As Lucy's senses slowly drifted into focus, she discovered that she was lying in what felt like a bed. The soft cushion around her head certainly felt like a pillow to her otherwise distorted perception; and the thin fabric draped over her was so warm and comforting it must have been a bed sheet. She opened her eyes only a crack, but still had to shield them with her hand from the filtered light above. Bit by bit, she reopened her eyes, allowing her irises time to adjust. Once they did, she found herself staring at a single light fixture on a blank ceiling. She pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her body felt like it was made of lead. The rest of the room was covered in white floor tile and wall paint. She took in the details, surmising it was some sort of medical ward. Her gaze drifted to the left. There she saw a line of beds occupied by Kohta and Mayu, with Nyu and Yuka in two makeshift cribs on the end. All of them seemed to be resting peacefully. Both panic and relief at the sight of this forced any lingering fatigue from Lucy.
"Good. You're finally awake," a voice called out. Lucy turned to the voice and saw FOX standing in the doorway, his combat fatigues replaced with some kind of uniform. It resembled a regular military uniform; only it was a dark aqua instead of green. And instead of repels and medals, a single emblem of a giant fortress wall with guard outposts on both ends and a giant "J" in the middle sat on the chest over his heart and on his sleeve. Lucy tried to extend her vectors in self-defense, but found nothing happened. "I'm sorry, but I had to give you a sedative to neutralize your vectors," FOX said, reading the concern on Lucy's face when she failed to activate them. "Don't worry. It'll only last a few hours."
"Why would you do that?" Lucy asked, not masking her disdain. FOX walked over to Lucy's bedside, pulled up a nearby chair, and sat down in it.
"We have a lot of explaining to do to you and your family. And we need you to be open-minded about what we tell you. So you'll have to forgive us a little protection," FOX answered calmly.
"And how exactly am I supposed to defend myself...FOX?" Lucy made sure to add just the right amount of sour tone in mentioning his name. FOX merely smiled.
"I forgot we haven't been properly introduced. FOX is just my codename in the field. Why don't you call me by my real name? I'm Kosuke Irabi," Kosuke said with a small bow, which Lucy returned only out of politeness.
"What is this place?" Lucy asked, in a somewhat friendlier tone.
"I think I should wait till your family is awake to tell you that. You all need to know this," Kosuke replied seriously.
"And why are they out in the first place? And what did you do to me for that matter?" Lucy demanded.
Kosuke looked down, suddenly ashamed of himself. "I'm afraid we can't have you knowing exactly where we are, so we had to knock out the girl. The boy, if you remember, was already unconscious when we found you. As for you, you were being difficult, so I did what I had to. It's actually neat trick. I just put my vector in the part of you that controls REM and non-REM sleep. I vibrate them just a bit, and it knocks you out for a few hours."
"Sorry if I don't find it all that neat," Lucy spat back. Kosuke gave her a truly pitiful look, and Lucy felt like he was genuinely feeling remorse for how she'd been treated. Whether she knew this due to his expression or by their shared diclonius link, she did not know.
"I really am sorry, but you have to trust us," Kosuke pleaded. Lucy couldn't think of a quip this time. Guiltily, she found herself examining his face, thinking to herself that he was generally handsome. However, she quickly turned away such thoughts. She heard stirring next to her, and turned in time to see both Mayu and Kohta pushing themselves up into a sitting position. Mayu looked fine for the most part, but Kohta looked rather pale. His body looked weak…as if it had been pushed to its physical limits ten times farther than it should have been. He squinted his eyes as he rubbed his head with one hand and held his stomach with the other.
"My head hurts," he murmured.
"And for good reason. Whoever knocked you out did a pretty damn good job of it." Kosuke stood, facing all three of them in front of their beds. Kohta looked surprised to see him while Mayu eyed him with curiosity.
"What's going on? Where are we?" asked Kohta, surprisingly calm.
"Come with me," Kosuke said with a gesture. It appeared he wasn't going to waste any time. Lucy and the others got to their feet. Injured though they were, it wasn't enough to prevent them from walking. When Mayu moved to grab the twins, Kosuke told her to leave them, promising they'd be ok. However, that wasn't good enough for Lucy. She defiantly proceeded to the crib, took one of the girls, and put her in Mayu's arms while she took the other. Kosuke made no further protest as they all marched out into the hall.
It was a sharp contrast to the pure white room they had left. Everything appeared to be made of cold, unforgiving steel. Their feet clanged against the floor, echoing off the walls and down the hall. The air was thicker and felt much more constricted. The emblem emblazoned on Kosuke's uniform decorated the walls every few feet. Although the size of the hall was immense, they still had to huddle close together to avoid the steady stream of soldiers, mechanics, and other people. Lucy wasn't sure how Kosuke knew where he was going because the lights were so dim compared to the medical ward they had just left. Kosuke soon came to a stop in front of a pair of massive doors. After entering a key code in the side panel, the doors came to life and hissed open. Inside lay a massive command center bustling with activity. Monitors were occupied with flat faces as people typed away furiously at their keyboards. A steady line of soldiers carrying documents and folders moved from one side of the command center to the other. Phone calls being made into headsets blurred with the rest of the noise, creating an anomalous cacophony of sound to Lucy's ears. In the center of it all sat a circular table, which currently had a group of men who looked like officers standing in front of it looking down at some documents. As Lucy and the others looked around, they were shocked to find so many diclonius and humans working side by side. A pair of diclonius stood talking as they held bundles of documents in folders under their arms. Another diclonius conversed with a human as they both stood next to a water cooler. It was an odd sight for Lucy. Yet there they were, talking and working together as if it was as average as a day at the office.
Kosuke came to a stop in front of the circular table and stomped his foot as he came to attention to let the officers know he was there. As the officers looked up irritably at the interruption, Lucy felt they should do something. Therefore, she decided a slight bow would be appropriate, doing so with the others mimicking her. One of the officers, a gruff looking man who appeared to be the oldest, said something to the others that Lucy couldn't quite hear over the noise, and then beckoned for Kosuke, Lucy, and the others to follow him. They followed him to the man's office, adjacent to the command center. As the last of them entered, he shut the door behind them, completely blocking out all noise, and then shut the blinds. With Kosuke still at attention, the man walked to his chair and dropped down in it.
"Is this them?" asked the man in a rough voice, looking back and forth between Kosuke and Lucy's family.
"Sir," returned Kosuke's crisp, militaristic reply while he remained at attention.
"At ease," the man said with a wave of his hand. At this command, Kosuke spread his legs wider and clasped his hands behind his back. As Lucy watched this, it became clear that Kosuke, despite his young appearance, had many years of military training under his belt. The man leaned back in his chair, folding his hands almost prayer-like in front of his jaw. He allowed a moment's silence before taking a deep breath. To Lucy, it sounded thoughtful, as if he were coming to a difficult decision.
"My name is James Kent Bishop. I'm the First Commander here. I had FOX here bring you to my office so that I could try to explain the situation to you and answer any questions. So, where you'd you like to begin?"
Lucy didn't even know where to start. Silence fell over them as Lucy desperately looked from Kohta to Mayu. However, both of them remained silent. She felt it funny that the questions that had been burning a hole in her head suddenly had no words to them, as if muted.
"Who are you people?" Lucy asked abruptly, deciding to start with the most basic question. Bishop chuckled slightly, and Lucy saw what could have been seen has the tiniest trace of a smile behind his hands, almost as if he had half-expected the question.
"Our organization is called JERICHO. Its primary objective is the observation, preservation, and protection of diclonius and humans," Bishop answered with pride.
"JERICHO?" the others all said at once.
"Perhaps its better if I start from the beginning," Bishop said, taking a deep breathe. "Back when Kakuzawa's institute was still in the planning phases, he went around the country trying to acquire funds. He approached a number of pharmaceutical companies, small independent labs, and even some private backers. At first, he was very vague in describing what his research was about; all he told us was that it would change the world. Interested, many of us signed on and pledged money. For the first couple of months, everything seemed fine. All of us were eager to find out more about this research and what potential it could have. However, as time went on, Kakuzawa's deranged mind became more and more predominant. It became apparent to us that the man was insane. Therefore, before any serious construction began, everyone pulled out, severing any connection they had with Kakuzawa. Some went as far as retrieving and transferring their money into different accounts."
"But wait a minute," Lucy interrupted, "If all that's true, then how did Kakuzawa still manage to get the facility built?"
"When we pulled out, we figured Kakuzawa's plan would fall through. We thought everyone would see him as nothing more than a crazed old man. Unfortunately, we seriously underestimated his ability to attain money." Bishop spoke these words with a hint of regret and even some bitterness in his voice. "After awhile, we noticed some strange activity coming from a small outcropping of land near the Kamakura coast, and sure enough it was him. Afraid of what Kakuzawa might do, all those who originally financed him got together, pooled their collective resources, and formed JERICHO…whose purpose was to track Kakuzawa and undermine him wherever possible. I, myself, was one of those who originally worked with him."
"But how did you know about the diclonius?" Kohta asked, suddenly finding his voice.
"We had some very talented operators hack into their system and copy all the data we could find. After that, it was easy."
"If you knew about him, why couldn't you stop him?" Mayu asked as she too finally joined in.
"I'm afraid that due to our past experience together, Kakuzawa had acquired the knowledge to gain access to some of our technology. Although not at its full potential when he took it, it was still enough to be a threat."
"You said before that your job was to protect and preserve diclonius. How exactly do you do that?" Lucy asked with a hint of suspicion. From the glare Bishop gave Lucy, she noticed her feelings were not lost on him. However, he ignored her and continued.
"When diclonius starting disappearing, we knew Kakuzawa was gathering them up. Since we also knew no moral conundrum would stop him, we decided we had to do the same. So we went around to orphanages, homes, and hospitals, taking as many diclonius as we could. Generally, it was ideal that they either be homeless or at an orphanage. It was much easier that way. But if they had parents, it tended to be more difficult. Sometimes we'd make up a story to tell the parents, or sometimes we told them the truth of what their child was. And every so often, one pair would give their child to us willingly. Other times, we had to use our…'other' method."
Neither Lucy nor the others like the way that word sounded. Their faces contorted with increasing apprehension as Bishop explained.
"What kind of method?" Mayu probed.
"If just born and still in a hospital, we'd fake the child's sudden death with one of our decoys that we had developed for such a situation, paying off the doctors to play along. If they already had a home, then we just kidnapped them outright."
"WHAT?" Everyone was in shock at the casual, matter-o-fact way Bishop had said this, and for the response it failed to get out of Kosuke, who stood silently in the room.
"How could you do that?" Kohta scolded.
"Yeah. That's just wrong," Mayu agreed.
"What else could we do?" Bishop countered, trying to keep his temper even. "If we had left them there, either Kakuzawa would have gotten to them, or they'd have turned into killers."
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked with curiosity.
"During our research, we came across a very interesting discovery. All diclonius, silpelit or otherwise, are mentally unstable. They're very prone to certain environmental factors on a mental level. All diclonius are born with a section of the brain that controls their ability to kill by sending out an electric signal throughout the different lobes. However, this part of the brain is not very strong initially, and if left alone, never would be. However, if exposed to high levels of stress, say if the diclonius is mistreated in some way, then that part of their brain gains strength. If exposed to this signal long enough, then the brain will eventually be overpowered and degenerate to the point were the diclonius is nothing more then a monster; capable of nothing but killing."
There was a long period where no one said anything as Bishop allowed the meaning behind all this to sink in.
"What do you do that's so different?" Lucy asked bitterly.
"We raise them with care and attention, friendship and love…something few diclonius will ever find out there. We also teach them how to use their vectors and when to use them."
"Just so you can turn them into your own personal army?" Kohta spoke up, speaking Lucy's words before she could. "That sounds an awful lot like what Kakuzawa was doing from what I hear."
"But not for our own gain," Bishop countered, "And they fight of their own accord. They fight for the betterment of all diclonius and humans." Everyone glared at Bishop, and he returned it. Clearly, there was a disagreement on JERICHO's tactics.
"Why did you bring us here?" Lucy asked, finally reaching the question they all wanted answered. At this, Kosuke seemed to stir for the first time since entering the office.
"After you escaped, we decided to observe you, knowing that you were important to Kakuzawa. When the facility was destroyed two years ago, we decided to continue observing you for your protection." Bishop held up a hand to silence Lucy as she opened her mouth to speak. "Before you ask, we did nothing in that situation because that other diclonius seemed different. He betrayed the norm, and that interested us. We wished to gather more info on him.
"Once you defeated him and returned to Kamakura, we were unsure how you would react back in society and we didn't know if anyone else might be after you. Therefore, we've observed you the last two years while keeping an eye on the rest of the diclonius. However, recently, there have been many things happening that gravely disturb us here." The room went dead silent. Even the air seemed sucked away by the intense vacuum inside. "Many diclonius have been disappearing lately, not just in Japan, but all over the world. And they all seem to be migrating toward Japan. And those in Japan were converging on Kamakura until when we rescued you."
"But can't they sense Lucy here, or all these other diclonius?" Mayu asked.
"This facility has its own blocking mechanism that prevents any diclonius from the outside sensing any of us," Kosuke answered for his commander.
"Exactly," Bishop said, "And there's more. Not only that, but the number of diclonius births has completely stopped. There hasn't been a single newly reported diclonius infant in over a year."
The weight of all this new information crushed Lucy. The scope of what was going on finally lay bare before her. Only now did she find this scope to be too large for her to handle. Before, ignorance of how big this was allowed her to avoid the truth and afford her some peace. However, the darkness was now alight and she could no longer turn away.
"Something big is happening Lucy, and your at the center of it. Therefore, we had no choice but to go to Secondary Protocol, which required that we abandon observation and any other plans in the works and bring you here to our main base for protection to regroup."
No one said anything. While the room once again fell into silence, Lucy's mind became a torrent of noise. She screamed out in silent agony, cursing everything that had happened to her. She cried in quiet helplessness, seeing Nana's face plastered across her mind's eye. She shivered in absent fear, Tomo's cruel laugh continually mocking her. With everything Tomo and Bishop had told her, she could see this dark picture slowly forming. For a moment, she thought about telling them everything Tomo had told her. Yet, for some reason unknown even to her, she did not. Bishop glanced at the clock above the door for a moment, and then got to his feet.
"I afraid I have important business to tend to and don't have any more time to answer questions. Kosuke will lead you all to your private quarters. Since you'll be with us a while, I invite you to make yourselves at home. However, I implore you not to get in the way of anything. You may come see me anytime you have further questions. Goodnight." With that, he bowed low to them and walked out the door without a second glance to anyone.
Afterwards, walking in silence, Kosuke guided them out into the command center into the hall and to their own quarters, which had already been prepared for them. Although Kohta protested, they all would have separate rooms, with the twins being placed in Mayu's room. As the door shut, plunging the room into darkness, Lucy felt for the first time in her life relief that she was alone. Falling face first into her pillow, she began to sob into the cushion until exhaustion forcefully took her into sleep.
There had been a never-ending stream of people coming and going around the house all day. From police officers, to firefighters, to casual passers-by who just wanted to get a view of the destruction, Kaede House never had so many visitors while standing. Though the police had questioned several surrounding houses, no one had any useful evidence. Either they hadn't heard anything, or those that did simply ignored it, more irritated at being disturbed during their sleep. Even more baffling to the authorities was the fact that the registered occupants who lived there were nowhere to be found. They had been left to do nothing but scratch their heads in confusion while they tried to make heads or tails of the situation. A diclonius army watched from a safe distance as the humans came and went, their urge to kill only being suppressed by their new leader.
As night fell and everyone left the area, Tomo, now controlling Nana's body, stepped out of the darkness and into the rubble of what had once been Kaede House. He pulled her along like a puppet on strings as she obeyed his every command without question. It had been immensely easy. All it had taken was a simple unhinging of the frontal lobe, and she was like a body without a soul…a void he was more than happy to fulfill. He walked amongst the broken wooden walls, savoring every crack beneath his new feet. All this destruction, all this chaos, all this death had been cause by him. And he found it all simply breathtaking.
His foot came down, and a surprise filled his ears. There was a distant, muffled sound of a familiar tune. Using Nana's vectors to dig through the rubble, he soon found the source of the music, and it made him smile. Although slightly damaged, he was surprised to see that the Lilium music box had somehow survived enough to still play. Using Nana's body, he bent over and held it in her hands. The lid was askew, almost broken off its hinges, hanging just barely. He studied it thoroughly, having not seen it or heard its haunting melody. It was soothing to hear, a perfect backdrop to the tragedy beneath him.
Master, said a voice inside his mind. He turned to see the group of silpelits standing close behind him, staring at him stupidly. He winced at the sight of them. He found them so crude in their genetics compared to a pure breed like himself. Moreover, they lacked any flair in their killing; rather their style was so garish. They were like savage beasts, powerful, but lacking the intelligence to function on anything higher than instincts. When consider against other diclonius, silpelits were just a pathetic, poorly made copy. Although, he was forced to laugh at the irony of having to abandon a pure breed because a silpelit proved more useful. Even though he did not like having to rely on them, he kept those emotions to himself for the moment. After all, they needed only to survive a bit longer to serve his purpose. What are we to do next?
Tomo began to walk away, and the silpelits followed. Tomo finally came to a stop at the stone steps. He stood there motionless, surveying all of Kamakura before him. The buildings and houses were full of lights. And each light represented a life just waiting to be snuffed out. Tomo turned Nana's head, and when he spoke, he spoke through her voice.
"I think it's time we had some fun," he said sweetly.
A/N: I bet many of you are surprised. Not by this chapter, but by the fact that I got another chapter updated before a month passed. I know, it scares me too. Is the world ending or something? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed yet another chapter of me revealing certain questions that I bet were nagging many of you. Reviews are always welcomed.
Their name is JERICHO. But can Lucy really trust them? And with Nana under his control and an army of silpelits, Tomo begins his attack on the humans. Can anyone stop him? What is he up to? And what is happening to the world of diclonius that Lucy appears to be at the center of? The answer will affect not only humans and diclonius...but the entire world. Tune into the next chapter of Elfen Lied: The End.