This chapter is basically a quick introduction to the characters normal life style and current events in their lives.
It's been five years since the destruction of Tylon; peace has been restored or perhaps partially renovated. The hatred towards zoanthropes has been mildly contained; thanks to the effort of groups aimed to bringing together human and zoanthropes. But it is still not safe enough for them to be open about their nature, it still a stigma to be around them, for they are odd creatures capable of harming normal humans.
But for most of Tylon's victims, things have just started to become normal and they have settled down back into their normal day to day routines. Although the scars remain fresh in their minds, they have passed the hardest ordeals which were surviving and returning to their normal life.
Uriko Nonomura, now a 14-year-old, enjoys her days going to High School and helping her mother run the small family shop. Her behavior would fool anyone into believing she had not been related to the Tylon incident, but her mother knows the truth and remembers fairly well all the sleepless nights she spent next to her daughter, reminding her she was safe at home now. Of course, Tylon did bring something good into their lives, and it was Alice Tsukagami, now Alice Nonomura, the newest member of the family.
"Alice! Alice! Alice! Alice!" Uriko was saying as she bounced from the sofa in the living room.
Alice, who was in the dining room eating dinner, dropped her spoon and snapped at Uriko, "What! What is it already?"
It wasn't uncommon for Uriko to get on everybody's nerves, but she was just so bubbly and hyperactive people normally forgave her. Alice was tired and had been listening to Uriko's endless rambling for what seemed hours.
"Alice, were you listening to me! I was talking about how my friend played a prank on the teacher today, it was so funny! First he – " She was abruptly cut off by her mother who entered the room.
"Uriko, stop doing that on the sofa you're going to break it! Also, stop bugging Alice; she had a long shift at the hospital today and has a headache. Alice did you take those painkillers already?" Mitsuko was always looking after he daughters, so it was the normal routine when she would arrive at the house and immediately start giving orders, particularly at Uriko.
Uriko rolled her eyes and leaned back on the sofa, "Okay, mom! Can I have dessert now?"
"Absolutely not! I know you haven't even started your homework, now go or else I might sign you up for cram schooling." Mitsuko said without turning towards Uriko, who without delay got to her feat and rushed into her room.
"What am I going to do with this girl? Did you see her last report card?" Mitsuko sighed and faced Alice who was quietly eating her meal. Alice shrugged and looked at her adoptive mother. "I guess I can… tutor her…" Alice dragged the last few words, she knew what a slow learner Uriko was and how irritating it could become to help her with her lessons.
"You sure, sweetie? Because we all know how that could get, maybe cram school is the way to go. I mean, I think I can fit it into our budget." Mitsuko was busy organizing the kitchen, and even though she was talking she sounded distracted.
"Mom, I know things are tight, so it's no problem I can do at least that much." Alice firmly said, reassuring her mother she was up to the job.
"Well thank you. Now if only you could rub off some of that 'responsible' trait on to your sister…" Mitsuko said and chuckled. Alice smiled and continued her meal.
Mitsuko was a single parent and the economy in the house wasn't at its best. She was forced to spend more time at the shop and much more time finding the best deals from her providers. Because of this, she was leaving Uriko lead a more 'independent' life style, which at the moment didn't seem to be working out all that well. Alice was now helping with her new job as a nurse, but her new almost 12 shifts were killer and it became more apparent every passing week.
"Well, I'm off. Make sure to rest up before you head back to the hospital. I don't want you ending up as a patient there…" Mitsuko gave Alice a kiss on the forehead and weak smile to follow. Alice smiled back and bid her goodbye.
Alice was grateful Mitsuko had taken her in, and she would do anything in her power to show it. "I better go check if Uriko is even doing her homework…" She murmured under her breath. As frustrating as Uriko was, Alice loved her dearly. Uriko was after all her savior, the little girl who sacrificed her opportunity to escape Tylon and handed it to Alice, a complete stranger at the time.
In a not so distant location, hidden behind from the public eye, stood what very few people knew as The Zoanthrope Liberation Front. Yes, rumors of this group weren't uncommon, but the amount of people who had actually encountered them was barely a handful. To the ordinary person, the idea of a radical terrorist group which used only brainwashed zoanthropes sounded like a plot from a cheesy old sci-fi film.
The Zoanthrope Liberation was no sci-fi movie, they were very much real and a massive threat to virtually anyone who was unlucky enough to stand in their way or happened to stumble upon them. But other than that, they kept a low profile, a few kidnappings here and there, a few seemingly random murders every now and then, but it was hardly enough to isolate them as the actual group behind all this. Unlike Tylon, the ZLF had managed to learn self-control and patiently waited before executing anything; making them an extremely hard opponent to trace, in particular because their leader was simply a puppet. No one knew who he was, he had no background information to trace, not even the employees knew who he was really, and it would seem he was a ghost, nonexistent or perhaps even fictional.
Of course, there were only two people in the world who knew the truth. One was the actual head honcho known as Busuzima Hajime and the latter would be an outside man, who had reasons to believe Busuzima was behind all this, Steve Goldberg, better known now as Stun the Insect.
"Damn, damn, da-! Ouch, I bit my tongue again!" Busuzima yelled as he threw his stack of notes into the air. He was a madman, but a genius madman, and nothing drove him over the edge like failure did. Another failed experiment meant he had to restart and solve the predicament that caused it to fail, which then that added up as a waste of time and resources. His quest was as insane as himself, and it was to find a way to create an immortal being that would survive regardless if it lost its head, or at least that is how he envisioned it. Unfortunately, his former laboratory partner, Steve a.k.a. Stun, was the one making progress in that field and without Stun to assist him, it felt like he was only hitting dead ends.
"Well wooptido, this is the 8th person in a row to die before even getting to phase 3 of the experiment! What am I doing wrong! Damn that cockroach, if only I knew what hole he was hiding in…!" Busuzima spun around in his desk chair only to be startled of it.
With a loud thump and a few muffled curses he fixed his beady eyes on the source of his surprise. There, in the middle of the room stood his bodyguard Bakuryu. He was as furtive as ever, never making a sound when he entered a room, it was as if he had the ability to make himself invisible or at least that is how Busuzima imagined he did it. Bakuryu was noticeably tired, he had slightly gray circles around his eyes and although his posture was straight as usual his shoulders were faintly slumped. Yet his bright golden eyes were as sharp as ever, always vigilant and aware of all his surroundings.
"Damn you brat, don't you know better than to startle me like that? How many times have I told ya!" Busuzima fussed as he got back on his feet. Bakuryu's face showed no emotions, it was as blank as ever.
"Forgive me Master, it was not my intention." He apologized in a calm voice that could have been confused for sarcasm to anyone who didn't know him. Busuzima glared at him, but he knew the brat was incapable of mockery, at least not towards him.
"Anyway, whatta ya want? Did you finish what I ordered? I'm all ears for some good news." Busuzima continued on ignoring Bakuryu's apology.
"Yes, master. The target was disposed of." Bakuryu replied as his gazed was fixed on his master.
"Good, good. I got nothing for ya, at least not yet. So run along, I don't need you standing there like some creepy mannequin… and clean that blood of ya, it's gross." Busuzima said and gestured with his hand towards Bakuryu to leave already.
"Yes, of course." Bakuryu was almost robotic when it came to taking orders, with a quick reply and a bow, he left the laboratory.