surges of gravitational distortion, churning up the ground in
violent waves that ripped trails of concrete dozens of feet high.
...
‘Why did he hesitate?’ thought the girl.
For a moment, there had existed a sheer second in time in which she
would have predicted her own easy defeat. But that was sucked into the past;
the fighter before her was as incompetent as he was crazed. None of it added up
to the conspiracy that she had presumed the trespassers were involved in…
...
Edge slammed his fist on the ground, sending a seismic shockwave rippling
towards his opponent. The girl simply leapt over it, her feet easily leaping up
twenty feet into the air, her left arm cocked back with shining blade in hand.
Time slowed as Edge watched her arm swing about in full arc, aimed to sever
Edge’s head from his neck.
“Stop it!!!” shouted out Yoshime. “Please stop!”
Edge had not even been aware of her actions during the scuffle, but now
she threw herself between them in a reckless act to protect him.
“No---!” said Edge, and he roughly pushed Yoshime aside as the blade
neared his head. Not enough power and not enough time to counter the action.
All he could do now was wait for his impending doom.
...
***Power failure. ***Standby mode.
The blade stopped a paper’s width from Edge’s face, but he didn’t notice.
His eyes had glazed over, his body motionless, helpless. Yoshime rushed to his
figure frantically and glared angrily at the blue haired woman. The rebel said
nothing.
A sudden spark and loud screech rebounded off the silent walls as Double
shot up from the darkness, knocking the girl’s blade to the sky and away from
Edge’s face. He stared at her defiantly, stepping directly in her way. Again,
she kept her mouth closed, simply observing the whole scene in silent thought.
What should she do? The assassin was unaffected by her blow. A
morph-type. He would be difficult to deal with if she allowed the fight
to continue. The gravity user was subdued for the time being,
but were they really government agents? The prototype had sacrificed his
safety for the sake of his companion and it was highly unlikely that the girl-
in her apparent poverty- was or would like to be associated with the local
authority. Most likely, they were innocents in the midst of the catastrophe.
The glow faded from her swords as she slid them back in their sheaths. Rebel soldiers quickly crowded around the quartet with loaded
firearms, awaiting orders. The woman turned toward her teammates.
“Leave them be,” she said bluntly. “They aren’t spies. We made a mistake
and we shall tend to their casualties who fell as our consequence.”
She began to walk off, and the rebels moved to transport Edge’s fallen
body. Double stood adamantly between them.
“What makes you think we’re going with you?” he growled. His hands were
balled into tight fists, his jaw angrily set in place. “I should kill you for
everything you’ve done.”
The blue haired girl turned back to the small group.
“Do you want your friend to be recovered by government officials while
he’s recharging?” she said, and turned back to her steady walk. She paused for
a moment besides Yoshime, bending over just a bit to reach her ear level. “If
you expect to have your friend repaired in our facilities, I would suggest
erasing the anti-rebel actions in your associate’s system. It might help the
negotiations a bit.” Double stared at the two for a brief moment, then cursed
under his breath, pushing aside the other rebels as he slung Edge’s arm over
his shoulder and began to follow them.
…
…
…
***Power level 55%. ***Reactivating. ***Minimal energy expenditure recommended.
…
Edge regained his consciousness lying on a hard table, the loud hum of a
generator wavering in the distance. The blue haired girl danced lazily in his
line of vision as his sensors adjusted themselves, but he knew his power levels
rendered him completely helpless before her merciful grace. He awaited an
attack, but the girl only stuck out her hand to help stand.
“I’m afraid we made a mistake,” she said. “We thought you may have been
government agents sent to eliminate us. Apparently, we were far from the
truth.” Edge took the hand in confusion and pulled himself up. He suddenly
realized that Yoshime and Double were right beside him. Yoshime was smiling,
but Double simply scowled, staring off into space.
“We were worried about you,” said Yoshime.
“This is all some sort of trick….” muttered Double, still somewhat
confused from the recent reprogramming. The blue hair girl chose to ignore the
comment.
“Welcome to the home of our rebel group,” she said. “I’m Kouryuu. Your friend, Yoshime, told me your name was Edge.”
Edge nodded dreamily, still somewhat unaware of what was happening, but Kouryuu seemed to read his mind. “Our group stands against
the West Newport Human Republic, which has done little more than exploit the lower
classes of society and push them into poverty. They
would not listen to our protests, so we have found different ways of expressing
ourselves.” Edge simply nodded again, his sensors becoming clearer by the
second. He was still not sure what to make of the situation. Yoshime came over
and held him by the arm.
“Don’t worry,” she said,. “We can trust them. I personally
know how badly the WNHR treats its citizens. They’re fighting for a good cause.
After all, they did restore your power.”
“Yeah...” said Edge in a haze, and turned to Double. The assassin simply
sneered.
“It could be just another rebel trick,” he said under his breath. “I’ve
seen some of this stuff before---”
Double cut himself off as a man, the same man whom Double
had tried so savagely to kill, walked into the room. He was a bit shorter than
the girl and wore a pair of dark shades over his cold eyes. His sturdy figure
was hidden beneath a layer of baggy traveler’s clothing, but his posture was
all the strength and experience of a warrior who had seen and lived through the
worst tragedies.
“Yashiro,” said Kouyuu to the newcomer. “The unit
has reactivated itself. What shall we do now?”
Yashiro stared at Edge for a brief moment, shrewd stare examining the
subject with expert judgment before turning back to Kouryuu.
“They may leave whenever they want,” he said, already heading toward the
exit. “But if it pleases them, they may rest here for the time being to recoup
their losses.”
He closed the door with a swift silence that was almost disturbing.
Yoshime immediately began to protest.
“We can’t stay!” she said. “The government’s following us and we’ll just
bring their soldiers down on you! Now that Edge is powered up again, I’m sure
we’ll do fine. We don’t want to trouble you.”
Kouyuu smiled and let out a good-hearted laugh.
“Don’t worry about the government,” she said. “As long as we’re in this
underground base, they’ll never find us.” Kouryuu
glanced at Edge. “And you in particular should be more concerned about yourself
than others.”
Edge blinked in confusion.
“Me?” he said meekly, playing with his hands in nervous amusement.
Kouryuu nodded.
“Yes, you.,” she said. “Your form on the
battlefield was horrible. A government grunt could have taken you out.”
Edge shied away and Yoshime swore she could almost see him blushing from
embarrassment.
“But…” stuttered Edge. “I... I don’t really know how to use my powers
yet…” It was true enough, he hardly even understood
the method with which he wielded his greatest weapon.
Kouryuu smiled at him, and gently laid her gauntleted hand on his.
“Don’t worry,” she said reassuringly. “Stay here for a while, and I’ll
give you some training myself. It’ll be the least I can do after we accidentally
attacked your group.”
Edge’s face lit up as he looked up at Kouryuu.
“Really?” he said, and she nodded, patting Edge lightly on the shoulder.
Behind them, Double let off a loud snicker, but was
cut short when Yoshime kicked him in the shin.
“It’s probably just another trick,” he mumbled the assassin, rubbing his
leg in annoyance.
…
…
...
Several hours earlier, just as Kouryuu arrived
back at the rebel base after her confrontation with Edge and Double, Yashiro
had called her to his office. The crimson mech who had
flatlined during the fight had gravity powers, or so
her superior observed. Kouryuu stiffened in
discomfort. It still disturbed her how Yashiro, a normal human, could pick out
such minute, complicated details with the same efficiency of her computer. He didn’t
seem to notice her unease as he rambled on.
“Gravity mecha are made with only one purpose
in mind,” he had said. Kouryuu had simply nodded in
understanding. She knew what grisly job they were assigned to do, but she swept
the ugly thought out of her mind as she tried to focus on the rest of Yashiro’s
words.
“He’s not under government control, so perhaps we can sway him to our
side. I want you to keep a close eye on this ‘Edge’ at all costs. He’s too
valuable to let go. You made a good decision to spare him.”
Kouryuu had simply nodded.
“But if he loses it, if even one byte of his old commands float back up
into his mind, kill him.”
Kouryuu had simply nodded.
…
…
…
…
…
“Yes, Toy-sama.”
Yujin bowed before Toy’s throne, never once looking up at the figure hidden in
the shadows.
“I have come as you requested.”
“I think it’s time I ran a little test on the Edge unit,” said Toy. That
program interruption from the other day still clawed in the back of his head,
but he tried to ignore its negative insinuations. “He’s developed himself well
enough for a fight. I want you, Vomisa, and Yuusuke to attack him. Test his abilities. Nothing more
though, I may have use of him later on.”
He paused, pondering the variables that would impede his experiment.
“Feel free to deal with the other units as you wish,” he said after a
moment. “I have no use for them.”
“Yes, Toy-sama,” said Yujin
as he stood, gathering his cape about him as he prepared to leave.
“One more thing, Yujin,” said Toy.
The general stopped in his retreat and cast a cautious glance back at his
horrible master.
“No slaughtering of the humans, even the rebels. That’s not your
priority. You’ll answer to me if you make any more ‘mistakes.’”
A slight grin that had spread out across Yujin’s
face quickly erased itself, and the general silently nodded. A small sparkle of
blue energy and he was gone.
Toy rested back in his chair as he waited for the upcoming results. Soon,
he would know everything he needed to know about the renegade. Perhaps that
would tell him the direction in which the future was heading.
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End “Rebels"