Chapter 11: Of owls

17:13 PM (Japan Time), Monday April 17th…

"… Ahem, ahem! Did you know?"

"What now, Yaito – chan?"

"Miss Joke & Co. is back on the city!"

"Oh not that again."

"Starting with freezing chilling strawberry ice-cream!"

"Yes, yes. We know you love strawberry."

"And with the cooperation of Mr. Cooper!"

"Mr. Cooper? From Big Bang Theory? Huff!"

"He'll bring blessings! Tee, heh, heh!"

Yaito was talking to Meiru and Tamashita as they rode on her limousine towards her house: she was making some silly jokes so both girls sighed and rolled their eyes along with their Navis.

"And then something HORRID happened!"

"Nothing happened. We know that one." Roll sighed.

"Predictable." Felicia sighed, too.

"By the way, Scherezade is staying at your place for now, right?"

"Yeah. She handles security and trains with the simulator. I think Glyde has a crush for her!" She laughed.

"W-what is a "crush", Yaito – sama?" Glyde asked, horrified.

"It's a popular term to say you like her. The so-called "love"…"

"I never really understood the concept."

"No wonder. As much as AI development advances, there are things that we can't understand because they're biological reactions." Roll calmly crossed her arms.

"You never know!"

"We know, Yaito – chan. Stop fooling around."

"Else your daddy scolds you."

"YIKES!"

"Oi, Ayanokouji! Trouble!" Scherezade reported over the radio.

"A maid wants to propose to you?"

"Oh come on! I don't dislike lesbians but now it's hardly the moment to make jokes! There's an intruder!"

"What!? Who is it? Neo Gospel?"

"Yeah, that odd guy with the black outfit! Who calls himself "Talon" and speaks about some "Court of Owls"!"

"Darth Bapgei, huh? I guess he wanted his share of the action too. No surprise there." Meiru wasn't surprised.

"Sheesh. How did they get in? The jammers…"

"Bapgei is a human so jammers don't stop him."

"I see! What about the garden security and all?"

"He doesn't appear in any camera. And it'd seem he appeared all of a sudden from the storeroom next to the kitchen. Dunno how. For the time being I'm searching for the guy because he appears and disappears: hasn't broken anything but hasn't made any demands yet either." Scherezade explained.

"Then maybe he's looking for a brawl. I guess his aim is Nelaus – kun but maybe he needs a reminder of the kick I delivered him some time ago. Heh, heh." Meiru grinned.

"Whoa. You're scary, Meiru – chan!" Yaito gulped.

"When she feels like it…" Tamashita shrugged.

"This is obviously a smokescreen to hide that they still need time to finish their "Site B" whatever it is. They probably won't dare to make a bold move after what happened yesterday." Roll thought aloud.

"Obviously."

"Oh, there. We've arrived."

"Excellent."

The limo entered the perimeter and drove up to the main entrance: the doors were open and the maids making a row on both sides to welcome: the door opened and the red carpet rolled out: Yaito walked along it followed by Meiru and Tamashita.

"Welcome back, Yaito – sama."

"Thank you. None of you got attacked by the intruder?"

"No."

"Alright. How's the hunt going like, Scherezade – chan?"

"He was hiding inside of a bathroom and trying to scare me by muttering "REDRUM"… You know, from that movie… The Shining, by Stanley Kubrick…" Scherezade fumed.

"How silly." Roll sighed.

"How the mighty have fallen. He's no better than a circus' clown. He doesn't impress anyone." Felicia shrugged.

"REDRUM… REDRUM…"

"Kyah! Yaito – sama, there…!"

"Huh? Ah! There you are!"

A figure suddenly appeared standing atop the handrail of the first floor hall next to the stairs and looking down (literally) on the hall.

His outfit consisted on black leather clothes which covered his whole body including a hood with goggles: it design was reminiscent of an owl's face, even.

He carried a belt spanning from the right shoulder to the left flank of his body and which had sheaths for 6 knives: it included a medallion with the drawing of an owl close to the shoulder.

Other equipment included gauntlets: the right one had metallic armor shaped like an owl's face and the left one had some sheaths for smaller knives.

The guy carried leather boots as well and two knife sheaths attached to the belt's waist.

His gear included two short swords' sheaths attached to his back.

"The Court of Owls has sentenced you to… Despair!" He announced in English.

"What?" Yaito frowned.

"He says that "the Cout of Owls has sentenced you to despair"… How stupid." Roll translated.

"There! Don't run away, rascal! You're gonna spit it out!"

Scherezade ran towards him having a Long Sword drawn and from behind: Bapgei chuckled and jumped into the air to flip and land on the ground while crossing his arms and extending several knives from both closed hands: the maids ran outside while he rushed for the trio: Meiru calmly ducked and delivered a blow to the stomach which stopped him but he merely back-flipped and threw the knives at them: they all dived for the ground as the knives flew past and landed a couple meters behind them: Bapgei jumped over them and headed there but Scherezade warped there and delivered a kick to his waist: Bapgei landed on his feet, unfazed, as he drew more knives which he threw at Scherezade but she formed a Mettool helmet which deflected them: she spotted him jumping over her and trying to attack her from behind but she whipped around and shot a Mega Cannon at him: an energy field instantly protected him but the blast did push him backwards at the same time the recoil pushed Scherezade backwards too.

"This guy is apparently a masochist so he doesn't mind pain. Unless you deliver a really painful blow, that is." Meiru warned.

"I see. Hey, you rascal! You're gonna go bald!"

"REDRUM… REDRUM…"

"Your boss will make you drink that "red rum" to see if that makes you stronger! He boasted that in Twitter the other day!"

"Wha!?" He gasped, surprised.

"Gotcha."

Scherezade took profit of his surprise to form a golden fist and deliver a blow to the energy shield: she applied force against it and a loud whim began to ring out nearby before a device attached to his back overheated and exploded.

"Shit!"

"He gives you crappy stuff from the 90s!"

"Sheesh! That's not it! It's but a prototype!" He grumbled.

"He must be trying to invent a serum from gin and vodka to heat you up! He's worse than Snape!"

"Gdjghkhba!" He growled something undecipherable.

"Gotcha! Take THIS!"

"OUWAH!"

Scherezade suddenly warped right in front on him and lifted her right leg to hit his ball from beneath, and with force: he groaned and instinctively gripped them as Scherezade spun her left leg next and hit his jaw from beneath: he gripped it next as Scherezade suddenly gripped his clothes and performed a judo throw to toss him into the ground: Roll and Felicia materialized and shot Yo-Yo wires at him to tie him up.

"So much for the Court of Owls." Roll mocked.

"That's not FAIR!" He growled.

"This is a war, kiddo. In case you hadn't realized yet." Felicia mocked him next.

"Sheesh! That's the best you can do, Bapgei!?" Anaya complained over his radio.

"I'm a human! I have limits!" He groaned.

"I thought you were immune to pain!"

"Being a masochist doesn't mean being immune to pain! You like it and turn it into pleasure but as long as it's not overwhelming pain which runs across your whole body!"

"Sheesh! Just you wait, you lil bitches! Once I'm done training this bitch into my slave I'll do the same with all of you!"

A Dimensional Converter emerged right next to them and warped Bapgei away while the girls fumed.

"You don't impress anymore!"

18:09 PM (Japan Time)…

"… The data we gained from the "Darkloids" suggests that "Site B", whatever it is, will be ready very soon… I think it'll be something like what they pulled yesterday…"

"Very probable. Maybe another rip-off, since they're so fond of them. Problem is… This time around they might use the hostage as human shield to impede us from retaliating…"

"That's the worrisome part indeed…"

A meeting was being held in a conference room of the Net Police HQ: Commissioner Kifune, Superintendent Manabe, Netto, Saito, Nelaus, Enzan, Laika, Charles and Martin were present.

"The attack by Bapgei a while ago felt improvised. I guess that it was a random fancy idea by Ex – Boss." Nelaus deduced.

"Given how she was the one ordering him and not Twilight then it's very probable that it's the case." Isaac added.

"There's another factor to take into account… Apart from Neo Gospel. That odd mafia guys who hired those fakes to try to abduct me. Do we have an idea of their scale?" Enzan brought up.

"According to information Colonel Talos gathered through some of his contacts they're about 8-10 including their leader. He has a hunch of who is it and is trying to find a way through his contacts to reach him. But he's being very careful least he catch a hold or a hint that we're closing on him and vanish." Manabe reported.

"Alright. They should be our next priority after Neo Gospel is taken care of: they could be prove to be more dangerous than the leftovers of Anaya's "Secret Empire"…"

"Good point." Kifune nodded in agreement.

"Once Neo Gospel is no more Bapgei won't be able to act anymore. We can't take actions about him because the info we gathered in him is not totally legal and he's a minor so… It would be better to leave him as he is since he's not dangerous." Laika suggested.

"Yes, that's what we'd agreed upon."

"So if "Site B" is the base where Twilight and the Darkloids are at then I guess that the hideout of the human members is "Site A"… But as to where it's at… I guess that not even Zoan Gate Man knows it. They're being very careful here." Blues deduced.

"Obviously enough." Search Man shrugged.

"According to an investigation by Dr. Spimer and his agents, they've been burning down drug clan warehouses without bothering to steal the drugs… Which is odd." Martin reported.

"True. Why would they?" Manabe wondered.

"Maybe it's a means to say they've got more than enough? Or a smokescreen to make us think they're trying to drive the clans to economic ruin." Charles suggested.

"Hum. What about Vincent?" Kifune asked.

"Acting like an idiot, as always. We keep tabs on the guy but neither Cloud Man nor Swallow Man have dropped by ever since our raid in the Deadly Pandora base. Which is still under surveillance, of course. We've added watch on the Atomic Network base, and the facility that the Filibusters of Death had as well. No traces of anyone having come in there for a long time…" Davis detailed.

"Hmmm… How about the base that the Rama members Priest, Past, Present and Future along with the two deserters used? I supposed you inspected it as well?"

"Obviously, sir. Annihilator Man told us they keep watch there but since they'd made sure to dismantle anything important then… There's not anything valuable left there anymore." Lander replied.

"The previous Neo Gospel base, the Nebula space station, was de-orbited and all modules were seized and kept custody by different space agencies… How about Nebula facilities? Or Gospel facilities?"

"Yuriko is still using the refuge she used when she worked for Nebula so she's sure they aren't there. The tanker got docked years ago… But what became of it, speaking of which?" Netto wondered.

"Hmmm… I think it was bought by a cargo shipping company years ago, I should check again… Maybe they're there, even…"

"Good. But let's be discrete." Manabe suggested.

"Of course. We will make enquires posing as investors. That should loosen their tongues, they're always eager for investors."

"As for Gospel facilities… Wily and Miyabi check the Gospel HQ building but they found nothing…" Saito sighed.

"We brought a search warrant and checked the Gauss Console HQ building as well but we didn't find traces of anyone else living there apart from Gauss Magnets and Tesla Magnets." Manabe reported.

"Too obvious of place to begin with but seeing how they were re-using the Deadly Pandora base then it wouldn't have been surprising if they'd been hiding there…" Sigma muttered.

"As they say… "The darkest place is under the candlestick"… They could be somewhere that's actually in plain sight but hidden because something else overshadows it…" Blood Shadow argued.

"Speaking of which… Maybe that UFO thing actually hints at their "Site B" being some rip-off from a Sci-Fi movie?" Laika suggested.

"As long as it's not the Death Star…" Enzan grumbled.

"Even with data materialization it'd be too huge… And even if you keep it empty on the inside… The mass would be too big to handle and data stability would be hard… The UFO was stable because it was still a decent size, and that must be why he couldn't recreate the ones from the movie Independence Day…" Davis argued.

"Hmmm… Maybe they can hijack satellites images to make us believe it's appeared there on orbit… Such as the Hubble Space Telescope… We should send a warning just in case…" Charles thought aloud.

"I don't think they're being that careful just for the sake of a simple and cheap fake imagery trick…" Martin argued next.

"Maybe they can use it as a smokescreen…" Kifune suggested.

"Did the analysis of the files from the other Darkloids give out any other possible hints?" Enzan asked Netto.

"As far as I know, no. They share the simulator but outside of that time they must stay shut down in their capsules."

"To avoid them roaming around… And finding out what "Site B" is about… Obviously enough… It's plain dull steel with fluorescent lamps. We can't be sure if it's physical or materialized data or if it's in the Cyber World. Which would make sense but…" Saito sighed.

"Speaking of hideouts in the Cyber World… How about the Darkloid castle that Regal built for the original Darkloids?" Enzan brought up.

"Detective Misaki and Prism Man have been investigating the place but found nothing either. They're keeping watch there too since Neo Gospel did use that place back when their "debut season"…" Manabe explained to them as she checked some notes.

"The Gospel Virus Factory ruins? Twilight used it as a meeting point for his "Legion 66"…" Martin asked.

"Is already under surveillance since some weeks ago."

"Hmmm… The WWW base?" Sigma wondered.

"Miyabi and the WWW members with Dr. Wily searched everything and found nothing." Blood Shadow told him.

"I agree that it's a good idea to go over all locations used by criminals in the past because they could be using that psychology of "we won't check those places twice" but the fact that they've taken some many steps to compartmentalize intelligence means that it's somewhere new we have no idea about." Kifune told all assistants.

"It could be closer than we think, too. They could always disguise to pose as a family of the father, the son or daughter and the son-in-law or daughter-in-law…" Manabe thought aloud.

"Very possible. If they could infiltrate the Ayanokouji house staff without anyone noticing then it wouldn't be surprising. Or when they posed as workers of some company, too." Netto recalled.

"Sorry for being late. Was helping Boss and the others check the HQ for possible stuff those rascals left behind. Insofar we found nothing and Xon' Edos gave us a hand in readying counter-measures as well." Omega appeared on Netto's PET.

"I see. Did they manage to steal vital data from him through that fake Guilty Spark?" Kifune asked.

"No, fortunately enough. Xon' Edos only gave access to Spark to the basic security systems and some videos about inventions by his creators but they were but demonstration videos with no technical details on how they work like or how they are assembled. To go along with the role-play he added some files about the Forerunners of the Halo series but they were all of public domain so…" Omega described.

"Good. So we mustn't fear an abuse of his technology for now." Kifune nodded in agreement, relieved.

"No. He rewrote security systems so that the "crest" is no longer a valid password to access systems in the "space city" and he moved all data from the computer there to his spaceship databanks while splitting some in partitions which he hid in private accounts there and there over the net with different names each. So even if Twilight could've seized the data he'd only have a portion of it which wouldn't be useful."

"Alright. Never put too many eggs in one basket."

"Hmm? Ah. A phone call from Misaki – kun. How is it?" Manabe answered a call to her PET.

"Superintendent, ma'am. We search all nooks and crannies but found nothing out of place or traces of anyone having used this location recently. We are finishing installing security sensors and surveillance Viruses before we return to the HQ." Misaki reported.

"Good work. Send me the report once it's done."

"Roger, ma'am. Over."

"We will chase all possible lines of investigation. But don't neglect training. The enemy still saves up aces up their sleeves. That is all. Disband!" Kifune concluded the meeting.

"Roger!"

Kifune and Manabe left the room while the others began to chat amongst themselves as they stood up: they didn't spot a figure glancing at them through the gap between the right door and the hinges: the figure smirked and silently left with no-one noticing them: Omega frowned and looked around as if he'd perceived something.

My imagination…? Let's not lower the guard… Sheesh. Damned cowards!

23:43 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Sheesh!"

"You are still annoyed?"

"Of course!"

"I think you expected too much out of Bapgei. I'm not saying he's not capable but he's a human like us, not a Darkloid like Twilight. He's not all-powerful or a Batman carbon copy, ma'am."

"I knew that!"

"Excuse me, but you don't seem to."

"Sheesh!"

"You always told me my role is fix mistakes."

"I know that! Sheesh!"

Anaya was sitting on the living room of their apartment and impatiently tapping the edge of the table with her right fingers: Izono stood to her right and facing her in a firm pose with his hands crossed behind his back as if he was a butler: Anaya was annoyed while Izono was calm and collected.

"But Twilight! The guy! So much for "immortal flesh"! Fails over and over and OVER AGAIN!"

"We also do, ma'am. Even Mr. Opoulos fell for the trap by the competency… Despite his foresight and wisdom. We are not perfect, ma'am. No – one and nothing is." Izono argued back.

"… Sheesh. Yeah, even Kranos got tricked by those idiots… But then again a lot of successes are thanks to him…"

"Also, despite his failures it's not like the others grow stronger. It's just that their will is stronger. The so-called "sense of justice"… It's true that we've done things which are "illegal" and "amoral" but then again we only picked up on an existing business. We did not invent it. Cyber – terrorism was started by the WWW as well." Izono calmly argued next.

"Yeah, of course! Hmpf! Bunch of hypocrites. They fear me because I united all those businesses under my rule!"

"Yes. Because they rather prefer that they kill each other. History has proven that, when they feel like it, states can suppress "freedom" to fight an external or internal threat… Like how Ameroupe financed dictators to keep communism at bay… They mad such a huge fuss over it for nothing… The might USSR eventually collapsed on its own… In the end communism is not much different from capitalism. It sounds nice on the paper but reality is reality given human nature."

"Hmpf! Indeed!"

"Also, all of our efforts aren't in vain."

"Of course not."

"After all, they're part of the grand scheme which…"

"Grand scheme? What grand scheme?" She frowned and turned to look at Izono, puzzled.

"Huh? The grand scheme, ma'am. The one we've been fighting to make a reality all these years." Izono frowned, too.

"Huh!? What are you talking about? Grand scheme? Where did you get the idea, anyway?"

"Huh!? Excuse me, ma'am, but… Isn't that why you decided to create those 4? For the sake of the grand scheme? You said it back then… "These guys will be part of a grand scheme: with them our rule shall be absolute and no-one will stop us! I will be the Queen that will rule over all! Absolute and eternal!"… I did record it with the MR I always carried on me and listen to it from time to time to find motivation to go on despite the hardships…" Izono detailed.

"Huh!? I said THAT!? Me!?" She looked baffled.

"Yes, ma'am. Here."

Izono brought out a MR recording device from his chest's right pocket and activated it.

"… Listen up, Marco! These guys will be part of a grand scheme: with them our rule shall be absolute and no-one will stop us! I will be the Queen that will rule over all! Absolute and eternal!" Anaya's recorded voice exclaimed.

"By all the… I'd totally forgotten. You're right!"

"… Ahem. I hope this isn't what I think it is." Izono began to get annoyed, for once.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Excuse me, ma'am, if I am too blunt but… In your mind, what was the purpose of creating those four?"

"The purpose? Well, to recreate Metal Gear… And to get perfect servants who would never dare to rebel no matter how many times I insulted and humiliated them… To use them as mold to shape perfect male slaves who would serve me without the need of brainwashing…"

"… So it was all… a jest? For fun? A caprice?" He suddenly leant his hands on the table as he diagonally looked at Anaya.

"Sure." She didn't hesitate.

"… So you never saw a useful servant on me."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Excuse me, but… I thought you were being SERIOUS about the GRAND SCHEME! MA'AM!" He hissed but without losing his manners.

"Eeeehhhh!? You were!? But I said it because I felt like it, I was cocky and I felt in a very good mood! You thought I was being serious? You'd already been around me for many years by then!"

"Yes, and I know how you can make jest of things often but… We were talking about creating life! It was no longer picking men and women and turning them into sex slaves! Creating life! Do you understand the implications of it!? We stepped into the territory of the Gods! We had a huge responsivity! Future generations would judge us! We were about to open a Pandora's Box! It might've been the key to heal chronic diseases, and maybe the key to more power!" Izono hissed.

"Eeeehhh!? You thought ALL OF THAT!?"

"I DID! MA'AM!" He growled.

"W-well…"

"Excuse me!"

"W-where are you going to!?"

"I need to wash my face! Else I shall not be able to withstand this rage cursing through my blood! Ma'am!"

Izono left the living room while Anaya gulped: someone cleared their throat and she gasped as Opoulos walked in: he looked rather displeased as well.

"I was about to come report something but I heard Mr. Izono's voice. I feel very disappointed as well."

"Eeeehhh!? You also believed all I did was part of some "grand scheme" as well, Kranos!?"

"I did, I did. That's the idea I formed as I investigated your activities and decided to start an alliance with you because it sounded amusing and I wanted to see how far you would come." He sighed.

"B-but why did you two…?"

"Like Mr. Izono said… It was about creating life. It was a serious business, which meant a lot of responsibility… Yet you only thought of the whole thing as a joke, a jest…"

"Exactly! I raised all of them telling them they were necessary and that their efforts would culminate in the achievement of the grand scheme! With a lot of passion and devotion! Are you telling me that all my efforts I've done have been IN VAIN!?" Izono walked back in.

"N-no, not in vain, but… Hum… Well…"

"I owe you a lot, ma'am. After that incident… I was empty of life and purpose. I didn't care about anything. I thought of just going and dying if I was so meaningless for both my parents and for those around me, my teachers and my classmates… But you, ma'am, granted me a purpose. By serving you I would ascend and become above those hypocrites, those spoiled brats… That's why I've followed you all this time. And when you told me those words my motivation increased. I would be the teacher of the men who would contribute to complete the grand scheme. They would look up to me as their instructor. And I as my greatest students. That's how I felt!" Izono explained, barely holding his anger.

"No… way…" Anaya's jaw hit the floor.

"I'm DISAPPOINTED. VERY. DISAPPOINTED. MA'AM!"

"Same applies to me. Come this far we're not calling it quits, obviously, but depending on the outcome of things… We might have to rethink our relationship. I don't like being disappointed. Had way too many when I was in the FBI. And you were the one who inspired me to begin "Deadly Pandora" as well… Now it turns out there was no such grand scheme and it was just words said to make things sound grand. You're no better than a politician in that case, young miss." Opoulos lectured.

"Well… When you put it like that…" She gulped.

"One who doesn't realize the consequence of their actions is a fool. Now I see it, why those 3 quit… It's true that in Nelaus' case we treated him like a dumb idiot despite his intelligence. But he believed in the grand scheme… At the beginning. But with your attitude, ma'am, he began to feel like he wasn't needed to fulfill it."

"And I guess the other two must've realized it as well. That they were no "new humans", no "pieces of the grand scheme"… They were but a jest! Nothing but a joke... Worse! A mere caprice. And when they were no longer useful they would be disposed of. They'd been created but they could be killed… Their instincts must've told them to flee before that happened… Which is why they turned against you… To protect themselves..."

"I won't tell Twilight, of course. But nevertheless… We will need to talk about our relationship once the "Site B" is finished and we carry out the so-called "great decisive battle"… Do you realize what means when you tell someone their efforts over the course of YEARS have been in vain? All the passion, all the patience, all the endurance?"

"I think you should reflect about it, young miss. Else there's no future for any of us."

Opoulos and Izono left towards the right while Anaya was left sitting on the chair of the living room, pale and looking totally stunned.

"No… way… Just because of that…? Just because of that, all will now crumble apart…? No…! My rule…! My empire…! They will come to be! No matter what…!" She began to mutter as her face contracted into fury.

She violently stood up and looked out to the night skies.

I'll bury you dogs once and for all! My fate is to rule! Just you wait…!