Kaito had worn himself down until he was on his hands and knees, still trying to get the elevator open weakly, but only failing with each try. He felt numb all over. Mikuo was right about everything and even the blue haired Vocaloid had to accept it. "You're pathetic," Kaiko muttered coming out of, what seemed like, now where. Shaking her head and motioning Meito to follow.
Meito rolled his eyes as he followed after his smaller companion, moving toward the Vocaloid. "I thought you'd be a bit stronger than that." He grumbled as he reached down to pull Kaito back up to his feet.
Kaito narrowed his eyes a bit but didn't seem to want to move, ignoring Meito's efforts to get him up. "Hard to be strong when you're helpless," he muttered, making a fist and pounding on the elevator door again, another weak blow. "You wouldn't understand," he said quietly again.
The brunette glared down at the weak man at his feet. "You know, it's not just about 'poor-pitiful you' now because that psycho down there has what he wants, we're all in danger, including your friends at home!" Meito growled before reaching down and grabbing Kaito's blue scarf and using it to pull him up, glaring into his eyes. "So, you're going to help FIX this problem." He demanded, clearly annoyed.
Kaito still didn't seem that effected, eyes almost hallow as he looked through Meito. "It doesn't matter. Miku's dead. There's nothing we can do anymore. She's dead because I was an idiot and couldn't protect her and the others... There's nothing we can do," he sighed shaking his head before standing on his own, pulling his scarf back.
Meito growled before turning to the girl who was standing silently, watching them, "Kaiko, talk some sense into him before I beat the crap out of him." He commanded before storming away from Kaito, angrily taking the flask off his belt and taking a swig.
Kaiko shook her head, going to say something to Meito about drinking at that very second, but decided against it. "He's right," she said looking at her mirror image. "Your friends, your family, they're going to die if you just sit back and wait like this. I know... Miku is gone but... She might not really be gone. She's a machine like all of us. We can't technically die because we're not technically alive." She said tilting her head. "You can't save everyone but you can still protect those waiting for you."
"How?" Kaito frowned, "I can't do anything. I can't even open the stupid door," he growled in frustration, making a fist at his side.
Meito rolled his eyes as he walked past Kaito to the elevator. He simply placed his hand on the panel next to the door, and it opened with a welcoming chime. "Oh look, problem solved." He smirked slightly before taking another drink.
Kaito looked at the door, angry at...someone. He wasn't sure if he should be mad at himself or Meiko. "Now what?" He asked, "it's open but I still can't do anything. I don't know where they are or even what to do if I found them."
"Stop him from creating Zatsune, by whatever means you deem necessary," Meito responded simply. "We can escort you to the floor that Zatsune's body is being housed, seeing as that's most likely where the little maniac is heading."
"Zatsune," Kaito frowned, "what is that?"
"Zatsune is the...the thing Mikuo found," Kaiko said shaking her head. "A hidden weapon made in the image of Miku Hatsune. It's a monster."
"It alone can destroy cities double the size that this one was." Meito stated. "Which is why we need you to stop him before he has the time to put in the last piece he needs from Miku to finish his 'ULTIMATE CREATION' or whatever the hell he calls it."
"Language," Kaiko warned Meito before nodding, "he's right though. We have to stop him before he finishes it."
"What does he need something like that for?" Kaito asked, not sure what would be the point in an ultimate weapon.
"Only he knows that."
"He's crazy, who knows what goes through that madman's head" Meito said as he crossed his arms. "But enough talking about it. The more time we waste, the closer he gets to finishing." The brunette then turned and walked into the open elevator.
"Right," Kaiko said going for the elevator also, only turning long enough to look back at her counterpart. "Well?" She urged. Kaito still looked unsure but slowly nodded and went for the open doors. "Meito," Kaiko said when the three of them were in.
"Got it." He nodded before pressing a button on the panel. The doors closed and soon the elevator began its decent toward the basement.
"I still don't know what we'll do," Kaito said as he waited, feeling the whirl of the elevator as it moved. It made his stomach hurt, especially when it stopped.
"When the doors open, we'll be in a hallway," Kaiko muttered. "Go down a small flight of stairs and you'll be there. You never know what will happen but we'll do our best to be there for you too."
"And if we need them, we still have the remaining Utau that helped us before." Meito added, putting his hands in his pockets. "I'm sure Haku and Akita wouldn't mind helping to ruin that mad man's happiness"
"Not sure," Kaito muttered as the machine stopped and the doors whooshed open. "Can I ask you two a favor?"
"Of course," Kaiko nodded.
"I'll go and do whatever I can, but I want you two to stay behind. If he manages to kill me or...whatever... I want you to go back to the others."
"You think you're going out the 'tragic hero'?'" Meito sneered, "Mikuo is pretty weak on his own, I don't think you'll have much of a problem dealing with him. Besides, if we're lucky M-" He cut himself off and shook his head, "Naw, better not get any hopes up."
"What?" Kaito asked looking over at Meito with a stern look. He had some kind of odd feeling standing between the two look-a-likes. They seemed to be hiding something…
"Nothing," Kaiko said, narrowing her eyes giving Meito a warning glance.
Meito laughed nervously as the smaller girl glared at him. "Yeah, don't worry about it. We'll just see what happens and just go from there."
"Yeah," Kaiko admitted softly, leaning against the walls and waiting. Kaito, meanwhile, was going down the hall and heading for the room they'd told him about. The whole thing seemed too unreal. When the whole 'end of the world' thing had begun, he'd expected it to be difficult but not like this... Losing Miku like that and now the thing with Zat...Zatsune? Was that it? Kaito frowned as he found the door, pushing against it and peeking in quietly.
The room within was split in two by a thick glass wall. On the side closer to the door was a table surrounded by computers and monitors. On the table lay a broken form, obviously what was left of Miku Hatsune. Wires from the computers were connected to small ports hidden by her teal hair. On the other side of the room, beyond the glass wall was a girl who looked similar to the deceased Vocaloid. Her black hair was tied up in high ponytails, and she wore an outfit almost identical to the one Miku used to wear before the city had been destroyed. The only differences was that the shirt was cut to expose more chest, and all the teal accents were replaced with a dark blood red.
"Creator, Miku Hatsune has almost finished the pre-download process," Teto said running her hands along the keyboard, eyes glazed over as she worked. "Shall I proceed with the next step?" She asked, blinking a moment and glancing at the door with her eyes only long enough before looking back toward Mikuo.
"Yes, run a system test before starting the download. We want to be sure that everything will go as planned." Mikuo nodded as he moved to observe one of the monitors that was directly connected to the girl. Seeming satisfied with the reading he moved back to the large keyboard facing the black haired girl on the other side of the wall.
Teto nodded, closing her eyes and tilted her head back, opening a port in the back of her neck and connecting some kind of wires from her to the computer screens. Her eyes flickered with a hum of light and sound as she ran some kind of invisible test. "Ten percent," she said in a wavering voice, "twenty...thirty...forty..."
Mikuo watched the Utau briefly before looking to the girl on the other side of the glass. A smile spread across his face, "Finally. After all these years... Zatsune, the ultimate creation will be complete…!" He laughed.
"Scan complete," Teto said before disconnecting herself, "everything seems valid," she said looking back at Mikuo again. "Shall I begin the procedure?" She said hesitantly. Kaito flinched before making a fist. He couldn't just sit back and watch but at the same time...what could he do?
"Excellent." Mikuo smiled at Teto, "Begin the download, and when it finishes, execute the startup program." A twisted grin spread across his face as he turned back to his keyboard and tapped a few keys, "Let's not waste anytime in booting up the new Miku."
Teto nodded and typed a few things at a super inhuman speed. When finished there was a loud clicking that echoed through the room. "Ten percent," Teto said mechanically and almost sad, "estimated time until reboot process is complete... Five minutes, thirteen seconds."
"He's still standing there..." Meito growled as he stormed back to the elevator, where Kaiko was waiting. "They've started the download program and he's just sitting there letting it happen!" He barked at the girl, clearly pissed that the blue haired Vocaloid was just watching and not jumping into action.
"He's probably just scared," Kaiko said trying to stay calm, but really, she was quite annoyed at him herself. "There is a high likelihood it won't work..."
"If he takes care of the problem now there's nothing to be scared of!" Meito raged as he began pacing back and forth. "And if he doesn't get his ass in there in the next 2 minutes I'LL give him something to be scared of!"
"Meito would you be quiet," Kaiko said shaking her head. "I know he's being an idiot but... Put yourself in his place. Remember when we lost the others? He really liked her. You don't know what he's going through."
Meito glared at the blue haired girl, but stopped. He looked back to where Kaito was still standing at the doorway, "Well he needs to get moving, or he'll lose the rest of them too." He muttered.
"I know," Kaiko said, starting to leave the wall a second. Instead, she paused then went back against it. "He's going to move soon," she said shaking her head.
"What makes you so sure about that?" Meito gruffed, crossing his arms and glaring slightly at the blue Vocaloid. "He seems planted where he is to me..."
"Trust me. I know my counterpart," she said watching nervously.
Kaito didn't seem to be making any effort to move, too mesmerized by the whole thing. Then he made a fist and pushed open the door, "that's enough Mikuo," he glared, going for his shot gun.
Mikuo froze a moment before turning to look at the intruder. After a few seconds the sadistic grin returned to his face. "Well, well, well. You finally made it! I was worried you'd never make it down here." Mikuo laughed.
"Let her go," Kaito said finally finding his gun and holding it up, cocking it and waiting. He didn't think he'd ever have to use any kind of weapon against one of their own but this was a special case. "Now."
Mikuo cocked his head to the side, "Let who go?" He asked before laughing slightly, "You can't make your demands so general or I won't know who you're talking about!" He continued to laugh as he sat back in a computer chair, clearly relaxed.
"You know who I'm talking about you sick bastard," Kaito said narrowing his eyes, bring the gun up closer. "Miku. Let her go."
Mikuo sighed and shook his head, "There you go being general again! Are you trying to be confusing? Which Miku do you want?"
"There's only one Miku," Kaito said in angry annoyance. "If you don't give her to me I'll shoot you..." It was more or less a lie but Mikuo didn't have to know that.
"Psh." Mikuo shook his head, "And you're wrong again, Kaito. There is more than one Miku. There are actually two in this very room!"
"Not the way I see it," Kaito said, getting more pissed by the second. "Give her back or I'll-"
"Download complete," Teto said monotonous, eyes flickering a moment before looking at Mikuo. "Activation process begun."
Mikuo glanced to Teto a moment, before the grin from before spread across his face. "Alright then. You can have what's left of Miku Hatsune. I have no need for her body anymore." He then turned his attention to the girl beyond the glass. "Zatsune Miku is complete."
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Kaito said, closing one eye so he could aim better, shooting toward the glass a couple times in hope of shattered the glass and hitting the monster. Instead, they just bounced off or did little to no damage. "Dammit," he growled.
"Activation...fifty percent complete."
Mikuo laughed as he sat back down into his spinning computer chair, clearly amused by the Vocaloid's attempt. "You're going to have to try harder than that!" He exclaimed before knocking against the glass with the back of his knuckles. "This is a special type of glass, it'll take more than your dinky weapon to get past it."
Kaito narrowed his eyes. Mikuo was right. The hand gun wouldn't do a damn thing against the glass. He needed the laser gun or blaster. Len had it last though didn't he? He couldn't remember anymore. "Why the hell do you need something like that anyway?" He asked. Maybe he could reason with the copy.
"I simply desire to be the one who created the greatest being known to man. Or machine if you think about it in technical terms," the Miku 'clone' looked back to his black haired creation. "I'll be like a god."
"Some kind of sick god to a world of ruin," Kaito said shooting the gun again, this time it was more toward Mikuo.
"Complete," Teto said immediately before dashing forward and capturing his bullets from hitting her master. "Zatsune Miku is complete," she said in again in a robotic voice. Eyes still glazed and humming weakly.
Mikuo laughed, but then turned to watch his creation awaken. It started with a slight twitch in her fingertips. Her eye lids moved slightly before slowly opening, revealing a pair of blood red eyes. Zatsune surveyed her surroundings before finally noticing those on the other side of the glass. She froze as she stared at Kaito.
Kaito stared right back, breath hitching a moment as he just watched the girl. Now that she was awake...she was just like Miku. His Miku. Her whole appearance was different and yet it was the exact same. Like a darkened mirror of her. He seemed to forget everything going on around him as he walked forward, reaching out and resting his hand on the glass. "Miku..." He whispered with a pale expression on his face.
Zatsune stood frozen there until something finally registered in her mind. Her eyes widened as she recognized the man who seemed to know her. "Kaito..." she muttered, her lip quivering as she stumbled over to the glass, "Kaito..." she repeated. Her voice was slightly different then the original Miku. It was a higher pitch, but also somewhat scratchy.
Kaito flinched a moment, suddenly remembering it wasn't the same girl. He pulled his hand back as though he'd touched poison or something. He went for his gun, considering aiming at the girl before turning toward Mikuo, "open it!" He shouted with an angry growl. He was shaking and obviously very pissed.
The girl looked crushed as Kaito suddenly pulled away. She looked down at her feet, shaking slightly. Mikuo turned and grinned at Kaito, "What do you plan to do when I open the door, and release what my brethren think of as a weapon of mass destruction?"
"Just do it." Kaito said angry again, cocking the gun once more. "Now!"
Teto frowned looking from the creation to the creator, not sure what she should do.
Mikuo shrugged, "Alright, alright." He shook his head and turned to the keyboard to enter the pass code for the door. Once he pressed enter the door opened automatically. The black haired girl looked up at it, but didn't move an inch toward the opening.
Kaito stayed unchanging a moment before turning and grabbing the girl's arm harshly with one hand while keeping the other on the trigger. "Come on!" He said to Miku before running for the door, pulling her with him.
Teto stared a second before blinking a few times and glancing at Mikuo, "creator, do we pursue?" She asked worried.
The girl let herself be dragged, her eyes wide in fear as he pulled her out. Mikuo smiled at Teto, "Let him take her. This could prove as a good test." He chuckled, watching the Vocaloid leave with his creation.