This goes out to my whooping two fans! Whoot! You guys rock. Everyone else sucks unless they're reading this. :P
The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku
Chapter 2: Transmit
7/27/11
"Who's going to believe us? Don't you think it would sound just a little convenient? She's been gone for hardly a day. It's probably just a glitch in the system, the remnants of a trashed recording." Proclaimed Rin as she stood up from his bed, pacing as she analyzed the situation doing everything that her mind would allow to try and dismiss the thought. It was so sketchy. It could have even been just a prank judging by how quickly it was eliminated from the system… Unless it really was a desperate cry for help.
No. It simply couldn't be. That was not even plausible. Silly. Childish.
"Onii-chan, if its Miku then its so crucial that we report this right away! Whoever's abducted her can even hack the system and eliminate any evidence. Do you know what this means?" Len countered, agitation evitable in his tone. Even if it was a hoax, it was better to be safe about it rather than regret it later. "What else could they have access to, Rin? And who's next? Meiko? Kaito? Neru? Us?"
"Its ridiculous. A total fluke! I'm telling you, Len, you're overreacting!"
"Rin!" Desperately he persisted. A tinge of jealousy stung in Rin's gut with the thought that he was so worried for Miku's safety… But it was also for everyone else, including her. She let it go resentfully for that reason.
"Okay… Alright… Let's just wait a bit. Maybe get some rest first," Rin suggested as she sat onto her own bed across from him, pulling off her shoes and tossing them aside along with her leg warmers and sleaves. "sleep on it and all of that. Just to be sure. I think we're just overtired."
"Alright…" Giving an exhausted sigh, doing about the same finding himself more and more comfortable surrounded by his comforter, submitting to her reasoning. "Just promise me, if she's not back tommarow… Let's be serious about this, okay?"
"G'night, Len." She answered dismissively, tucking herself beneath the covers.
"Night."
Still there was no sign of the "World's No. 1 Virtual Diva", word even had it the creators, the authors… even the masters had any idea where she was. Everything in the ward had sunk, they had been put on lockdown until Miku was located. Even all recording sessions had been cancelled. It was total lockdown.
The Ward's inmates spread about the commons, sitting in small groups talking quietly amongst each other. It was almost a time of mourning for those close to Miku. The low tones were solemn and hung with heavy grief or looming curiosity as rumor spread, some outrageous, some more believable.
It was a day since the discovery of the audio file had become the latest news, the third day since her disappearance.
In their own little dispersion of a group, Len and Rin occupied a corner sharing a soft white armchair. His laptop placed his lap while she leaned closer to watch as he skimmed the system before trying to salvage the file from the depths of the hard drive. Not even in the recesses of his computer's crash and dump files could it be recovered. It was almost as if it was never even there at all.
"This is terrible… We're on high alert and they haven't even really explained to the others why. No one knows what's going on past the fact that the idol is missing and she's been abducted. Oh, and that our safety is threatened." Len muttered half to Rin, half to himself, annoyed with the whole situation altogether.
"Ignorance is bliss, is it not, nee-chan?" Answered Rin plainly, her eyes drifting to Kaiko who was a perfect specimen where she absentmindedly lapped at a frozen blueberry cream pop.
"So it seems." Replied Len rather downcast, regretfully, they could not enjoy that sort of peace because they managed to get smack dab in the middle of it just like they always seemed to.
Sighing in response, Rin folded her legs against her chest, resting her hands on her knees. Despite her dislike towards Miku, even a certain part of Rin worried for her. Though it was easily disguised as a worry for her and her brother's own security, it was still there. It was overwhelming to contemplate where Miku could have ended up. The possibilities were endless.
That was perhaps what scared Crypton and Yamaha the most, enough to quarantine their remaining possessions. As for what could be done with Miku in the wrong hands… Rin could only imagine the thoughts spiraling through the makers' heads.
Hooking his headphones into the laptop, Len searched diligently through the query scanning every song Miku had ever recorded. Filtering through full blown hits and broken or unfinished pieces as sweat beaded his forehead, he was hardly making progress. Morale was low but her forged on, leaning forward in his rolly-chair across from the desk at the end of his bed.
Jolting a little in his seat as Rin opened the door appearing behind him, entering with two mugs of steaming hot cocoa with mini marshmallows floating on the surface of the creamy brew. Setting the cup carefully onto his desk, she smiled sympathetically. He had been at it all night. No progress. "Another cup of hot cocoa. Steaming hot."
As his eyes met hers, he mirrored a similar expression but still confident as strained as it was. His azure eyes clouded with bother.
"She'll turn up." Rin assured him reluctantly, her fingers drifting over his bare arm reassuringly.
"If there was one, there will be another. I'm sure of it."