Unmei Force: Encoded Memory (Arc 2.5)
Prologue: Teleporters and Kuro.
A/N: Under the request of David Ishihara and the other authors in the Dimensional Heroes fandom, I have started on the side-story of Brave Adventurers' Travels: Cyber Sleuth, Hacker's Memory, since Cyber Sleuth and Hacker's Memories are basically on the same timeline, on different perspectives. This counts as a interlude before Encounters, as the first time the heroes will encounter the Dimensional Heroes, but they will never truly meet each other, only Richard would be aware of the fact. How? Wait until the story is complete, and read on to find out...
P.S: Assume that the attire of the Unmei Force members who are involved are in their attire when they were in Trillion: God of Destruction, or Roots in story terms. Even Antonio is the same, except he's wearing some light blue jeans to compensate for his need of lower clothing in human form. But you'll see why that doesn't matter much in the story...
In the Unmei Force's aerial fortress, at the newly constructed transfer room...
Richard entered the room, with Gus, Elma, Reimu, Sanae, and a young boy with short blue hair, dressed in the same attire that Antonio had before, with the addition of some light blue jeans on his lower half, following him, as they all entered through a automated door, as it took them inside the room, which were filled with control panels and systems, as there were kappa engineers and some prodigious humanoid youkai operating on them, and there were futuristic teleporters linked to the back of the room, as there were reinforced energy cables sticking out of them, as the transfer pads were glowing a rainbow colour with some flashing.
As they looked around, marvelling at the organised state of the room, they were soon interrupted by the sight of their most intelligent and excelled engineer and researcher, Nitori Kawashiro, walking towards them. She was a short girl with blue hair tied into twintails and aqua-blue eyes that sparkled under the light. She has traded her casual attire for one befitting her role, as she was dressed in a light-blue researcher coat, as her trademark beret, backpack and spanner were right where they were, in her head, back and hands respectively, as well as her treasured key-shaped pendant around her neck. She was a kappa who was considered to be a savant among geniuses, and had no limits in researching the unknown.
"Hey hey, Richard! How do you like this place? I thought of it with the rest of the researchers here!" Nitori cheerfully called out, before she then smiled and puffed her chest out with some pride. "From now on, you won't have to waste your magic on trying to open the way for everyone to the other worlds. After all, as friends, it's my duty to relieve as much burden as I can. And I'm glad to see that Antonio's doing quite well being transformed into a human."
"Well..." The blue-haired boy, who was Antonio, the hedgehog who was one of Richard's closest friends, said as he looked at his hand, clenching and opening it a few times as if he was testing his own control over his body. "I'm glad that I haven't lost any of my trademark speed that I have inherited from the Blue Flash himself. After all, I can't disappoint father, no?"
"I'm quite impressed you made this during the time that we were out in the Sengoku Basara world." Richard smiled kindly, as he pat Nitori on her head gently, ruffling the hat slightly. "You must really work fast with your co-workers, no?"
"Of course! You're supported by only the best of the kappa race here! We don't fail your expectations, even if they are astronomically high!" Nitori cheered back. "But I can't delay you all any further. You said that you have the perfect test of this?"
"Un." Gus replied back with a nod. "Elma is feeling a little home-sick, so we decided to check in on Zeabolos and the other Overlords. They must be worried sick about her, despite the fact that we have managed to limit her condition to be less life-threatening, and more of a minor inconvenience."
"Well, if we're going there. I want to have my moment to raid some more treasures with Mammon. And I can't wait to rub the new treasures I found in her face." Reimu said with a evil chuckle after her last statement.
"And I can't wait to tell Levia about how her little niece is doing. She'll be surprised when she hears that Elma is getting slowly stronger than her! Not that I want to trigger her scalding envy again, that is..." Sanae added.
"Then what are we waiting for, you fools? Let's test this stuff out. It's not like that you don't have me as a back-up plan for all of this, in case the teleporter goes boom from bad cabling, eh?"
The six laugh together, as they understand the joke, as Nitori lets out a wild laugh, as she then wipes the tears of laughter from her eyes.
"There's no way that something this stupid can happen. I've outsmarted Murphy's law quite a lot of times before." Nitori sniggered. "Come on, let's see my new invention at work here!"
As they stepped onto their individual pads, Nitori then walked over to the main console that operates the teleportation system, as she then initiated the process, as she did a few key-strokes, as the pads underneath the heroes glowed brighter and brighter, as the console screen shows that the preparations are going well.
Elma seemed to be a little nervous, as she was worried about the teleportation process itself, about how it would move her to her target location, as Richard noticed that.
"Don't worry, Elma." Richard assured her with a calm smile. "It'll be just a little jolt and shake, and you'll be instantly there. No complete darkness or bad feelings."
As Nitori then pressed the button to initiate the process, the teleportation pads then emitted rainbow-coloured rings from underneath the passengers, as it kept them still in the portal, to ensure that they won't accidentally move and cause a botched attempt.
"Alright! We're all set. Making transporation in 3... 2... 1-" Nitori was about to say, before there was a distorted and cracked voice reverberating through the room.
H-p M-..-..
"Huh? What in the name of Gensokyo is going on-" Nitori said, as she looked at her console, before it then sparked and crackled, as the screen turned from a optimal blue to a alert red, as it causes Nitori to jolt back with a loud surprised cry, while some of the panels and systems were shut down by a unknown source, as klaxons were heard from the room, causing the operators to panic, as they immediately worked to reverse the unknown problem immediately. This caused Elma to place her hands on her mouth in horror, as Antonio was left gaping in shock, and the others were merely surprised or scared by the events.
"Nitori, what the hell is going on-" Richard was going to ask, before there was a loud crash, as a energy pulse appeared under their feet, except the pulse was red and erratic, betraying the fact to the teleporter users that something is very wrong here.
P-ease... He-p me...!
"Nitori! Shut the thing down! I know that this isn't your fault, but we can't proceed like this!" Richard cried out frantically. "If you don't, who knows what is going to happen!"
"I'm TRYING!" Nitori shouted back desperately, as she got back to the console, which was filled with a chockful of system errors, as she immediately focused on correcting each and every one of them, only for two more to pop back up for each one she solved. "I don't know what the Makai is going on, but something causes a fatal system error here! We can't fix it fast enough, even with all of us here, before the problem happens!"
"Then SHUT THE DAMN THING DOWN! SHUT IT DOWN! NOW!" Richard yelled, as he was forced to stay still like the rest of his team, as trying to escape would make things worse on them.
"I can't! The system is refusing to take my commands!" Nitori replied, as the errors were beginning to settle down. "Just... A... Little... More..."
Suddenly, the words 'FORCED ACTIVATION PROTOCOL ACTIVATED' appeared in the screen right in her eyes, as she paled, as the coordinates were revealed to a entirely unknown set of numbers.
"No! NO!" Nitori cried, as the teleporter activated itself, as the sound of a countdown were heard, starting from 10.
"Hang on, everyone! This ride is about to get bumpy!" Antonio warned everyone, as the countdown reached zero, and there was a flash of light that engulfed the room.
Save me... Save everyone, I beg you!
When the light subsided, the teleporter room seemed to be unharmed, except for the damaged main console in front of Nitori, as well as some crashed system, that the technicians are trying to repair, as Nitori was left still, as she was aghast at the situation.
"What... What just happened? Why did this...?" Nitori asked herself.
My memories...
Important memories.
Happy times, sad times.
Regrettable times, fun times.
All the memories make me who I am.
It's not just me.
My parents, my brothers, my friends... The people dear to me.
Everyone has memories, and all those memories make the world what it is.
These memories are our stories.
Stories that exist on the boundary between the real world and cyberspace.
So tell me...
Do you have the will to see the truth that lies within the multitude of stories?
Please... Help us... Save both of our worlds...
There is not only one threat that caused all of this...
Inside Kowloon...
Richard groaned, as he woke up the cold hard light-blue holographic ground of the cyberspace district, as he opened his eyes, as he blinked it a few times, in order to clear his vision. He then sat up, as he clutched his head.
"Mother of god... Did anyone get the damn number of the truck that slammed into my head?" Richard muttered under his breath, as he looked around. "Strange... I don't recall our portal being connected to some sort of cyberspace... And it's quiet... Too quiet."
He then got up, as he looked around, as there were blue constructs made of holographic cubes everywhere, as well as some urban decorations, like a stop sign that was nearby him.
"Something about this place seems familiar... Have I seen this place before?" Richard asked himself, before he then heard some footsteps, as he immediately turned to the source.
He was met by the sight of a injured male BlackAgumon, which was a black bipedal mini-dinosaur, and a Dark Digimon, as the injured dragon limped its way to Richard, with a hateful look in his eyes.
"BlackAgumon?" Richard asked. "So this is Digimon then? And wait, why is this BlackAgumon injured? Could there be stronger Digimon nearby? I better ask him."
He then walked closer. "Hey, you okay or what? You look like you're battered-" Richard was about to ask, before the BlackAgumon then lunged at him, as Richard dodged backwards slightly, as he let out a surprised whoop.
"...I'll kill you... You won't get away with your companion injuring me like this..." The BlackAgumon wheezed, as he was limping towards Richard.
"Woah! Calm down!" Richard asked. "Companion? What are you talking about? I don't have any companions here!"
"...Liar... What about that human with Golemon..." The BlackAgumon coughed.
"Golemon...? Wait a minute..." Richard asked, before he then realised something 'This is the time where both Cyber Sleuth and Hacker's Memory occurs, and I'm smack-dab in the begnning events of it, where Keisuke is going after Youji Shiga!'
Richard then shook his head. "No. That is not my companion. In fact, he's the person I am exactly after." He answered back. "Now, can you stop menacing me? It's not like that I have any means of hurting you. And you're severely injured. It'll be a waste to try and chase after me to kill me so simply."
The BlackAgumon remained silent, before he then sat down on his bottom, as he sighed deeply.
"Great... Just great... First, I get abandoned and betrayed with the other Digimon, and then I get beaten by some human just because I'm Dark-Type..." The BlackAgumon sighed.
"Betrayed? Abandoned?" Richard asked, before he then made his seat next to the BlackAgumon. "I get that feeling a lot. And I had worse, but that doesn't mean you should hate everyone."
"Why... is that? How would you feel if you were considered evil just because you're a Dark-Type? I just wanted to live a normal life. It's not my fault that I was born and evolved like this..." The BlackAgumon said with a melancholic tone.
"Then don't let their words determine who you will be." Richard answered back, causing BlackAgumon to look at the boy with a surprised look. "If I were you, I couldn't goddamn care less what the others think of me. So what if I'm a Dark-Type? That doesn't stop me from doing what I want. It's not like you wanted to do evil, right?"
"No. I wouldn't, because I believe that evil is merely a concept, just like good is." The BlackAgumon denied the idea.
"Oh? Then we have more in common than we think, little black one." Richard smiled. "What's your name?"
"I'm BlackAgumon. That's the only name that I ever known." The BlackAgumon answered back.
"...That name won't stick. There's plenty of BlackAgumon, but there's one as unique as you. How about a nickname? Say... Kuro, then?" Richard asked back.
"That sounds nice. I'm actually feeling better that you're the first human I ever met that was nice to me in this form." Kuro answered back.
"Don't worry, Kuro." Richard replied back. "You and I seem to be two peas in a pod in enough ways to be considered survivors in the same matter. How about you stick with me? I'll keep you strong, so that you'll never be prejudiced, and you'll have someone who will always have your back? What say you, Kuro?"
Kuro remained silent, before he then reached his claw out for Richard to grasp. "I accept. I never asked for your name."
"Call me Richard. It's what you should call me." Richard said, as he took the hand, and shook it softly. "If you're going to be my pal, then you deserve my real name."
They then looked at each other, before Richard sighed. "But what about your condition? I don't exactly have anything to help those wounds. I don't have any HP Capsule, nor do I have the device to help apply them on you..."
"I have something for the former." Kuro answered back, as he pulled out some HP Capsule Cs, which were light red pills with a white heart on the top half of it. "But you're right. All I can do is rely on my natural recovery for now..."
"Yeah, that's a shame. Can't lose my pal after I just got to meet him, hey?' Richard joked, as he chuckled slightly, as Kuro is left smiling as well. "I'm serious though. Let's be careful now. I'll try to find my way out of here."
"You're not from the real world? The one where the other humans come from?" Kuro asked.
"Well, it's complicated. I am from the real world, just not this one. And I need to find my other companions." Richard answered back with a sheepish rub of the back of his head.
"Heh heh... That's a good Mon. I'll take reaaaalll good care of you, don't worry." A voice was heard faraway, causing Richard and Kuro to snap their heads in the direction of it.
"That voice... THAT VOICE! IT'S HIM!" Kuro roared with fury, before he then rushed towards the source of the voice, as he jumped and leaped across the constructs.
"Kuro, wait!" Richard was about to say, before the BlackAgumon was out of his sight, and he was left alone, as he noticed a side-path that would take him in the direction where Kuro was going. "Damn it... Did he not listen to me? He's too injured to fight properly!"
He then rushed through the path, as he passed by various In-Training Digimon, who ignored him due to their childish and ignorant nature, before he arrived at the spot where he saw Kuro was going to land in, which was a round pavillion, where he saw a pair consisting of a Agumon and Gabumon were being cornered by a shady man with a black vest, red T-shirt, and grey jeans, with slicked back orange-brown hair, as he was talking to a pair of other humans, one of them was a tall and muscular man in only a green sweater-vest, with a blue jacket tied around his waist, as well as grey army jeans, and grey hair that was styled to be short and slanted, and the other was a younger boy with short raven-black hair, and calm blue eyes, wearing a long blue hoodie with the hood behind his head and zipper open to show his white shirt, as well as a visor sitting squarely on the base of his neck.
"Take a look, you don't see programs like this around here. It's got to be a rare one." The shady man continued. "Do a good job, and I'll even let you have one."
The Agumon and Gabumon let out fearful cries, as the militaristic man whispers something to his partner, before the black-haired boy then spoke in a clear and demanding tone. "Let them go."
The Agumon and Gabumon seemed to be happy, as they take advantage of the shady man's shock at the answer, as the Gabumon then turns around and cries out 'Thanks a bunch' in a gruff but cute voice.
"Hey, what are you letting them run off for?" The man asked with a annoyed tone. "Damn, and I finally chased them down! Hey, you guys, get back her-" \
Suddenly, he then hears Kuro's screams of fury, as he turns around, and gets slashed in the face by Kuro who landed on the ground, which shocks the human duo. He then gets up, clutching the wounds made on his face, as Kuro growls with hostility. "You!? That defective program that I beat up!?"
"You're going to pay for what you did to me. I'm going to tear you to pieces!" Kuro roared.
"You little piece of pathetic coding, I'll make sure that I finish the job this time!" The shady man hissed, before he pulled out a small device that looked like a fairly symmetric mini-device. "Golemon!"
At his command, something materialised in front of the man from strings of coding '1's and '0's, as it formed a bulky humanoid creature made of yellow rock, with its limbs and joints bound by white string, red eyes, and a metal mask with a belt that covers the upper half of its face.
"Get rid of this eyesore for me!" The summoner commanded, as the Golemon roared, and swung its arms at Kuro.
"Kuro! DODGE!" Richard called out, as the Digimon acknowledged his command with a head-turn to Richard, and then back-pedalling to avoid the attack.
"Huh? Who the hell are you? Some newbie who got this piece of trash?" The man asked. "You made the grave mistake of crossing me, kid!"
"You're that Youji Shiga, the one who been terrorising Kowloon for these Digimon..." Richard replied back. "Even if I have to fight with a weakened Digimon who I just bonded with, I won't let you have your way, hacker!"
"You're in over your head! Golemon, destroy them both!" Youji ordered his Digimon, as it continued to attack them.
"You're not getting one over me again! Eat this! Pepper Breath!" Kuro shouted, as he fired off a blue fire-ball from his mouth that impacted with Golemon, causing the rock construct to groan in a low pitch, before it was knocked back a few steps.
"You're really getting on my nerves! Golemon, Sulfur Plume!" Youji commanded, as the golem then opened its mouth, firing off large heated balls of noxious gas at Kuro, who was dodging almost all of the attacks, until one of them impacted with Kuro, sending him flying into a lamppost, as he slid down with his wounds worsened.
"KURO!" Richard cried, before he then saw that Golemon was lifting its hand to attack him. "Oh, for the love of-"
Kuro managed to get himself up, as he managed to rush at Golemon, tackling it right at the centre of its torso, knocking it back, as Kuro panted heavily.
"This isn't good... If you take another hit like this, Kuro... You're going to be down for good..." Richard replied back.
"I know... But I can't just let you suffer for what I have done. After all, we're pals, aren't we?" Kuro asked with a grin.
"Kuro..." Richard answered back, touched by the Digimon's words.
Suddenly, the man dressed in a vest threw a device like the one in Youji's hand, as Richard managed to catch it.
"Take this Digivice with Digimon Capture. You're going to need it." The man spoke in a serious tone. "You can't do any more without it. And I assume that you might have found some HP Capsules to restore your new partner. Use them, he seems like he'll be able to fight without our aid."
"I... Thank you, whoever you are." Richard replied back with gratitude, as he internally felt joy. 'I owe you one for this, Ryuji Mishima.'
"What, you think that this rookie is going to bring me down? Don't make me laugh!" Youji mocked the man.
Richard immediately activated the Digimon Capture, as it showed him a menu panel with commands and options, as he immediately applied the HP Capsule C that Kuro gave him to the BlackAgumon, healing him of some injuries that disappears.
"Kuro! Don't try confronting his guy on the front! Circle around him and get on top of his head! He can't hit you from there with that attack of his!" Richard called out his strategy to Kuro.
"Got it!" Kuro shouted back, as he immediately uses his agility from his small body to get on top of Golemon's head, as the golem was left trying to sweep the BlackAgumon off his head, as he fired off Pepper Breath after Pepper Breath, until the Digimon was defeated, as it fell to the ground, dissolving into code.
"What... How could a defective Dark type Rookie beat my Golemon!?" Youji cried out in shock, as he staggered back a few steps.
Kuro then walked over to Richard, as Richard gave the BlackAgumon a claw-to-fist-bump with respect.
"Good job, Kuro." Richard complimented his partner. "You're not too bad, bringing down a Champion on your own."
"All thanks to you, Richard." Kuro said with a happy tone. "Thanks for keeping me alive there."
Soon, the man who threw Richard the Digimon Capture to him, walked towards Youji, as the shady character turned around, and jumped back with a fearful expression.
"Eeeek! Please, I beg you, don't destroy my account!" Youji begged.
"Don't worry... Our rookie, Keisuke has a bone he'd like to pick with you." The man spoke, as his partner walked over. "We'll discuss the fate of your account afterwards."
"You're the one who raided my account, didn't you!?" Keisuke replied, as he pounding his fist into his other hand in a threatening gesture.
"What are you talking about!? I don't have a clue who you are, man...!" Youji replied back, confused at Keisuke's accusation.
"Play dumb, and your account isn't the only thing we'll wreck." Keisuke's partner threatened with crossed arms.
"I'm telling the truth! I remember all the accounts that I raided, honest!" Youji pleaded. "Go on, take a look at my Digivice if you don't believe me!"
Youji then shoved his Digivice, as the man opened the control panel, as he navigated through the systems, before then closing the panel. "He's right. Doesn't look like your account is here."
He then handed Youji his Digivice back, as the orange-haired hacker merely smiled. "Heh heh, see? What did I tell you? Don't you see, I'm telling the truth. So let me go, will ya?"
"Absolutely not!" Richard roared, as he walked closer to Youji. "You're going to pay for taking the account of my friend!"
Youji doesn't even answer, as he shoves Richard to the ground, as he sprints off. "Too bad, so sad, chumps! See ya!" Youji taunted.
Before any of the three could try to intercept Youji, there was a loud grating sound, as a large orange spherical hole appears above the ground, as orange markings slowly appear, giving the portal a snail-like symbol, before a zebra-coloured cephalopod popped out of it, with with orange data markings on the edge of its tentacles, as well as bone plating in some parts of its main body, as well as a cybernetic red eye.
"Whoa! What in the!?" Youji exclaimed, as the mysterious creature appeared in front of him.
"Is that... a Digimon? No... it's not!" The militaristic man spoke.
Kuro remained silent, as he stared at the squid-like creature, as his eyes were widened with shock, as if he knew what the beast was.
Suddenly, the monster then jumped onto Youji, as it fell on top of him, while making strange grinding and sucking sounds, as Youji seems to be distressed by what is happening.
"UWWAAAAHHH! Save me!" Youji squealed.
"That thing looks dangerous... We'd better get out of here!" The man spoke, as he immediately sprinted away from Youji and the squid.
"But we have to help-" Keisuke was about to say, before Richard then grabbed Keisuke, dragging him by the shoulder.
"Screw him! That bastard gets what's coming for him!" Richard shouted. "Asshole ruined so many lives, about time he gets his messed up by someone else! Besides, I don't think this thing is controlled by anyone, so I rather not be its next target when its done with the one under it!"
"Wait! You've got to be kidding me! Don't leave me behind!" Youji screamed, before he then disappeared from both Keisuke's and Richard's sights, as there was a loud buzzing sound, as well as Youji's crazed cry of pain and agony.
They soon arrive at the entrance to Kowloon, which was indicated by a green server transfer pad on the end of the path, as the surviving trio were left trying to catch their breath.
"We should be safe this far away..." The tall man spoke, turning to Richard. "Who are you? And how did you wander into Kowloon without even a Digivice? You're lucky that you managed to bond with that BlackAgumon, and the fact that I have a spare Digivice for you to use."
"Name's... Name's Richard Lin." Richard answered back. "I don't know how the hell I got here either... All I know is I woke up here, and I managed to talk down my minute-old partner to not commit homicide on me. I owe you one though. What's you name?"
"Ryuji Mishima. I'm part of the hacker group ZAXON." Ryuji answered back, before he then pulls out a phone-like device. "Erika, Chitose, can you hear us?"
There was no reply, before Ryuji merely clicked his tongue. "...Shit, the Digital Waves here are more jumbled than before."
"What... What was that thing?" Keisuke asked with a shaky voice, recalling what it did to Youji.
"Whatever it is, it ain't something we're going to mess with for a while. Doesn't look like it was particularly after anyone, since it went for Youji, the closest. It might be something like the ghosts from Pacman. You get hit by that thing, you either get booted out of the server, or your account gets destroyed. But that's assuming it's security stuff, and it sure screams 'eldritch abomination' than 'security bot' to me." Richard gave his opinion.
"Something weird is going on in Kowloon... no, in all of EDEN lately." Ryuji added. "Hope it's nothing serious."
Keisuke then droops down in disappointment. "And I thought I managed to find the source of the problems..." He said in a sad tone.
"Don't get all mopey just because your first clue didn't lead anywhere." Ryuji scolded Keisuke. "If that guy was a bust, just start looking for the next clue. Or have you given up already?"
"...But what if I become a hacker like you, Mishima-san?" Keisuke asked back.
"I mean, that works too. You'll be seeing the type of danger you faced just almost every day." Ryuji considered the idea. "Whether you continue or not is up to you."
"I'm not stopping, Mishima-san. Not yet." Keisuke shook his head with a determined look in his eyes.
"Then enough with the long face, already." Ryuji smiled. "At least you're not alone anymore, right? And we managed to find another companion here, even though he's more clueless than you about all of this."
"You mean...!" Keisuke asked.
"Congrats, you passed the test... Just barely, but a pass is a pass." Ryuji gave the good news to Keisuke. "Welcome to Hudie, kid. You're one of us now. Let's head back to the 'shop'. Our buddies are waiting for us. By the way, Richard, since you've witnessed all of this, I'd be tempted to find ways to silence you, but you did manage to bring down Youji's personal Digimon with a newly-minted Digimon. So I think I might be able to persuade the other people to accept you into Hudie as well. What's your opinion?"
Richard remained silent, before he then nodded. "I gratefully accept." Richard simply replied, as he picked up Kuro. "Just one request, let me keep Kuro. He's bonded to me, and I don't think he'll be as nice and polite without me by his side."
"You shouldn't ask this. Of course I'll let you keep your companion." Ryuji nodded, before he then entered the server transfer pad. "I'll see you both there, as I'll give you the location of the 'shop' in a message to your new Digivice, Richard."
Ryuji then disappeared in a flash of light, as Keisuke and Richard looked at each other.
"So... I guess we're buddies now, right?" Richard asked back. "May as well work together. What's you full name, Keisuke?"
"Amazawa Keisuke. Nice to meet you, Richard." Keisuke smiled and nodded.
"Same here, same here." Richard said, before Keisuke then stepped on the pad, and disappeared on Kowloon, as Richard did the same.
In the internet cafe, Hudie...
'Logout successful. See you at your next login. Thank you.' The automated voice of the EDEN visor said. 'EDEN is a human network connecting the world to the future, operated by Kamishiro Enterprises.'
Keisuke then took off the visor, as he placed it on the base of his neck, as he pulled out the cable linking it to the desktop computer.
"Whew... I managed to become part of something great. Now... to head to the shop..." Keisuke said, before he then turned around, to find a very still Richard standing by the side of his chair, as his expression is very surprised and awkward.
Keisuke and Richard then looked at each other in silence, as Keisuke could not change his face from the stoic expression he had before, due to the fact that what he was seeing was beyond the processing of his own mind.
"I... I..." Richard stuttered. "I think there's more to me that meets the eye? I can't explain this even if I tried..."
Keisuke then pinched the bridge of his nose with his right hand in sheer annoyance.
'What the hell have I gotten myself into...' He thought to himself.