Chapter 2: Robbery
19:45 PM (Japan Time), Saturday February the 4th…
"… Here we are, ladies and gentlemen."
A taxi came to halt in front of a big building which had a banner above the door with the name "SHINAIDES RESEARCH LAB" written there.
"Alright. Come down, you two. I pay."
"OK, dad. Over here, Veronica – chan."
"Tee, heh, heh."
The taxi's doors opened. Daigo stepped out, followed by Subaru and a girl around his age.
The girl, "Veronica", wore a brownish hat and sunglasses while sporting a pink dress with a knee-long skirt.
Subaru and Daigo, on the other hand, wore just tuxedos.
"Veronica" had closed her right arm around Subaru's left arm and he was blushing a bit: Daigo formed a smile.
"Let's go inside."
They stepped into the hall and were greeted by a clerk: he looked around Subaru's height, if not slightly taller: his brown hair was neatly combed and his eyes' irises were cobalt blue in color.
He wore a white lab coat and blackish sneakers plus having a mask for the cold on.
"Welcome… May I have your names?" The clerk asked, repressing a cough.
"Hoshikawa Daigo. That's my son, Subaru." Daigo announced.
"And the miss' name is…?"
"Danden Veronica." She announced.
"Roger. The conference will be held in the meeting room, 2nd floor."
"I seem to remember there were elevators…" Daigo brought up.
"Yes, sir. Over there, sir."
"Thank you. Be wary of these colds: they tend to become flu when you lower the guard..."
"Ah… Thank you, sir."
The group of three headed for the elevator: Subaru was constantly looking around in a nervous manner while Daigo smiled at him.
"Don't worry about the nosy reporters. I'll handle them. When I say that I can make the whole of WAXA complain then they won't dare to do anything stupid." Daigo whispered.
"Phew."
"Yeah. I wouldn't want them to make up some story just for the sake of selling magazines." "Veronica" muttered.
"Mwah, hah, hah." War Rock chuckled.
"Wanna meet Boss' wrath?"
"Eh… No, no…"
"Then be quiet. And don't interrupt the conference either. Go have a taste of Kyoto's Viruses instead so that you can say you can bust more of them than Ox can." Subaru challenged.
"Pororon! Yeah. Leave us in peace, bully."
"Wha~t? I'll show ya~!"
"Phew. We shook the guy off!" Subaru sighed in relief.
"Really…" Daigo rolled his eyes.
"He won't learn his place!" "Veronica" cursed.
"He won't. I'll have to ask Boss for another favor, I guess."
"Pororon! Learn your place!"
19:53 PM (Japan Time…
"… All of the guests came, so it's time to contact my Lord. We need to proceed to the next stage of the plan!"
The clerk rushed into a cleaning closet filled with cleaning products, brooms and mops: he took out a Hunter – VG and dialed a number: the line connected yet the screen didn't display anything.
"Code." A man's voice ordered.
"When the curtain falls then the drama can begin."
"2nd Code."
"When the curtain rises, the public shall bow to the magnificence of the great actor."
"3rd Code."
"In the end, dramas favor the scriptwriter."
"Good, good!"
"Don't get cocky." A second voice rang out.
"Che. You shut up!"
"He who warns…"
"…a traitor is not! I knew that! Now be silent!"
"Hai, hai…"
"Anyway! Remember to act as scripted, my disciple! If you do that then there'll be no problems. Get me?"
"Roger, my Lord. By thou will."
The "clerk" ended the call and pressed a button on the Hunter – VG to project a golden eye into his forehead: he then chuckled under his breath and seemed to smile under the mask.
My Lord's scheme is perfect!
19:55 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Yikes. There they are…!"
"Calm down!"
"Leave them to me and pick your seats."
The group had entered the room where the presentation was to take place at: four or five reporters were sitting on a corner and chatting so Subaru gulped and "Veronica" hushed to him while Daigo put a serious face.
"Look! That's Hoshikawa Subaru - kun!" One reporter whispered to another.
"Who could his partner be?" Another wondered.
"Ahem, ahem!"
Both men turned around to see Daigo standing there with a rather unpleased face.
"Ah! Hoshikawa Daigo – san!" The first reported uttered.
"A warning: if I see any hints of some made-up tale, then I'm going to sue you people. All of WAXA will back me up." Daigo warned.
"U-understood." The second reporter gulped.
"I have warned you."
He walked away and sat down on the chair to Subaru's right with a smile on his face.
"There."
The lights began to dim and some spotlights ignited to illuminate the stage as a man walked into it.
The man looked on his forties and had a fine black moustache plus black hair plus he appealed to be about a meter and eighty tall.
He was wearing a lab coat over a black suit and tie plus pants and shoes.
"Thank you all for coming tonight. I am Professor Shinaides Amedan: head of the Shinaides Research Lab." The man introduced himself.
There was a round of clapping.
"Ahem! Thank you. The reason I have gathered all of you ladies and gentlemen here tonight is because I have a very important announcement to make. We have managed to develop an invention which is going to be a revolution in the field of modern physics."
Whispers began to fill the room.
"I suppose you must be eager to know it. I shall go fetch the files and announce it. Please wait for a few minutes."
He exited the stage and the whispers began to climb in volume: the reporters could be heard speculating.
"A time machine! I swear! A time machine!" One exclaimed while trying to catch the attention of the other four.
"You've seen too many movies. A new Denpa Device." Another replied in a skeptical tone of voice.
"Nah! A holo – deck!" The third grinned.
"What's that?" The other four asked.
"A VR Simulator!" He repeated.
"No big deal, really." The skeptical one shrugged.
"Wha~t?" He growled.
"Come on! It's not like they do magic: their specialty is Denpa Devices and maintenance of them! A new department began to investigate particle physics, so maybe some kind of particle accelerator. Who knows? Maybe we're gonna crack the Higgs boson enigma!"
"Whoa! That'd be cool!" The fifth one gasped.
"Man! I can't wait to see it!" Subaru muttered while sounding like he'd been dragged in by the excitement.
19:58 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Heh, heh, heh. Enjoying the show, Hoshikawa~? Too bad I can't slice your neck off right there and now… Now that'd be a nice drama but my Lord's anger would be terrible and it ain't worth angering my Lord so I gotta hold back… Anyway… That's not the reason I'm here tonight either so let's get to work. First let's check on the timing. The old man will try to enter the basement at around 20:00 PM. That's when I gotta pull the trick so let's get into the power room…"
The "clerk" chuckled as he pressed his right hand's middle and index fingers against a cordless earphone he carried on his right ear: he rushed into what had the looks of a power room and found a control panel with a "Real Wave" screen hovering over it.
"Nothing brute… Just a little tricky gadget… Heh, heh, heh. My Lord is a genius, ya know."
He connected his Hunter – VG to the console with a wire and inputted some commands: an access window popped out and the username "PSHINAIDES" plus a ten digit – long password were inputted into it before the "OK" symbol popped out and the menu appeared on-screen: the "clerk" chuckled as a vein on the right side of his forehead hardened and popped out.
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah… Too easy… 1 minute left. Alright, gramps… Head over to your post… You're gonna know what it means to go to sleep in a rough manner. Heh, heh, heh."
"… Input voice password…"
"… Shinaides Amaran."
"Password accepted."
"NOW!"
The clerk brusquely pulled a level down and all of the machines suddenly stopped: all lights were turned off and the whole of the room became pitch-black: the only light was the creepy golden eye…
20:00 PM (Japan Time)…
BRRRRRO~M!
"Kya~h!"
"An earthquake!"
"I can't see!"
"The emergency lights! Why aren't they on?"
"Run!"
"Nobody move! Calm down!"
The conference room was a chaos given the total lack of lighting until three glowing Hunter – VGs were lifted into the air: the people stopped moving around after they heard a loud rumble which seemed to shake the very foundations of the laboratory.
"Alright. Calm down, calm down. We'll go check it out."
The ones using the Hunter – VGs were revealed to be Daigo, Subaru and "Veronica" so the audience began to calm down.
"Subaru, Veronica – chan! Go check it out. I'll handle things over here. Ask the clerk for the power room: I remember there was one. And try to find the Prof, too."
"Roger!"
Both ran out and climbed down the stairs into the lobby: they flashed their Hunter – VGs around and found the "clerk" hiding behind the desk apparently scared.
"This place is gonna collapse~!"
"Calm down! Where's the power room? We need to turn the power back on!"
"Huh? Eh… O-over there…"
"Thank you!"
They ran out yet the "clerk" looked up and smiled under the mask as his eyes became injected and seemed to display a murderous lust into them: he chuckled and jumped over the desk as he rushed towards the main door which had been left partly unlocked.
"Too easy."
He ran out into the street and hid in a nearby alleyway just as the sirens from ambulances, patrol cars and fire-fighters' trucks rang out: he chuckled and tossed out the mask for the cold.
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah."
He turned on the earphone and listened.
"… Here. The power room… Huh? Someone manually pulled the main level down? Weird. It's supposed to be program-locked!"
"Whatever. Let's turn this on again."
"Heh, heh, heh. Yeah. And then go wake gramps up… Then the little drama can begin… Mwah, hah, hah."
He looked at how the building began to shine again and chuckled under his breath as he picked a spot to hide at: behind some garbage bins and bags.
"… The basement door is open… Grah! What dust…! Cover your mouth, Veronica – chan!"
"Yeah. Harp! Can you detect anything?"
"Pororon! Yeah. A human signature… A few steps ahead."
"Ah! T-this is… Professor Shinaides! Are you alright, sir? Help me drag him to the upper level… That door got violently open, too, and the source of the dust seems to be in the basement…"
"Heh, heh, heh. Alright. Enough… Gotta go meet my Lord and we can celebrate our triumph…"
He chuckled and ran out while his face turned psychotic…
20:04 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Professor!"
"Professor!"
"Prof!"
"Ugh… My head… Huh… Where am I?"
"The ground floor, sir…"
"Oh! Subaru – kun, Daigo – san…. Eh…"
"Veronica, sir."
"Veronica – chan? Huh… What happened?"
Professor Shinaides had been seated in a chair placed in the lobby and looked groggy as he woke up: Daigo, Subaru and "Veronica" had gathered around him.
"Someone purposefully turned all lights off and there was a brutal tremor which shook the building… And now dust is seeping from the basement entrance…" Subaru summed up.
TCH – TCH – TCH – TCH!
"W-what was that?" "Veronica" gasped.
"From the sound of it… A water pipe breaking open…"
"Water pipe…! No good…! If the water enters the vault, then…! The schematics will be lost…!" Professor Shinaides gasped.
"Huh? But the vault is a totally sealed chamber, right?"
"Technically, yes… Yet… It was built atop one or two floors of the old underground galleries… And if one of them collapsed… Then the ground may give in due to the water and the flooding could drag all things inside with it into the depths of the earth…!" He explained in a rush.
"Crap! Then we gotta do something about it! We need to get into the vault and rescue the schematics!" Subaru exclaimed.
"T-too…"
"Dangerous? No, sir! We are Satella Police members! And we can Denpa – Henkan, too! Simply tell us how to get into the vault, sir!" Subaru smiled at him.
"Huh… Alright. Of course… Someone who defeated a whole meteor can't think of this as dangerous… Alright… Go down the stairs where you found me and keep straight down. You'll enter a gallery which ends in the vault door… It might have jumped off the frame due to the shock… An armored box with a data storage unit is inside… Pick it and come back before the vault floods…" He instructed.
"Roger! Let's go!"
"Yay!"
"Denpa – Henkan! On Air!"
Both transformed into Rock Man and Harp Note respectively and hurried down the stairs: they walked past the open door and down a flight of stairs into an unlit gallery.
"Whoa! Look at that."
"Daigo – san was right: the pipe has burst!"
A torrent of water emerged from the left side and was projecting at the NE corner of the vault ceiling thus slowly filling the ground with water which wasn't ankle-deep yet but was quickly climbing: dust lingered around the gallery.
"The vault is beyond that. Let's rush it up!"
"Mwah, hah, hah. Vault of vaulted vaults?" War Rock joked.
"This ain't the time for jokes." Harp Note scolded.
"Pororon! Yeah! Shut up and move!"
"Move the moving movement?"
"Whatever."
They raced past the water and found the armored vault door: it had dislodged from the frame and was hanging towards the right thus leaving a gap wide enough for someone to come inside.
"I'll go. Cover me."
"Roger."
Rock Man stepped inside and spotted how a large crack had formed on the ground and a hole had opened: it was flooding with water.
"The Prof was right… The ground gave in!"
"Prof Profs Prof!"
"Shut up already!"
Rock Man aimed his built-in flashlight forward and spotted the box: he picked it up and then headed for the opening.
"Hmmm… Sorry, Professor."
He tossed it beyond it before crossing through the opening and picking the box back up.
"Let's go!"
"Roger!"
They raced out of the basement and back into the ground floor: Daigo had given Professor Shinaides a glass of water which he was drinking: he finished it and ran towards them.
"Did you get it?" The Professor asked with eagerness.
"We did it! Here you have." Rock Man handed it to him.
"Thank goodness!"
"Phew. At least we didn't get dust into us." Harp Note muttered.
"W-what in the world!" Professor Shinaides gasped.
"What's wrong?"
"This!"
Professor Shinaides had connected the Hunter – VG to the storage unit and a message was being displayed onscreen.
"Hello! Ladies and gentlemen! I've gotten Prof Shinaides' newest invention. Try to get it back! This is a challenge from a noble man. Yours humbly, Hyde."
"What in the…?" Professor Shinaides uttered.
"Hyde! It's signed by Hyde!" Subaru exclaimed.
"Who's this "Hyde" person?" Professor Shinaides asked.
"He was one of the instigators of the Mu Continent Affair… He became a power-obsessed idiot after that and we kept on beating him up… Two months ago he was working for some foreign power intended on invading Japan using a network of stations which could control weather at will… He vanished afterwards and his current whereabouts are unknown… We weren't expecting him to organize such a coup…" Subaru narrated.
"Then…! The explosion…!" Daigo gasped.
"It wasn't accidental! They used it to get into the vault!"
"But if they wanted to… Why didn't they do it time ago? I finished work on it one month ago and we were in the midst of the testing stage!"
"Dunno. Maybe he thought it'd be far more dramatic to steal it just when it was going to be revealed." Subaru shrugged.
"A scandal wouldn't favor anyone. Let's cover up saying it was an accident." Daigo suggested.
"Yeah. That'd be better." "Veronica" agreed on it.
"What a lovely evening!" Professor Shinaides cursed.
"Hyde is now laughing at us, too. We've underestimated the jerk and this is the price way!"
Hyde…! You and I have a score to settle… And I'll settle it!