Chapter 6: Loose ends
10:04 AM (Japan Time), Sunday December the 18th…
"… Coming… Huh? Whoa! Subaru – kun!"
"Surprised? I decided to drop by."
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah… So you're gonna do "it" with Gino~?"
"Ox is gonna beat 200 Viruses alone."
"WHA~T? Then I'll beat up 250 Viruses alone~! That jerk! That smug-faced! That nitwit! That twit! Wait for me~!"
"Whoa. You sure know how to shake him off."
"Obviously. Bring up their rivalry… Mind if I take a seat?"
"Of course not… Go ahead."
Subaru stepped into a metallic room somewhere which belonged to Tsukasa: it had a bed, a table, two chairs and a cupboard plus a small cubicle which obviously was the bathroom.
A large poster of the Moon had been set on the ceiling above the bed along with a map of the Solar System: the table had a doll of some kind of robot as well.
He seated on the chair while Tsukasa seated atop his bed and placed the clutches nearby as well: he looked somewhat nervous at something and Subaru frowned.
"Tsukasa – kun…? What's the matter…?" He called out.
"Eh… Well. That's… Hum… I should've told you, but…" Tsukasa muttered.
"No, no. You needn't tell me what happened in Choina."
"It's not about that, it's about Hikaru…" He trailed off.
"Yeah, I know that he took over back then and…"
"But… Something's different…!"
"The chip implant keeps him restrained…" Subaru insisted.
"Huh… No, that's not it, either. I felt it ever since the day before we met again… Something's been different…!"
There was a knock on the door and both looked up.
"C-come in."
"Good morning."
"Master!"
"Dr. Lartes…!"
Dr. Lartes was a man on his mid 20s who had blackish combed hair and his eyes' irises were brown: he appealed as being over a meter and eighty tall approximately.
He wore a white medic's coat along with jeans and brown shoes: he also had a pair of reading glasses on.
"Sorry for showing so suddenly, but I wanted to tell Tsukasa the results of the analysis he requested." He announced.
"Blood analysis?" Subaru tried to guess.
"No. EEG analysis."
"EEG…? An analysis involving Hikaru?"
"It was supposed to involve Hikaru, but… I've reached a conclusion which I've worked upon to see how to sustain it and when I properly though about it then… It made sense." Dr. Lartes sighed.
"So, sir, the results…?" Tsukasa asked.
"Well. Ever since you came onboard… Hikaru didn't exist in your brain anymore. He hasn't been there. He was forcibly removed by an external force. Someone removed him. The chip implant has turned out to be pointless from the start."
"So that's how it was…"
"Hi-Hikaru's gone...? But… When could that have happened?"
"That week's Thursday…" Tsukasa sighed.
"Thursday? We met on a Friday, right?"
"Yeah. And I had returned on Tuesday. On Wednesday I went to Dream Island to breathe some fresh sea air and Hikaru suddenly said he wanted to switch for a few minutes. Given how I owe my mental sanity to him then I didn't protest. Hikaru returned control to me after about 5 minutes and said he'd had his dose of sea air. But he sounded… evil. Like he'd thought of something… I could feel it for the rest of the day. He was eager… He was looking forward to something. He was thrilled. He didn't bother me again that day." Tsukasa began.
"He surely detected someone coming and somehow realized the person wished to speak with him…" Dr. Lartes brought the right hand to his chin and looked thoughtful.
"Yeah. And then, on Thursday… Hikaru was all jumpy, like it was the day a new film came out into theaters and he wanted to see it no matter what yet I know he never cared for those. So I resigned myself and went out to the same spot, overlooking the "ghost ship"… And that's when it happened: I heard footsteps behind me and, without warning… Someone loomed over me and brought down a steel rod on top of my head! I was out cold for almost the whole day… I made my way back to the orphanage somehow and rested… I decided that Dream Island was no longer a nice place to be at and such I made my decision to go see you Subaru – kun. I didn't give it much thought, yet, checking my mail, I found one in the bin which was specifically addressed to Hikaru!" He explained.
"Who sent it?"
"The address was a fake but it read "dm lostkingdom com"… And I checked that "lostkingdom" could be split into the English words of "lost" and "kingdom"… And in Japanese those are "ushinawatta" and "oukoku" respectively… Yet I dunno who "DM" is or was or if it had a meaning to begin with. Can you pick up from this point, Subaru – kun and Dr. Lartes? I have a bad feeling about it…"
"Lost kingdom… Lost legacy…! DM… Darkus… Mors…! No! That was a hellish fake name…!" Subaru began to look like his anger was rising, for once.
"Subaru!" Dr. Lartes commanded.
"Ah! I… apologize, Master." He suddenly snapped out of it.
"I know none of us liked what that guy did but that's no reason to lose your composure like that." He scolded.
"I am sorry, Master. It won't happen again."
"Good."
"Darkus Mors? Who's that?" Tsukasa asked.
"That was the guy's alias! His real name is… Prince Kuroban Howsad of the long-extinct On'Setsu Kingdom…!" Subaru made a grimace.
"Whoa! A prince!"
"Yeah. A prince… But he's not like Solo, a modern-day descendant of the Mu Empire… No…! That man… He overcame "death"… And "time"…! He lives on… 4,000 years after the demise of his kingdom!"
"E~H?" Tsukasa actually jumped off the bed outta the surprise.
"Sadly, that's true."
"H-h-h-how's that possible?"
"You know that human consciousness, in its simplest form, is just the interchange of electrical signal over the neural pathways of the brain, right? They realized that. And built a system into which to transplant a human consciousness as a program while storing it and preserving it! The vessel, the so-called "Ultimate Orb", was designed to be indestructible and to resist the passing of time, being protected against decay…! And Gino - kun happened to find it some time ago during a mission for "Dealer" which was the spark that ignited the fire!"
"Gi-Gino – kun… Was an agent of "Dealer"…?"
"Yeah! That's correct. King sent him to a faraway base occupied by some guerilla or militia and ended up stumbling into a sealed underground shrine where that thing was being kept… He touched it and became a slave to Kuroban: the jerk transplanted his consciousness file into Gino – kun's brain and used his body!"
"W-whoa!"
"He then retrieved the pieces of the orb which had been dismantled and split by the Mu Empire after their triumph… He lured us into their base and fought me head-to-head. Yet he almost killed me using a terribly powerful technique…! Boss managed to hack his bloody orb and forcibly forced him back inside! But the orb vanished… And we couldn't find it. The only thing left behind was Gino – kun, free from the control… He didn't have anywhere to back to so we brought him in…"
"So that's how Gino – kun ended here…! But if that Kuroban was the culprit, how did he do it? I mean, he lost the body and became trapped inside of his own artifact again, right?" Tsukasa frowned.
"True. Yet, a few days before we met again… Misora – chan was abducted and a ransom notice told us to come to an old abbey in France's Normandy coast. That place was a trap which I barely escaped alive. And with Burai's help we then placed some pieces of the puzzle together at last…! That guy had planned it from the very start! He had designed a new body using genetic tech…! And he's still alive…!"
"T-then… That's trouble, right?"
"Yeah. Far more than Hyde and his new punk."
"But where does Hikaru…"
"Come into this? Kuroban seemed to have made research before jumping into the scene. He could've learnt of Hikaru. Maybe he wanted someone to teach him better on how this world works. He's still half-way between his era and our era, after all. His Japanese is somewhat lacking in some spots. And what better way to ensure a backup that having someone who loves doing evil things with you? That must be why he contacted Hikaru!"
"Aha… I see… And Hikaru knew what was going to happen… But… Even if he split his consciousness… How could he force him to inhabit a human body? Kuroban's mind is like a program being run by his orb and the brain as secondary means, right…?"
"Hmmm… I'm stuck there." Subaru admitted.
"… Cyborg body." Dr. Lartes muttered.
"Huh? What's that, Master?"
"A cancelled project of Boss… It was supposed to be a human body fitted with a wholly electronic brain and implants on the CNS to help decode the instructions from it… So, you see, Kuroban could've found those files when hacking the mainframe and used them for Hikaru. And that means that Hikaru now legally is a normal human… Like he was your twin brother, even…" Dr. Lartes explained.
"Hikaru is… a human… a separate person…!"
"And this solves the enigma. By the way, what did the email itself say? Do you have it?"
"… "Come out tomorrow morning. Go to Dream Island and look at the ship. Switch. I have an offer for you. DM." … That's what it said."
"I see. Well… We won't have to worry about Hikaru messing with your brain anymore but about what he and Kuroban can spring up… And let's not forget about Hyde and the punk, either, but we can leave those up to the Satella Police. Hyde won't come up with something way too complicated on his own… He'll likely show up when he sees a ruckus to try to fight us again." Dr. Lartes told them.
The door suddenly opened and closed: Kiboyama had run in and looked both terrified and shocked given his white face: some slow pacing and a breathing sound could be heard walking down the corridor.
"It c-c-c-c-came~! They want to use me again! Subaru – kun! Do something about them! Please~!"
"W-what's going on, Giro – kun?"
"Hand over the body…! Hand over the body…!"
"No way! Kuroban's here? Wait! Why would he want to use you again? It makes no sense at this point!"
"Huh? True."
"… OMEGA!" Dr. Lartes yelled.
"… Aw man! Doc! That wasn't funny!" Omega laughed.
"You twit! You scared Gino to death! Come and apologize to him!"
"Ah! But he was doing nasty stuff, too."
"By all the…!"
Dr. Lartes violently opened the door and heard metallic footsteps running down: he cursed and slammed the door shut while apparently giving chase to Omega: Kiboyama sighed in relief and dropped into the ground while clutching his chest with the right hand.
"What fright!"
"Omega – san…!" Subaru grumbled.
"Mwah, hah, hah. That was a brilliant guy's idea, ya see~!"
War Rock suddenly appeared out of nowhere and showed Kiboyama what looked like a Polaroid: he gasped and began to utter something undecipherable while using his hands to signal denial.
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"
"What's that? Huh? Che. Not this again!"
Subaru snatched the photo from him and saw that it was a photo edited to make it look like Tsukasa and Kiboyama were about to share a kiss: Subaru got a twitch over his right eye and ripped the Polaroid into pieces which he tossed into the garbage bin.
"Boss will hear of this. And he'll explode, too."
"Explosion Man, then!"
"What's this whole scandal?" Someone asked over an interphone installed next to the bed.
"Boss. Rock did it again."
"By all the… What did the jerk do this time?"
"Disguise Omega – san as Kuroban and give Gino – kun a fright and then come up with a Polaroid to make it look like Gino – kun and Tsukasa – kun are a couple." Subaru listed.
"WAR RO~CK!" The man roared.
"Yell Man, like Omega says!"
"I'M GONNA GO DOWN THERE AND LOCK YOU UP IN THE SERVE~R! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THE HARASSAMENT YOU DO TO KIBOYAMA, FUTABA AND SUBARU~! HEAR ME~?"
"Tune Moon Ace's newest extravaganza!"
"Grfjtx!"
"Run." Subaru icily told War Rock.
Some armored footsteps rang out and War Rock gasped: he warped out and seemingly tried to escape.
"COME HERE~! I'VE EXPLODED! NOTHING IS GONNA STOP ME~! NO – ONE HARRASES AND BULLIES OTHERS UNDER MY WATCH YOU MORON! YOU FOOL! YOU JERK! YOU TWIT! YOU BULLY!"
"By all the… This is turning into the Fools' Ship again." Subaru looked exasperated and about to shatter from all pressure.
"Someone help us…" Tsukasa sighed in defeat.
"What can we do?" Kiboyama asked.
"Hope that we'll find a way to close this mess. Maybe if we lock War – Rock and Omega – san up… That could help War Rock get a lesson on being checked upon because no one has effectively managed to keep him on check save for that Corvus & Virgo duo…"
"Let's hope so…" Kiboyama grimly muttered.
"And let's hope no – one believes in such photos."
"Of course not… They're already fed up with that, actually." Subaru relived them.
"That's a good point, I'd say…"
"Well. It always depends on who you ask, if you want my opinion, Tsukasa – kun… Man. What a morning."
"Totally."
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Catch me, Yell Man!"
"This guy…!"
"Over 'ere, Dr. Bones!"
"This guy…!"
"BEHAVE ALREADY~!"
"Heh, heh, heh!"
"Lovely." The three of them grimly muttered.
"O-oi! Blood! What do we do?"
"Not sure… I guess we're supposed to help Boss and Dr. Lartes…"
"Uh-huh… Looks like it…"
"Let's go, then! I'll help Boss. You help Dr. Lartes!"
"R-roger!"
"And now Sigma – san and Blood need to give them a hand to fully stop those two…! What craziness!" Subaru groaned.
"Isn't this curse ever gonna end?" Tsukasa moaned.
"I'm afraid not…" Kiboyama cursed.
"Jeez."
"Over here and over there~!"
"Up there and down there~!"
"War Rock! Enough!"
"Did ya say somethin', Brad Shad? My ears are burnin'!"
"OMEGA~!"
"Yell Man and Hysteria Man showed up there~!
"Sir Omega, sir! Be reasonable, sir!"
"Yo! Doc House XX! Dissect Bully Bull Ox!"
"T-this FOOL!"
"T-this MORON!"
"Yo! Rock! Let's go play Jumping Mad at the Central Hub!"
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. OK! By Origin and Ratatosk!"
"Where the heck did he dig those names from?" Tsukasa grumbled.
"Dunno. Guess a 21st century game." Subaru rolled his eyes.
"They seem to live half-way between that century and ours even."
"No wonder."
"Nebbie Grey is gonna paint Hyde pink!"
"And Hikaru is gonna shave that neo-punk ninja~!
"Oi! War Rock! Stop right there!"
"Sir Omega, sir! Please! End this, sir!"
"What a prelude to the year 2206, really."
"How lovely!" Kiboyama groaned.
"We're doomed."
The three of them groaned in defeat while the ruckus kept on…