+So when are these new guys coming, again?+
+They'll be there in a week,+ he said, more focused on his food than on the conversation he was having; this was the first bowl of hot oatmeal he'd gotten to enjoy since Atkins had decided to move their main contingent of soldiers to the new base that Ryan and Aptom were helping to excavate, after all.
+And about when would that be, do ya think?+
+It's seven days, Ryan,+ he said, rolling his eyes in good-natured exasperation. +You should be able to count them off.+
+Sean, have you ever tried to count off days when you're stuck down a really big hole?+
+I guess you have a point,+ he conceded, staring down into his half-eaten bowl of oatmeal. +And it's not like you can really count on Aptom to do much besides blow stuff up and eat people.+
+Pretty much why I don't bother asking him about any of this in the first place.+
+I figured as much,+ he said, drinking some more of his milk and then wiping his face. +I tell you what: I'll contact you about when the troops are supposed to arrive. And, I'll see if I can arrange for someone to pick up some pizza for you.+
+Thanks, Sean; it's nice to know someone's still thinking about me over there.+
+If I'd been stuck alone with that guy for five straight months, I'd want to know someone was still thinking about me, too,+ he said, finishing his oatmeal and tossing the empty paper bowl into the compost bin. +I'll talk to you in a week, Ryan.+
+Yeah. I look forward to it, Sean.+
Once their link had gone dormant again, he turned and headed back toward the laboratory that Professor Odagiri had set up for himself. The professor had moved his gear down into the Alpha Site once new group of scientists had been moved into what had once been NORAD. There was no real way to tell which of them were loyal to Chronos and which would side with the ACTF if given the chance. It would only take one Chronos-loyal scientist catching sight of Odagiri to bring the full force of their Intelligence Division down on their heads.
None of them were willing to risk the lives of their civilian protectorates that way.
"Hello, Sean. What brings you back down here?"
"Afternoon, Professor," he said, pausing at the threshold until Odagiri waved him in. "I just wanted to see if you needed help with anything else."
"No. Thank you, but anything else that I might need moved into my laboratory would all be things that I can handle myself."
"Still, it'd be faster with more than one person," he pointed out reasonably. "So, if you do decide that you'd like more help, all you have to do is call me."
"Thank you for your offer, Sean. I may take you up on it, if I find myself pressed for time in some fashion."
"I'll keep that in mind," he said, turning to leave. "I'll see you at dinner?"
"That's very likely, Sean," the older man said, chuckling softly.
"All right, then," he said, nodding as he resumed his interrupted walk.
Professor Odagiri was an interesting person to talk to; not only for the insider's perspective that he could offer about life in Chronos, but for the insights that he could offer about the Advents: their technology and their influence on human history. Of course, those were more the things that Cori and Atkins would talk to the Professor about; he'd sat in a few times with Cori as she and Odagiri had hashed out all kinds of theories as to what kind of impact the artifacts that the Advents had left behind had had on the development of human culture and civilization; it'd been all anthropology or archeology talk, and he'd gotten completely lost after the first ten minutes and offered to go get coffee, though he was sure that Cori at least had known the real reason why he'd left. What he was more interested in, however, were the stories that the former Chronos scientist could tell about the time he'd spent with two of Sean's fellow Guyvers.
From the stories he'd told, plus the ones that Ryan had shared, Sean felt like he had a pretty good grasp of just who the two Japanese Guyvers were and what they wanted out of life.
Agito sounded too harsh, too driven, and entirely too cagey for Sean to be comfortable with the Third Guyver being one of them. Sho, on the other hand, seemed to be too nice to be fighting any kind of war; much less one that would determine the future of the human race. Or whether there would even be a human race left to have a future.
Sometimes, it seemed like he and Ryan were the only real hope that humanity had left to come out on top; it was a lonely feeling. Especially now that he and Ryan were in entirely different states, now. He'd probably be joining his fellow Guyver sometime, probably when there were enough Aptom clones down in the Alpha Site to deal with a Zoanoid incursion. Not that any of them were actually hoping for something like that, but it was best to be prepared in any case.
XxXxX
As he settled into his bed for another night, Sho realized that he hadn't spoken with Ryan for almost a month. The last time he'd spoken with his fellow Guyver, the red-haired boy had seemed weary about something; not so much like he hadn't been sleeping, but like he was doing a boring job and would have liked nothing more than for it to have been over. They hadn't talked for very long; Ryan hadn't been in the mood, and he himself had been asked by Agito to use the Gigantic to protect a group of transports that were carrying vital supplies for their war against Chronos.
+Ryan?+
+Yo, Sho.+
+Are you feeling better now?+
+Well, my workload's gotten a bit lighter since Aptom started bringing over all those new minions, so that's good.+
+I'm glad you're feeling better,+ he said, smiling softly. +But what are you and Aptom actually doing, Ryan?+
+We're excavating a new base for the ACTF to use. After all, those guys can't very well be seen coming back to the Alpha Site after they've just been spotted somewhere wrecking Chronos' shit. It might blow our cover, and end up getting the people we're trying to protect killed. Or worse.+
Ryan had sounded like his normal, carefree self when he'd started, but by the end he'd been just as grim as anyone else when he'd spoken about the possible fate of the people he was protecting. Sho could understand; he could still remember what being processed had done to Mr. Murakami. Those cruel, slitted eyes staring out of the face that still belonged to someone he had considered both a friend and something of a mentor were burned into his memory by now.
It was almost enough to make Sho wish that he'd never found the Guyver in the first place; but he had people he wanted to protect, just like Ryan.
+Sho, you still with me?+
+Yes. I'm sorry, Ryan. I was just thinking.+
+About what? If you don't mind my asking.+
+I don't mind. It's just… sometimes I wish things could have been different, somehow.+
+I don't think there's many of us who don't feel that way. Well, all except for Agito, but we both know how he is.+
+Yeah… Listen, I don't want to keep you up if you're getting ready to go to sleep, Ryan.+
His fellow Guyver's jovial laugh sounded, different but somehow the same, over the link they shared. +Who's been sleeping lately? Certainly not me. Besides, you'd really be amazed how long you can go without sleep when you're in the Guyver.+
+I never knew that,+ Sho said, pausing as he remembered the varied circumstances that had lead to him shedding the armor. +Have you been using the weapons?+
+Well, the Pressure Cannon does a really good job of pulverizing those annoying rocks that I keep having to deal with lately; turns them right to dust. I haven't been using the Mega Smasher, if that's what you're wondering. The huge power-requirements notwithstanding, that thing would just be too damned obvious for this job.+
+Oh,+ he said, yawning; he supposed that made sense.
+You still there, Sho? You kind of trailed off on me there.+
+I'm fine, Ryan,+ he said, not wanting to worry the younger Guyver.
+Sho, you weren't about to go to sleep when you decided to try contacting me, were you?+
+Well…+
+I can't believe you sometimes,+ Ryan said, sounding more like a fondly exasperated older brother than anything else. +Go to sleep, doofus. I'll still be here next month. And, the next time you want to contact me, make sure you do it some time in the morning. All right?+
+All right, Ryan,+ he said, as he laid back down in his bed. +Take care of yourself.+
+I will. You just remember to do the same, hear me?+
+Yes,+ Sho said, closing his eyes.
Ryan was right: there would be time for the two of them to talk when he had gotten some decent rest…
XxXxX
The fact that all of them were staying undetected inside a Chronos processing facility wasn't what had her in such high-spirits, nor was it the fact that they had managed to recruit four new soldiers into the post-Chronos ACTF; although both of those things were contributing in their own way to her good mood. It was more the fact that they were doing all of this right under the noses of those insufferably arrogant Zoalords that made her feel so good about their current situation.
Those twelve bastards had set themselves up as the supreme rulers of the entire world, and she just loved the poetic justice of hiding deep inside one of their own bases when she was a part of the organization poised to take them all down.
The Zoanoid candidates were vetted carefully by the various scientists and Aptom clones that now staffed this base; if they were really so brainwashed by Chronos' propaganda machine that they honestly wanted to become Zoanoids, then the techs would take them down to the labs to have it done. Then Aptom would shake their hand once they had completed the process, supposedly as a gesture of welcome, but really so that they didn't have any Chronos-loyal Zoanoids around to report in to their masters when the time came.
Jessica really didn't care about whatever stupid reasons those stupid people had to want to become those kinds of inhuman monsters; Chronos had all but killed her brother, and so anyone who supported might as well have signed their own death certificate as far as she was concerned.
It was the people who had been coerced into giving up their humanity – whether by friends or by the people who claimed to love them – that were the recipients of Jessica's sympathy. Those people were taken aside and talked to, first by Aptom or some of his clones, then by the scientists who had once worked for Chronos. Then, if they passed those first two tests, they were taken down into the sub-basement levels and introduced to Lieutenant Richards.
If they only passed the first test, they were left under the care of the scientists until they had decided one way or another. And, if they failed both tests, then they were processed and things proceeded apace with Aptom; and Jessica wrote them off as a lost cause.
This base's complement of non-perishable rations were being appropriated for the stocking of the new base that Ryan and more of Aptom's clones were excavating just outside the limits of this small Kansas town. That would help to sustain the soldiers who were going to be sent down there to assist in fully establishing it as the ACTF's newest stronghold. Aside from that, the kid would probably be happy as a clam to get some real food in him; given Aptom's reports, he'd been spending all his time in the Guyver armor lately.
That thing may have been able to sustain him without any food or sleep, as well as being one hell of a badass weapon on top of that, but there was really nothing that could compare to the taste of real food in your mouth. Or the feel of a full stomach, as opposed to one that you just didn't notice was empty.
Dried fruit and meat might have been a poor substitute for real food, but they were better than nothing; at least, that was what Jessica tried to tell herself.