Part 4: A Time To Give Up
Five days went by after the scuffle, and the Empress of Japan has finally declared a state of emergency for the entire country. The population has been up in a frenzy since the renegade somehow outwitted the IS pilots who pursued him to the Akina Sports Bar, and lost him at Lake Haruna. In response, female vigilantes have appeared all over the country and run night time patrols, vetting any man wearing blonde hair and blue eyes. Security has tightened around any and all companies having to do with technological advancements. The Empress herself has issued a statement:
"For too long, this renegade has been a thorn in our side. Now, he has grown into a disgusting disease that cannot be vanquished by traditional means. We cannot allow this conflict to go unnoticed any further. We will maintain our peace with the nations of the world. However, I am asking any and all who are willing to stop the renegade from destroying our country to aid in our quest to-" A TV screen was turned off...
-TAMAMURA POLICE STATION, GUNMA PREFECTURE-
"Ugh...when will it end?" ...by the police woman who is currently interrogating Squall.
"So, this stuff is just water and honey?" Squall lazily said while sloshing around a glass of water and honey, still wondering how she managed to hammer down 30 shots of sake.
"Yes," the policewoman sat down across from Squall, "Well, you were so wasted on booze and vodka that I had to do something."
Squall looked up and sarcastically said, "Nothing like selling out your only boyfriend to his ex-girlfriends, amirite?"
"Gross," the policewoman turned the TV back on.
"I'm just messing with you!" Squall wagged her hand before resting her head on her wrist, "But that little crackpot is so much trouble. I'm surprised I still have any sanity left."
"So, this is all just a ruse?" the policewoman was confused, "To get him of your back?"
"Yeah," Squall laid her head on the table, 'accidentally' spilling the cup, "I figured I was gonna die anyways, so...why the hell not?"
"Well..." the policewoman got her files out, "I mean, we had planned to offer you a position among our ranks?"
Squall remembered her time with the old Phantom Task when she sneaked into Gunma Prefectural Women's University to spy on potential recruits and IS research. Long story short, her mission turned up fruitless, "Really? Me? Go back to the grotty little castle on the high hills?"
"Just think about it," the policewoman tried to fill lofty visions into their minds, "You'll be able to rebuild your faction. Everything you've ever lost, we can get back for you."
But it didn't work. Squall has had her fair share of losing everything to explosions and blowing up everyone else's everything in their faces, and she's had enough, "I think I'd rather die in the flat, thanks."
The policewoman clicked a button on under the table, and opened a door to the room, and two doors to other rooms. "Suit yourself," she said annoyed as she was about to leave.
But Squall sensed her angst and need for reinforcements, "What? You don't wanna know more about the renegade?"
At that point, the policewoman got mad. She slammed her palms on the table in an attempt to shake Squall, only to be meet with lazy eyes. "What else is there to know?" She screamed, "He's just a walking disease-ridden dolt! There's no cure for his stupidity! What could be there for us to discover?"
To which Squall responded with a sing-song voice, "Have you ever wondered how he was able to squeeze himself between those rockets?"
"What?" the policewoman cringed.
"How he seemingly dodged every nook and cranny that you've hidden yourself under, hmm?" Squall looked up with steel, seductive eyes.
The policewoman held her breath. Has someone finally discovered the secret of the renegade, and can reverse-engineer it to work to their advantage, "You know?"
"Oh, it's too rich. Just a bunch of hogwash," or was she just bluffing? Eh, either way, "Too bad you were just leaving."
The policewoman was agitated that someone would keep secrets from her, as if that was new. "Yes. You're right. I was." She rose to leave.
"Well, then I guess you wouldn't be interested in anything I have to say," Squall stopped her at the door again, "After all, you only care about the fact that he has a penis."
"Well..." the policewoman was flustered.
"No, no, no. You go on and enjoy yourself," Squall shooed, "I'll just take a power nap over on that corner."
The policewoman quickly left. Finally, Squall was left alone in the room, and just like she promised, she cuddled herself in the cold corner below the TV. While she dozed off, or at least made it look like she dozed off, she kept thinking of ways to fool them into freeing her. It was obvious to her that they respect her a great deal because she was able to pilot multiple IS units at once, along with the fact that she is a female who rebelled against male tyranny, or something like that. All she has to do is goad them into taking her along on the hunt for the renegade, find him, make sure she kills them before they kill him, and all will be right in the world.
Oh, wait. The Silver Gospel is eons away from him. Oops. She has to delay the inevitable chase for as long as possible, until word gets out that he found the Gospel and made off with it.
After five minutes of silence, the policewoman walked in and sat at the table, with two armed guards right beside her.
Squall rubbed her eyes and looked at them drowsily, "Back already?"
"Talk. Now." the policewoman demanded.
"You realize if you kill me, my secrets die with me," Squall eyes those guns pointed at her, "Right?"
The policewoman stared at her guards for a moment, then shook her head, "Ok! Fine! What is it you want?!"
Squall rose and suave'd her was to her seat. Then, she leaned in so her forehead touches the policewoman's cap, "Two things. One, I want to stay here, in Japan, no questions asked."
"Ok...that's easy to do," the policewoman said nervously.
"And two...I want a complete wipe of my record," Squall pointed a finger at the guards, "Felonies, crimes, charges, records, violations, everything I've ever done, it never happened."
All three of them glared, "And why would I agree to that?"
Squall's finger was now aimed at the guards' guns, "Because behind you are two women with AK-47s whom I can easily use to seal my information forever."
That got them. The policewoman knows she needs the information from her captive because she's been with the renegade. She wants nothing more than to bend her to her will, but this is the leader of what was known as Phantom Task here. She'd rather die than put up with crap again, and she can make it happen.
And Squall knows if her brain if lost, then the hunt for the renegade will be delayed by at least a couple months, more than enough time for the renegade to find the Silver Gospel. She narrowed her gaze at the policewoman and demanded, "Well..your choice."
The policewoman sighed and got up to leave again, motioning her guards to come with her, "We need a moment." They slammed the door, leaving Squall to play the pucker-face challenge with her cup.
"What you need is to get me some sake..." she muffled.
-SEWER, UNKNOWN-
Sokoto had wandered the sewer for way too long than necessary, trying to get used to his brand new ability. Whenever he feels a strange sensation, strong enough to tingle his skin, usually it means that someone is nearby. That meant get away. He had explored the networks in an effort to find an opening to a clearing, only to be met with too many sensations. He stayed underground doing nothing but walking and sleeping, occasionally eating. Now he's at his limit. He woke up with a bad headache.
"Ugh...where am I..." he muttered as he leaned against a brick wall, allowing the sound of the rushing flow of sewage to awaken him. He took one more whiff of sewer air...mixed with fresh pine. He blinked. He surveyed. No air fresheners to be found. Then, that meant he found an opening. He braced his stomach with his arms and ran towards the direction of the smell. It was far more welcoming than some things that he never should've seen, but he'll take it if it will lead him somewhere. He saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Just a few more steps before he remembered that he almost died falling off a cliff. He slowed to a limp in case he ever met that same fear.
Thankfully, he didn't. He was only ten feet off the grass. The tunnel led to a big reservoir, where sewage was being turned into water and electricity. In the mountains. So many questions...
He scanned the environment for anything with opposable thumbs and whirring noises. No auras. This place was automated. Time to step down and set up camp.
Later that night, he sat under a tree next to a small fire, using a squirrel's bone as a toothpick. He laid back, resting his head against a leaf pillow, staring back at the opening he just came out of.
"Man..." he sighed, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say I was trapped in s*** the whole time..."
He looked up at the stars, wondering if he could see his next move in them. He was stuck. The entire country is now hot on his tracks. And without Silvia, or Phantom Task, it would be back to his loner days, only with a bounty on his head.
"Silvia, if only you could see me now..." he muttered before extinguishing the fire. But as he was putting it out, the rising sparks started to swirl around and over him. He traced their path with their eyes, and it led to a very thick forest just beyond the reservoir's field of view. The forest sat juts under a very tall tower, illuminating the night with its numerous spotlights. Sokoto blinked out for a minute, but then he remembered.
Back in the apartment somewhere near Mt. Ogusu, they discussed plans to acquire each of them an IS. The big one, the Silver Gospel, was held up somewhere in Shibuya, currently being experimented on by a joint team from Japan, China, US, Israel, and Palestine. He has to get in there, retrieve the Gospel, and get as much info on everything else as possible. The Silver Gospel was the younger sister of the Silver Streamline, meaning if there was any chance to rescuing Silvia, it would be through Silver.
After that little revelation, Sokoto lept to his feet and darted towards the forest.
-IS ACADEMY-
For two straight days, Tabane and her team have been hunkered under the bunker, developing an algorithm to counter the Silver Streamline's defensive wall. The wall has been rewriting its code every second, and Tabane has taken extensive note of how it is rewritten. Countering it is the hard part, as the Streamline learns everything it was fending off, and rewrites itself to protect from future attacks. But they still kept trying.
"Come on!" Tabane scratched her head after attempt number 495, "What aren't we doing?!"
"We're doing everything we can to break through the wall," one of the women said, burying her face in exhaustion.
"It ain't helping one bit!" Tabane slammed her hands against the Streamline's left arm, "It's too smart for one person, I can tell you that much!"
And within that one instant, Tabane realized her solution. She hopped back to her laptop and began crazy-writing code.
"What are you saying?" a helper asked.
"It has to be a coordinated attack, though," Tabane remained focused on her computer screen.
"Meaning?" the woman was confused.
"It's a five-pronged attack," Tabane copied the code to five more files, "and we all have to be exactly one millisecond apart from each other." Then, she rapidly moved them to five flash drives.
"Are you kidding?" someone shrieked, "What are the odds of us dismantling the core?!"
"Better than our chances of catching the renegade without it," Tabane said while stuffing her helpers with the drives, "And I'll take anything above without it."
Someone else clenched her drive and stuffed it into her laptop, "We have to try," she said before giving the order, "Everybody in position."
The helpers took their places and inserted the drives. They opened the file and moved it to the core systems program. Then, they readied their copy of the algorithm and activated it. The Silver Streamline sensed it and prepared to fight against the algorithm. Once the signal was received, everyone in the room froze to await the final call.
Tabane peeked at the others' faces. She inhaled, "Ready?" All of them nodded, then turned their attention back to the Silver Streamline, which was humming in anticipation.
"Right," Tabane initiated the program, "I'm charging the algorithm again."
She launched the algorithm, and the Silver Streamline prepared its defense again. All the helpers' monitors lit up, and their hands readied to enter in the sequence displayed. Tabane continued to clack away at her station, while the Streamline tried to fend off the hack attack. It was a full ten minutes before she found a hole in the Streamline's wall.
"Now!" she screamed. Somehow, the helpers hit their keys in the exact sequence at the exact designated times. The Streamline couldn't keep up with the timing. They punched through the firewall, and delivered the virus code through to the main core.
Tabane proceeded to install the virus into the core's main component, "Almost there!" She signaled everyone to start overriding the security settings while she worked on completely wiping the system's memory. The Streamline continued to rewrite code, but it was already too late. It was repeatedly being countered by the others alone. It had no more resources to devote to protecting its inside info.
"Got it!" she said as she latched the source code onto the mainframe and initiated a factory reset.
Suddenly, an ear-splitting screech resonated throughout the island. Everyone covered their ears to try and shield themselves from the noise. Everyone except Tabane, whose nanomachines rendered her immune to everything except physical attacks.
"AAAAAGH!" one of the helpers quickly succumbed to the high pitch and fainted, foaming at the mouth. Tabane noticed this and quickly deactivated her laptop, sealing any exits and entries from within, leaving her code trapped within the core.
"That noise!" another helper tried to hang on, but slowly fell ill to the noise, "How high can it go?!"
"Hold on!" Tabane typed even faster to speed up the wipe, realizing that one more wall had to be broken. She quickly inserted another flash drive and activated the program to distract the Streamline away from the core. The noise was toned down, indicating that some of its resources went to stopping the outside threat, leaving the inside threat wide open. With one last tap on her keyboard, she activated the program, and in one instant, the noise stopped.
Everyone looked up. They slowly uncovered their ears. They only saw a dim light emitting from the Silver Streamline. It was a small message:
USER OVERRIDE. FACTORY RESET 27%.
"We...we did it..." the helpers slowly said before it got to them that there is no way to restore any of the default settings that may have remained in the IS.
They all jumped for joy, "We did it!" Half of the staff ran outside to tell everyone the good news, while the other half washed the blood out of their ears.
"I can't believe it!" someone said, "We wiped the core clean off!" as the message now read, FACTORY RESET COMPLETE. PREPARING ZERO SHIFT.
"Good. Now comes the hard part," Tabane sudenly plopped multiple tech junks on the table and attached wires to the Streamline, "I gotta outfit with the latest data and bring it up to speed on who its real opponent is."
"Wait...who gets to use it?" one of the helpers asked.
"I will..." Tabane responded while finalizing the setup process, "but I'm only going as a last resort."
They suspected something, "But, wouldn't it be wiser to-"
But Tabane just shooed them off, "Go on! Leave me alone to my masterpiece!"
They just ran off and left her alone. Once the room was settled, Tabane let off an evil grin. She cracked her knuckles and began working her magic.
-SUSAKI PRINCE HOTEL, KOCHI PREFECTURE-
It is an absolute wonder how Madoka and Autumn have gone without clawing at each others' scalps. The more they keep hearing about the renegade on TV, the more they want to dig their fingers into their brains and scratch it until they're somewhere else. Madoka actually tried that and hilariously failed. They managed to stay out of each others' personal boundaries and not cause any ruckus that might alert them to their position. All it's done however is increase the tension.
Autumn came home from shopping while Madoka stayed locked in her room.
"Ugh! What a day!" Autumn screamed as she plopped down on her futon. Still no response. She just grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels, hoping for some sort of release from this uneasy air. Usually they would be out and about, making a mess of the IS world as they traveled, but for the first time ever, they're stuck. She can't even get mad anymore Thanks to the renegade and Squall going AWOL, they don't know what to do. Autumn just sat there, while Madoka does who knows what.
At least until she opened the door and came out looking like the rings girls.
"Huh-HOLY-" Autumn freaked out, "The hell's wrong with you?"
Madoka didn't say anything. She just slumped over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. Then, she sat down on the floor...next to Autumn? WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON HERE?!
Even more bizarre is them watching a horror movie marathon. Two and a half movies in, and Madoka of all people decided to pop the question, "You ever look at the stupidest piece of work every and think, where have I seen this thing before?"
"Get off it," Autumn nudged Madoka with her knee, "We're supposed to lay off until those two can figure out how to escape..."
"I know, but..." Madoka never knew how to finish that thought. And then comes the scene required in every horror movie in existence: where the protagonists huddle together before the final fight and reassure themselves that everything will be okay, then they go in together...only to get massacred because they instantly went back to survival of the fittest instead of staying with teamwork.
Autumn threw her hands up in irritation, "Ok. I'll bite. But only because I'm thinking the exact same thing. What did he do?"
Madoka just stared at the TV, watching the blood flow before she finally answered,
"When my parents neglected me, I ran...I ran as far as I could, but then these drunk-asses start raping me."
Autumn just buried her face in her knees, "I didn't ask for your biography, idiot..."
Madoka couldn't hear her; she was far too drowned in her own memories, "Before they could do it, this kid with chicken-hair starts killing all of them. Heheh...A little kid...beating up three grown men."
"Or a punk'd lady." Autumn interjected.
"Huh?" Madoka snapped back at Autumn, who freaked out a little bit (M alwas had extreme flexibility...)
Autumn scratched her head, trying to remember the events in which a kid with chicken-hair appeared, "The only thing I remember is beating up a bunch of guys who try to gang-rape me...and getting pelted in the forehead by-" Then, it suddenly hit her. He rammed his elbow into her head and rammed it into a lamppost. When she finally came to, she awoke in an empty barrel house, where the renegade, as a little boy, sat four barrels above her. She scratched her head, wondering what happened a few hours earlier. Then she suddenly pointed a finger at him, yelling, "IT'S YOU!"
"Aye," little Sokoto said, "It is me."
"What the hell did you have to do that for?!" she griped, "I could've had them on the ropes!"
"Oh, you did," he help up what used to be ten dongs, now ten roasted sausages. To her disgust, he ate one.
"What?" he swallowed it, "Food is food!"
"Do you even know what they were doing before you butt in?!" she shrieked.
"Why do I need to know?" he said as he dragged her to a clinic. And that's where the memories ended.
"Yep," Autumn hissed through her pre-puke, "It's definitely him."
And they continued their movie marathon, hoping for a change in atmosphere once the final movie concluded.