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The screen flashed a brief warning. The shade of red he had selected for the screen made it impossible for his companion to ignore, even as she was hours int new research. He didn't need the color. He knew it was happening as soon as the computer did. He was the computer. Basicly. But he was still Krim, and he still had work to do.

The warning, as his brilliant scientist would soon know, came from Slowdown reported in a small back street of Tokyo. The time between the alert and the actual activity ranged from anywhere between 5 and 25 minutes. Luckily, the newly minted system was on point today, locating the incident within 4 minutes. Soon Steinbelt had a video feed of the street, courtesy of a small camera installed in front of a seedy convenience store. It was him. The thought flashed first through the metal that served as his mind these days. The same kid. The boy had been spotted chasing the incidents of Slowdown 5 times now. Krim figured it had been word of mouth, and found a thread on a popular information aggregation site looking for information. The original poster used a handle that roughly meant "Pursuer." "Why is he still hunting for them? Didn't he learn his lesson the last encounter he had with them. Roidmudes, I mean. He almost died when the debris started moving at a normal clip again. What an idiot! You can't just chase these things! Chaser. Krim smiled, as much as a holographic screen could smile. That is what I should call him.

Tam felt a small bead of sweat roll down his back. It had not been easy getting here. From reading the post replying to his request to arriving in the brightly lit Tokyo side street, it had taken Tam 10 minutes. If Krim had known, he would have marveled at the young man's resourcefulness. Tamotsu Kagome was a resourceful young man, if a bit impulsive. Left to care for his developmentally disabled older sister after his parents' tragic death in a car accident, Tam grew up fast. He learned a trade, finding a rare opportunity fixing bikes and cars for an old family friend. When he retired, he left the garage to Tam, and soon his sister was well taken care of. For a man of only 22, Tam had an old expression. His short black hair and slim figure belied a sternness in voice and expression few had faced head on. Despite his seriousness, he could be impulsive. After an attack on the group home where his sister, Maya was attacked by a mysterious assailant, Tam lashed out. A few banchos near the home found themselves sleeping in a dumpster that night, and Tam was drunk and fists bloody alone in his garage. He wouldn't give up though. After hearing rumors of "slowdown," or moments that seemed to last hours, Tam began investigating alleged scenes of the phenomena. He could not have known it had happened, and more than a few times, he found hysterical housewives or exaggerating school children. One time, however he had found an incident still in action.

It was a construction site, where a new set of affordable apartments were being built. The tip came from the foreman, who on his way into work saw a strange creature attacking his workers. The workers seemed to be running in slow motion. Tam hopped on his NM4 and raced to the scene. He arrived 2 minutes before police, and saw a metallic figure among steel beams and concrete blocks falling comedicly slowly. As he approached , his body became unimaginably heavy, and he very slowly stepped out of the anomaly. He called out to the figure:" Why did you attack a group home? Why Maya? What did she ever do to you? " The rage he felt in his fists when he attacked those banchos returned all over his body, heating him up inside. He did not know it, but one Krim Steinbelt was observing this encounter with great interest. Viewing the scene from a camera of a police car arriving at the site, Krim saw the figure turn to the young man.

"And who are you?" the figure cooed. He was vaguely humanoid, with a skull like face, and tiny bat accents all over his metallic body. His voice was garbled slightly and sounded mechanical. "You killed my sister!" the boy charged, forgetting the slowdown in a fit of anger. As the creature smiled slightly, the Slowdown ceased. Before being covered in debris, Tam caught a glimpse of the number emblazoned on the creature's chest. 012. Soon, all was black.

After witnessing the boy's attempt at contact with Roidmude 012, Krim looked back at other Slowdown events. Ever since the incident on January 4th, the young man had been seen at other events. Rinna had found his name and history, even his connection to the January event. Krim didn't care. All he saw was his determination, his anger, his will to get justice for his sister. As he watched the man face down his nemesis in that Tokyo alley, Krim was excited and scared. "Send Justice Hunter to him. I want to see how he does with a little help." With a loud siren, Rinna dispatched the Shift Car to the boy's location, quietly hoping he would survive the night. "Send Proto-Speed as well. The more data we gather on Roidmude activity, the sooner the weapon will be finished. Chaser will do nicely.

"It will be different this time," Tam said out loud quietly. He wasn't sure he was talking to the monster, or to himself. He had a huge scar across his back, from the beam that had gouged him at the construction site. Still hurt. But in his haze of heat, Tamotsu could not feel the pain. He drew his gun. He had found it in the safe at the garage. One last present from an old man, in case the local gangs got uppity. He took aim right where the number was, and fired. At that moment, his body became familiarly heavy. Tam could only watch as the metal monster calmly side-stepped his now slow moving bullet. He went to yell, only to find it took forever. As the monster advanced, the weight around Tam was lifted. In his hands he found a tiny car, apparently a police cruiser. It honked and blared its siren at him, and pulled him toward the creature. Bars of metal fell from the sky, not onto Tam as before, but around the creature. A cell from a tiny police car? Tam was quite confused. His hate told him what to do next however. As the creature struggled, he aimed and emptied the whole clip into the metal monstrosity. It laughed, and mocked him saying "Is this what could have saved Maya?" Justice Hunter broke free of Tam's grip and slammed into the monster. Far away, Krim seethed with hate. In that moment, two things occurred. Firstly, Tam charged the creature. Secondly, the recoiling Hunter broke the cage it had put the Roidmude inside. It was over in a second. Tam lay on the ground, bleeding from a gaping hole in his chest. The creature swatted Justice Hunter away and stepped over him. It looked at him, and with a voice that sounded like Maya said, "Goodbye, brother!" and giggled. Before he died, Tam saw a streak of black and purple across the sea of lights of Tokyo.

Rinna was in hysterics. "We could have saved him Krim." He could have been the one! He would have helped us and we let him die! Krim's voice sounded more machine than usual. "Have Proto Speed collect data of him. He is the ideal model for Proto Zero to imprint on. After that, go home Rinna. I can finish the rest." She left soon after, going to her apartment drinking heavily, and carrying on about a young man who died too soon. Krim dimmed the lights as she left. He had kept it from her, but he was devastated. She was right. Or was she? He opened a compartment beneath the Tridoron skeleton, and a familiar metallic sheen emerged. This Roidmude was inactive, and sterling silver. 000 was emblazoned across his chest. The body was empty, no intelligence inside it, save those necessary to maintain a physical form. With a body of a roidmude, Drive can beat them. No more humans have to lose their lives. Krim thought of his own death, strange as it was to say. It was in moments like these, with the lights low except for the glow of Proto Speed transferring information to Roidmude 000, Krim wished he could cry. That he, like Rinna, could pour one out for a young man and his sister, taken from this life. I helped cause this. Its my fault. He whispered to the sleeping Roidmude, "Chaser, do you think you will like that? Should I call you Chaser?"

END MISSION