Chapter 9: Ancient Ones

08:18 AM (Philippines Time), Wednesday May the 18th…

"… Eh… Aibou? You there?"

"Gray. Did you complete the job I charged you with?"

"Yeah… I got the data on that server thing… And it surprised me as well: who the heck set that up?"

"Someone in the "Seraphs", apparently… But that "someone" has vanished off the radar…"

"… You're going to play it again?"

"What? Ah. The memories of this space-city? Yeah."

"Man. What do you see in them? I know only you, me, and Dullahan know about them yet…"

"A warning. From them to us."

"Not too place too much power in one spot, ya mean?"

"Correct. I'd rather phrase it as "do not give too much power to a heartless entity"…"

Eisei stepped into a stone-built room somewhere which was pretty much unlit yet it was very big: the walls were made of dull brown stone and so were the ground and the ceiling: he found someone in front of him giving him the back and looking at some 3D display.

"I know what power brings along… Temptation, avarice, greed… My Kuroban family has experienced tragedies over and over again over the course of countless generations… And I, Kuroban Howsad, the current living heir… Will make sure to learn from the colossal mistake which almost cost them their life to the "Creators"… Those who granted our civilization with the basis to develop our advanced technology…"

"Man. That display always frightens me ever since we discovered it over a month and a half ago…"

Kuroban Howsad turned around: he was about a meter and eighty tall or taller and he seemed to be on his 20s given what could be seen of his face: he wore armor and helmet over his body.

The helmet design was compact and thick: it included silver plating around the neck and its base, a main purple and black coloring, black shades and a green symbol which looked like a unicursal hexagram colored pale green and having some unknown runes written on its circular edge painted on the forehead.

He wore some curious armor over his body: it was colored with purple tones on the outer edges but black on the center: the same forehead emblem was set on the middle of his chest.

His shoulders were black ellipsoids with purple-colored outer edges and having some other green fluorescent runic symbols drawn over them: his arms "skin" was black in color and the armor over the forearms had an external golden rim from which three parallel golden lines extended until the fingertips.

The feet armor started at the knees and used a tint of purple for the outer edges but the main armor kept on using the black motif: silver-colored lines extended parallel to each other until the feet fingertips.

The unarmored body "skin" was also black in color and had intricate green fluorescent patterns running down its sides, front and rear.

"Net Navis and humans… Can they coexist?" A crackled voice which sounded like that of an elder man's rang out.

Both focused on the display: it looked like a man dressed with a strange tunic covering the whole of the body and head which had a "arcane" or "alien" look to it: the man could be past his 50s even, and he was surrounded by data: the image flickered: the image then flickered between a man and a Navi resembling Slur: the image was transparent and of a blue color.

"This alien city's systems have been collecting all radio and TV and satellite data Earth has streamed and which have shot past Pluto…"

"I know that, aibou… And its central computer has built up an idiom database which goes on updating as more and more data is collected, compressed and stored… To think this was hidden inside of the mountains… These "Creators" start to remind me of the Forerunners…"

"No wonder. This is "Kyutora"… A planet smaller than Mars in another region of the Milky Way yet… A Time-Space entrance allows one to reach it by entering the Kuiper Belt past Pluto… That's what we did last summer: we built a space-station with thrusters, entered it, endured cold-sleep and we reached this place in December… Now we can use machines which create Time-Space "tunnels" for instantaneous trip to Earth by exploiting a sub-dimension of Time-Space…" Kuroban shrugged.

"And when ya told Slur… She provided some data… Some coordinates she'd carried along… And something named "Duo's Crest" which apparently is ID data to allow one to interact with the systems here and get free access… But only you, I and "Dullahan" know that by now: the others don't know anything." Eisei muttered.

The image was replaced by another man, younger than the first.

"What this world needs is an existence capable of controlling its chaotic Network." He stated.

"Ours is also chaotic but luckily we don't have the skill or foolishness to build such a thing… Like "it"…" Eisei gulped.

Another man appeared behind them: he looked a bit older.

"Duo shall control this world's network from the Universe…" He announced.

"There… "Duo"… The "Cybernetic God"… Shot past Earth 2,350 years ago and is now over 470 light-years from Earth… Luckily enough!" Eisei felt a shudder go down his spine.

"I know, Gray."

"This place gives me the creeps like the Mu Continent."

"Yeah. Luckily there isn't a "Cryptum" containing some ancient being."

"I know. I've read both "Cryptum" and "Primordium"… This reboot of the saga's back-story is deeply interesting. It gives more insight into the Forerunners themselves and the ancient Humans… Plus on the origins of the "Flood"…"

"And with Halo 4 coming out this year, too… I guess there'll be big news on this year's E3 fair…"

"Chut. It's showing up."

"Yikes."

Another image appeared displaying what looked like a rocket: its design was both alien and futuristic.

Some spires retreated around the main body which was cylindrical and it had six small rockets attached on each side.

The other top half looked like a sphere or globe protected by a trapeze-like covering, leaving an opening on the top were a half-cone shape could be seen.

The spacecraft lifted off and its six rockets detached after a while: the main rocket detached once the craft had exited the atmosphere.

The trapeze-like covering split in six pieces and also detached thus revealing the next shape: it resembled a sarcophagus.

It divided in three pieces and the last component was revealed.

The last component had two shapes: three quarters of it had a stalactite form while the other quarter was a pyramid made of various circles piled each on top of the other which turned smaller in size as they reached the top: the first part had a bluish color while the other had a rather gray metallic color.

The object shone and a stream of blue light surrounded it until it assumed the shape of a comet.

"This is it… "Duo's Comet"… The thing which is plunging deeper and deeper into the Milky Way…" Eisei nervously muttered.

"This planet's network is following a faulty evolution: it is a civilization which cannot exist. I shall remove any Network civilization which harms the Universe." An ominous voice echoed out of nowhere: it did sound somewhat masculine yet it lacked any real emotions to begin with.

"The voice of "Duo"…! It's enough to freeze you on the spot."

"I know. No wonder why even Slur feared it."

Some rings of energy appeared and focused on the tip of the comet and a small sphere of energy formed: a beam shot forward while leaving some rings along the way: it hit the side of the planet and a reddish mass engulfed it.

"Worse than the Death Star, even…"

There was an explosion sound, and, although they were surrounded by static, Eisei shielded his eyes.

"Fuck."

The image cleared and they saw a kind of flying city in the shape of a dome.

"This is where we are at." Kuroban reminded him.

"I know."

"What we created was not… an administrator… It was a God…! It has become a Cybernetic God…!" A voice announced.

"Hence the title Slur gave it… The "Creators" came up with it… And it's fitting…"

They eyed the city landing within a mountain range in another planet: most of the surrounding area was covered by glaciers and ice.

"Net Navis and humans…! Can they coexist…? Are we really faulty existances…?" The first man wondered.

"Not really… The problem is that you gave "Duo" too much power and he got "God complex"… And got self-centered as well…"

"Indeed. Hence what I said: giving too much power to a heartless and mechanical existence will bring disgrace…"

The image flickered until it resumed to the one showing one of those men and a Net Navi which were overlapping each other: the Navi vanished and the man fell into his fours while panting heavily.

"The experiments…" Eisei trailed off.

The Navi appeared in front of the man surrounded by a green column of light: it resembled Slur but the main difference was that it had a mask and yellow eyes and its body design was slightly different as well since it seemed to be of a male design instead yet it was androgynous.

"They really designed "gallant" Navis… White, greens, yellows… And those tunic-like bodies… It makes them look advanced, indeed…"

… Master. Your body shall not… bear more than this…!" The Navi announced.

"I shall not desist…! A future in which I and we can fuse…! It shall definitely come to happen!"

"And this was an attempt to create "Cross Fusion" which Golden Star then perfected… Slur must've known of something and then gave them the idea, I take it…"

"… Yeah... I guess that." Kuroban formed a smug smile, surprisingly enough.

"What's with ya?" Eisei looked nervous.

"Oh don't mind me. Just a fleeing mood."

"If ya say so…"

"Do not abandon hope…! Into the civilization that will be born on this world on the future…! We shall pass our will into them…!"

The man had tried to stand up only to fall face-down into the ground.

"Master!"

The image was interrupted again: it resumed and it showed a close-up of the Navi.

"Master… I am… Navis who have lost their masters… Cannot exist."

The Navi was deleted right in front of their eyes.

"I do see." A familiar voice rang out.

"YEA~RGH! The Didact! It's come to punish us!" Eisei suddenly jumped off the floor, scared.

"Oh come on! Gray! You've been reading the Halo novels again late at night and now your imagination plays trick on you. That's Slur."

"Wha! You let her come?"

"Of course. To discuss this stuff."

"Indeed."

"I'm outta here~!"

"Oh come on… Gray. You've got a long, long way ahead of you before you can become a mature man. My bad, Slur. Gray can behave like a 10 year old brat from time to time."

"It matters not. Let us get to the point, young Kuroban."

"Sure…"

Slur showed up from the left as the lighting return to normal and the display vanished: now there was a small pinkish/greenish spheroid of energy about 30cm tall floating that same distance from the ground and from Kuroban left there: Eisei had run off towards the south and he'd dropped an USB pen-drive.

"Oh yeah. The data on the Seraph investigation…"

"Seraph investigation?"

"There's something I need to tell you beforehand."

"Go ahead."

"Someone in the Seraphs set up a very well hidden server…"

"What for?" She merely lifted the right eyebrow.

"To store… past Navis' data. And by that I mean… Fire Man, Stone Man, Bomber Man and such… The list is large. It involves those prototype Navis and criminal Navis whom you used 2 years ago."

"Hum. Then it must have been the same we found when we were attempting to rebuild WWW Navis… I tried to find it again with Zero on that summer but it had been moved. Back then I did not pay much attention to it: finishing Zero was our top priority."

"Well then. My own investigations insofar point to someone within the "Seraphs" but it wasn't the top guys. It wasn't the previous leader, either, yet I did find that server and used it to rebuild "Dullahan" and Styx. And then… Plant Man and Beast Man: I assigned the two of them to "Dullahan" for that mission which failed… A little test: it wasn't intended to be serious… But after that the server vanished and I couldn't find it again."

"So someone was controlling who accessed that server and after a while it got moved to make it hard to find…"

"Yeah… It was hidden in a website named "Reverse UN"… Some conspiracy theory page… And if you clicked in the black-stained Earth drawing then you got prompted a username and password… Those are "ruler" and "control"… Once you do that you get access to a "preview" of the server showing the first 5 ones… You want to see more, pay 5000 Z in an anonymous manner using Pay-Pal…"

"Hum. Mercenary server…"

"But Gray snuck inside and could see the whole list. Heck, even Navis you've already rebuilt like Freeze Man or Dark Man are included."

"So the owner doesn't care if the data has already been used: they retain it to create more profit… How much do they ask for one batch?"

"1,000,000 Z."

"One million? Hmpf. Greedy fools…" She formed a smug smile.

"Totally. It'd seem the pay system is new and was still being implemented when both your org and mine stumbled upon it."

"We were fortunate, then… The problem is… If someone else fins that then they could rebuilt any Navi they'd want to… As far as I remember the data had been assembled in a pretty neat manner… Yet most lacked memory files… That is hard to intercept and keep…"

"Yet Beast Man and Plant Man did remember the past."

"The Plant Man we rebuilt did as well. Somehow he locked out the memory-purge program and got loose. Legato deleted them because they' had gone berserk."

"I know. Well. According to Gray's recent data… Five bunches of data were bought by someone as recently as 3 days ago… Drill Man, Desert Man, Elec Man… Fire Man… And, lastly, Quick Man…"

"Hum. I see. Maybe the "Lobby" is involved."

"Sheesh. Those "lobby" jerks… Making life harder for everyone, trying to smear our names and all… Once we've got enough data of their inner workings then we're going all out and we'll leave them powerless. It's about time those damned fools who toy with fire get the lesson."

"Indeed. These fools may trigger a new era of terrorism even."

"And that won't benefit anyone."

"Of course. Well. Regarding "Duo"… I can try searching for information here… Maybe if we upgraded the "portal" device it could be projected into space and have it expel the comet into the core area of the Milky Way to make sure he'll never reach Earth again."

"I agree with you on that, Slur… You're still keeping the info of our presence here under wraps, right?"

"Save for a very few, yes… And "those very few" only make up 6 humans and Navis in the organization, I included…"

"Good. What about NASA?"

"The 5 men who knew it have kept it quiet. Only 3 men and women in the NSA know it. I am speculating here, but maybe one of the high commands has personally briefed the President into the matter… In short: at the max only 10 humans outside of our org and yours know the truth. The Net Police knows nothing."

"Yeah. It isn't my intention to discredit the ISS program. It's needed if we want to know how human bodies interact to long trips in space: in our case we barely felt it thanks to the "inertial drive" the "Ark" used and our cold-sleep…" Kuroban nodded in agreement.

"Ah yes. I would like of you to help us in searching for a potentially dangerous character… A Latvian…"

"Latvian? Could that be the same man Ernst is trying to find?"

"Here is the data…"

Slur formed an e-mail icon in the air and Kuroban's PET (colored black and white and with his forehead emblem on it) beeped: he read something and slowly nodded in agreement.

"Same man, alright. Be careful. If you thought that the Demon who kept Ernst prisoner for 3 years was enough of a Demon then they're pale compared to this one. We should be fortunate this lesser one never yielded Ernst to that greater Demon out of arrogance and smugness."

"The last thing we need! We are doubling our efforts to locate him: last trail was 3 days ago in Las Vegas. But he could be in Japan already: we must get a hold of them quick before something happens. I have not told any of the agents yet. I do not want to put pressure on them."

"Good. We agree on this. Let's exchange data and try to narrow down this man's location. The sooner the better!" Kuroban suggested.

"That is excellent, young Kuroban. I shall be going back to Earth. There is much work to do."

"Sure thing. I'll contact Ernst to get an update too."

"Let us meet again… And hope we can avoid a tragedy from happening!"

09:50 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Hum. Nothing unusual in this level…"

"Fight me."

"Huh? Hum! "Barbatos", was it?"

"You're Yamato Man. Fight me."

"Hmpf! Fine."

Yamato Man had been patrolling a level of the Reverse Internet when "Barbatos" called out to him and landed.

"Hmpf! Such a fool like you can't rival to their power. Out of the way, you fool! "Dullahan" will bring this man down!"

"What? You! You lowlife! I remember you!"

"Of course: we did have a clash not too long ago."

"Hmpf. But I mean from the past."

"… The past? You wouldn't happen to be THAT man… Right?"

"I'm the man! And I've got a score pending with you lowlife…"

"Yamato Man? This is Slur."

"Slur – sama."

"Ignore them. Pull back. There is job to do. Urgent job."

"Roger! By the way, I think I've seen that "Dullahan" man somewhere else time ago…"

"Ah yes. Their real name is… Laser Man."

"Dullahan", the voice that had been challenging "Barbatos", turned out to be Laser Man, who'd taken up a fighting stance while "Barbatos" drew the sword and held it ready: Yamato Man had stepped some paces away when Slur contacted him over the radio: Slur cleared up the real ID of Laser Man and he shrugged.

"I am returning."

"Good."

"Cross Laser!"

"Hah! Sword "Instant"! It deflects it all!"

"Che."

"Die!"

"Star Breaker Laser!"

Laser Man tried to attack while shooting two lasers to form a "cross" shape but "Barbatos" used the sword to deflect both in random angles and directions: Laser Man growled and then aimed skywards while shooting a reddish laser: a rift opened and some burning meteors fell down from above to bombard the ground around "Barbatos" and form Magma Panels: "Barbatos" ignored those and rushed for Laser Man while aiming the sword: Laser Man suddenly brought forth his hands' squares and shot two large bluish laser beams which hit the armor's chest and pushed "Barbatos" back to make him fall into the ground: he growled but then gasped as a vermillion ring of energy expanded from his chest and outwards for an instant: a low-tuned howl could be picked if one paid enough attention as well.

"Shit."

"Hmpf! I see." Laser Man seemed to guess what that was about.

"Shaddup, you damned puppeteer."

"Hmpf! Puppeteer? If I had had such abilities then things would've been easier back then: Styx wouldn't have failed to keep that man's power integrated on him and by now he wouldn't have betrayed our new Master!" He grumbled.

"I dunno what you mean and I don't need to!" "Barbatos" howled as he got back to his feet.

"Fool. Die."

"You die! Destroy Punch!"

"Hmpf! Come! And be destroyed!"

"DIE~!"

"Mega Laser!"

Laser Man aimed both hands forward and began to create an arch of energy flowing between each hand's palms: it gave way to a sphere and then to a large thick beam which hit "Barbatos" on the chest and made some of the armor collapse inwards: two reddish eyes glowed there for a second before the impact made "Barbatos" fall into a Magma Panel which melted part of the armor around the right hip revealing black body "skin" and a thin purple line crossing vertically across the center of it.

"Hmpf!" Laser Man sounded smug.

"Damn you~…"

"Laser Man. Stop the circus. There's job." Kuroban ordered through his radio in an icy tone of voice.

"Huh! Prince, sir…!"

"Don't think I don't know what you just said." He warned.

"I s-shall offer no apologies!" He began to plead.

"Whatever the friggin' ever. Just move your hide over here."

"R-roger, sir. You were lucky, "Barbatos"!"

Laser Man grumbled and stepped into the "portal" behind him as "Barbatos" got to his feet and grumbled: his armor quickly regenerated but not before some "pulsation" rang out: he growled and quickly ran off towards the edge of the platform to drop out: none of them noticed a cloaked figure looking on from above.

"Oh my. That was HIM… And I think I know what was going on." They muttered in a manly voice.

"Oh yeah?" Another man asked.

"Yes, my Master… The Incarnation of Destruction…"

"What the fuck?"

"It would be wise to retreat if we want to pull our strategy."

"Of course. I've got brains. Heh, heh, heh."

The figure escaped the area but had been spotted by End Angel who frowned and seemed to be thinking.

"… That man's voice… Could it be…? Yeah… I'm sure my hunch is on the right track… Then that'd mean… That they're in the nation. And I've got a hunch of who the cloaked Navi is… Those other 5 in the list were red herrings, I guess… Time to report…"

"Stop right there, kiddo! You will hand over the schematics! Because I say so!"

"More proxies? How foolish. Why should a mere field agent like I have the schematics? Do you think the receptionist of an office knows the safe's codes?"

A black Heel Navi showed up behind End Angel while wielding a Vulcan 3 Battle Chip: End Angel merely glanced at the guy over his right shoulder while fuming.

"I don't care! I'll get your Operator's PET!"

"How foolish. You don't know anything. A proxy. A grunt. I'll send you to meet your folk in the Beyond! Hrah!

End Angel turned around in a quick manner and drew his blade which he plunged through the Heel Navi to delete them: he sheathed it and grumbled under his breath while looking annoyed and nervous.

"Hmpf. Fools, the lot of them… Not worth our time or effort! Let's go report and try to get a hold of that man's whereabouts or else… Shit. If my memory doesn't fail me… We'd be facing a terrific Demon… Which would make the "Shuuen no Mono" look pale in comparison when it comes to "evil" and "malice"… Fuck."

End Angel quickly flew away and landed next to one of the "nodes": he knocked into it with the right hand and immediately enough Zero showed up there.

"You want to tell us something?"

"Yeah. I just spotted a cloaked Navi and I've heard their voice before, when I looked up old registers of previous battles…" End Angel went straight to the point.

"So you mean someone's rebuilt a Navi from the past. Could be the mysterious "server" Boss told me about…"

"Problem isn't the Navi per se but the guy behind that Navi. The human who owns it own…"

"Could it be…?"

"Yeah. The guy you're investigating."

"Shit. Boss was right. The guy's in Japan. And somehow got his hands on a Navi of that "server"… We gotta get in the move."

"I know. That's why I warned you. I think you should try to issue a general alert… That man's extremely dangerous. Could easily hire some grunts to attack a location somewhere as a distraction… Point is: we mustn't be fooled by those distractions."

"Fine. I'll contact Blues: we need to the Net Police's Cyber CID help to spread the alarm. But in a manner that it doesn't start up mass panic: that wouldn't benefit us." Zero grumbled.

"You've got a point. I'm going to report to the Prince immediately: he'll surely think of something as well."

"I don't doubt it. I'll start working on things right now."

"OK. I'm leaving."

"Do your best."

We better hurry or else…! Someone will be in danger! GREAT DANGER!