Chapter 14: "Stuffed tube"
17:56 PM (Japan Time), Thursday March the 8th…
"… Suzuki – san, Suzuki – san. Please reply: Tango speaking."
"Tango – dono. What are my instructions?"
"We need info on the disappearance of Hosoyoda. Any hints or rumors will do because it's obvious they won't let out the trick so boldly: it'd be like a stage magician giving away the trick for the show and ruining the grace of it…"
"Roger and acknowledged. Is it urgent?"
"Not really. Please take your time."
"Roger. Akemi, please prepare the protocol for encoded replies to reply once I get the information."
"O. K."
"Tango out."
Suzuki had been reading a book inside of a room having a bed, an adjacent bathroom, a desk and a pair of chairs (she was sitting in one of them) when a call rang out from her Link PET: she replied to it and closed the book after placing a marker on it.
"Let's see who we can find."
She came out into the corridor and found Zarashe dragging his feet across it and looking both depressed and tired: Beta X walked next to him and was rolling his eyes.
"Just what were you expecting, anyway?" Beta X asked him.
"Man. Last time I get seduced like that." He groaned.
"You should've seen it coming." Beta X told him.
"I know. I'm so idiotic, really. I wonder if I'm useful or I'm being a bother to Mr. President." He began to self-pity himself.
"You aren't, Zarashe – kun. Cheer it up. The world ain't gonna end just because of this, ya know."
"Eh… Zarashe – kun!"
"Huh? Huh… Suzuki – san… Please tell me: am I useful to Golden Star as a whole or I'm just here to be the fall guy?" He asked.
"No, I don't think so, Zarashe – kun. You just need to find something you're good at… Maybe busting eyesores?"
"Well… Why not… There are a lot of those in this district which need to be purged if we want to remain safe…" He muttered as he looked up and seemed to be getting animated.
"By the way: do you know what happened back then? In the Akihara City Hotel, I mean…"
"Oh, Hosoyoda? The guy's alive: don't worry."
"I didn't doubt it yet… How did you do it? You placed a retrievable focus which projected the beam of light and refracted it to hide Hosoyoda – dono so that he could sneak into the parking and you all ran off with the car or what?" She suggested.
"Oho. Good try, Suzuki – san, good try." He got cocky.
"Well. Big boy. Why don't you tell this little girl the trick?"
"Heh, heh, heh! Alright! We used the "Stuffed Tube"… I'm sure you've heard of it… Those things in the basement vault…"
"I know there's a basement vault but I've never seen what's inside because there are no cameras…" She trailed off.
"Well! I don't remember the proper name now or how it really works but the machine is supposed to be able to warp people from one point to the other by momentarily digitalizing them and then return them to normal as they travel over an encrypted fast lane established between two of the machines. The good part is that you can make them warp themselves into the spot so you don't need to carry them around."
"Sounds like magic."
"What was that quote again? "Any technology advanced enough cannot be told apart from magic"… Miquel used to say it from time to time and it really feels like it…" Zarashe smiled.
"The trick there was that we carried a special model inside of the cart and Zarashe – kun used it to warp Hosoyoda outta there: he then left in the confusion and we loaded the thing into the back seats of the car after securing it to run off top speed." Beta X grinned.
"Oh, I see. You guys win." She made an innocent smile.
"Good job, Martha, good job. Bravo."
"Oh? Bertha – san: what's up?"
"Yikes! Run for your hides!"
"O-oi! Wait for me!"
"HUH? What's wrong with those two, Sandra – san?"
"Tee, heh, heh. A secret makes a woman, woman."
Ikada and Sandra showed up all of a sudden and both Zarashe and Beta X ran for their hides to the surprise of both Suzuki and Akemi: Sandra smirked and quoted an English motto while Suzuki and Akemi kept on looking perplexed.
"Let us say I took control of the stuff." Ikada calmly replied as she flickered some of her hair backwards.
"… Ah. I see. No wonder they looked like that… Have you always been like that or you wanted to cool them down?" Suzuki caught up and merely beat an eyebrow.
"Bravo." She clapped.
"Are you… eh… making fun of me, Bertha – san?"
"Oh, my, my. Not at all. I just was glad to see that you caught my point to begin with, my dear." Ikada replied.
"So… What's the name of those machines?"
"Dimensional Converter. And I don't know all the intricate details about them just that it's not an original invention of Golden Star… It's an old project made real." She explained with a grin.
"One day we'll beat NASA to the moon too." Sandra grinned.
"No wonder." Akemi wasn't surprised.
"Tee, heh, heh. Well. We're going for a walk and don't worry: we can handle the grunts." Ikada smiled.
"Alright."
"Ciao."
Ikada walked down the corridor and Suzuki returned into her room to input some commands into the PET.
"Suzuki speaking. The name is "Dimensional Converter" and it actually allows for the digitalization of the person to transport them trough a secure band and reform them in another spot: two machines are needed at each end but they can be warped into there so they don't need to be carried around… It's an old project made reality."
"I see. I'm sure that the Science Labs must know something about that so we'll ask of them the details…" "Tango" muttered.
"Hosoyoda is very alive but they wouldn't let out anything regarding to where they sent him to. Zarashe – kun was the waiter in the Akihara City Hotel and the tray hid a device. Incidentally… There are some in the basement vault but I don't have access to it and I believe them to be too big and heavy to smuggle out." She reported next.
"Don't bother with that if you may. The Science Labs will provide the info we are in need of. Continue with…!"
An explosion rang out somewhere followed by a chuckle which originated in the Cyber World.
"Boom! I was bored. Let them see the power of the great me's bombs!"
"… You fool. What have you done?" An icy voice rang out.
"What, the bitch." The gruff voice fumed.
"What did you say?" The voice questioned with obvious annoyance.
"The bitch." He laughed.
"… Be deleted!" The voice roared.
"UWO~H!" The gruff voice's owner roared in agony.
"S-Slur – sama just deleted the rebuilt Bomber Man!" Akemi reported as she showed up again.
"Bomber Man, former WWW… Well. No wonder. The guy could've blown the whole place up." Suzuki muttered.
"If I recall well the decision was Mr. President's…"
"Yikes." Even "Tango" sounded afraid.
"Do excuse me, Slur – sama, but… What happened?" Legato's voice rang out through the line.
"Legato. Who revived that fool?" She icily questioned.
"Eh… Mr. President authorized the process, ma'am."
"What? Is that so?"
"I am afraid so, mademoiselle… I am to blame: we tried to see if they would be loyal of their own will because I felt like loyalty programs are something only tyrants would use and such…" Hades' voice joined the conversation.
"Ah. I see. An experiment?"
"Indeed. Yet it is a great failure." Hades admitted with a sigh.
"One does not always succeed: do not let this incident affect your decisions, President Hades."
"But a gentleman must take responsibility for his actions…"
"You are kind, true, yet sometimes one must look at things in a more dispassionate manner." Slur told him.
"Thank you, mademoiselle… I will think it twice next time around. By the way, speaking of former WWW Navis, I think you should keep an eye on the other, the one named…"
A tremor shook the building for a few seconds and Suzuki held into the desk (given how it was affixed to the wall) to hold in place: an echoing chuckle rang out.
"The signal! Today, my brethren… The revolution! Glory to the WWW, my brethren!"
"Shaddup, Stone Man!" Video Man hissed.
"Who cares about a defunct gang, anyway?" Burner Man was unimpressed.
"Shah, shah, shah! Someone deal with the guy!" Needle Man complained with his typical Yakuza dialect.
"You fool! We revive you and this is how you reward it?" Slur questioned with obvious anger.
"I don't need to take orders from a Super Woman wannabe. I'm gonna delete all of you and be the Ultimate WWW Net Navi!"
"Legato. Handle this one." Slur commander.
"Roger, ma'am!"
Akemi brought up the holographic screen to display Legato shooting at Stone Man to distract him while Slur held her right hand's index finger into the air to draw a red circle which expanded in diameter and thickness: the "void" between the outer edges and inner edges began to project reddish light which then gave way to a brutal explosion sweeping the terrain: the roar and concussion it brought along deafened Stone Man's cry of agony as he was annihilated.
"My God." "Tango" gasped in horror.
Where Stone Man had been now a five meter wide and five meter deep crater had formed: Slur hovered over the area looking totally uninterested at the panorama while Burner Man, Video Man and Needle Man were already kneeling as if to show that they were loyal: the display had obviously reminded them who they were dealing with.
"Glory to the Great and Almighty Slur – sama~!"
"Hmpf. That is better! You three are loyal: yet I will not tolerate any childish behavior." She told them.
"R-roger, ma'am!"
"Dismissed." She made a dismissing gesture with the right hand while forming an annoyed face.
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
The three of them ran away from the rocky slope and down it into another set of rocky slopes with some Warp Points set across the complex: the "skies" of the Cyber World were clouded and grayish as if to reflect the mood in the area: nobody dared to move or speak until Slur fumed and transformed into a column of yellowish energy shooting upwards towards a purple "portal" which formed in the air: it closed and everyone sighed in relief while the "skies" began to turn into the coloring of the sunset: Legato wiped some sweat off his helmet's forehead.
"Mademoiselle went to cool off in the Reverse Internet, I guess. Let her be and I should reflect upon these failures. I'll scrap the project to bring back Elec Man and Fire Man then." Hades sighed.
"A-alright, President Hades." Legato muttered.
"Fua~h… What was that scandal? I was napping." Noir asked over the line at that moment.
"Well… Bomber Man and Stone Man went berserk, sir, so Slur – sama had to make a demonstration of power by slicing Bomber Man in half with her sword and annihilating Stone Man on the spot… She's gone to cool off somewhere, sir…" Legato summed up.
"Lovely." Noir grumbled.
"… What… power…" Qong muttered yet there was a hint of awe and fear behind his dryness.
"Damn. Now I see why she's the CO of us Navis. Say, could she stand up to the Ryuusei Program, even?" Tom asked.
"Obviously. She designed it yet during development we discussed a what-if scenario of an adversary using the program against us she could lock it up with an alphanumeric password or remove it altogether thus causing its self-destruction and releasing all destructive energy into the field with a range of up to 50 meters." Hades explained.
"50 meters!" Qong did gasp in fear this time.
"Holy…" Tozukana uttered.
"But let's hope it doesn't come to happen." Hades tried to calm them down.
"Y-yeah… Let's hope…" Zarashe gulped.
"We should be careful or we'll end up turning a power boost into a new MDW…" Bertha warned.
"Too true." Hades sighed.
"Hey! Now that I think 'bout it, where's Miquel at? You're not gonna tell me he's napping again." Tozukana asked.
"No. He's studying for his online courses." Noir replied.
"Alright. As long as there's no one else involved…"
"Do you want proof?" Noir offered.
"Heck. I always forget about the nanomachines and chip implant proofs to begin with. Eh… No, Boss, I'll take back what I said."
"That's a wise move." Lily muttered in the background.
"I heard that, cha!" Tozukana complained.
"So what?"
"… Nothing."
"A-alright, Suzuki – san… Please continue just like that and we'll handle the rest… G-good luck…" "Tango" nervously muttered.
"Acknowledged. Out."
"Please let us return to what we were doing before if we want to shake off this depressed mood in the air, ladies and gentlemen." Hades politely suggested to everyone.
"A-alright."
"W-well, I'm gonna continue my play-through of Halo 3: ODST. This game is so thrilling, man." Zarashe tried to sound confident.
All radio channels shut down and Suzuki picked a magazine which she agitated in the air to try to shake the heat off the air: she then picked a navy blue cloak and came out into the corridor to then pick the stairs into the ground floor and came out of the building: she put on a pair of IR goggles to check the environment but found nothing.
"I need some air to cool down too."
"No wonder." Akemi calmly muttered.
"… I just got the strangest feeling. That those "Dimensional Converters" are there for something else than just warp people around… Maybe that's because they have another function which is being kept secret from most of us?" She wondered.
"Could be… It ain't crazy."
"Hmmm?"
Suzuki suddenly looked towards the unlit ocean and thought she could see a large shape slowly moving towards the center of the harbor before it vanished altogether yet the shape was rather large and tall: she closed her eyes and nodded her head as if to shake off the sensation yet she looked troubled at the vision.
This part of the harbor is barely used because all cargo ships and so dock at 1 kilometer from here… So what was that mole? It can't be a cargo ship and it isn't an optical illusion either… Oh wait. Maybe the JDSF Navy is actually testing out some new kind of warship here because it's a secluded area yet it ain't too shallow?
"… Is something wrong, Martha - chan?"
Suzuki put on the IR goggles but there was nothing in the waters which were slightly cold but not too cold given their slightly greenish coloring through the IR goggles: she seemed to frown under the IR goggles and then took them off.
"I thought I saw a warship or something but I can't spot it via the IR goggles unless it was a submarine and submerged yet it should've left some trail, I'd say." She admitted.
"Maybe it's a new model." Akemi shrugged.
"Guess so. Maybe submarines don't leave a heat signature in the water unlike off-board engine boats." She settled.
"Will we ever figure out the "truths" behind the veils or it'll remain clouded?" Akemi sighed.
"It's too early to tell. We mustn't falter."
"That's easy to say, yeah, but you never know."
"That's it. You never know. We can't predict anything like we couldn't predict those two Navis' behaviors."
"And to think we actually have such powerful weapons with us… Were this to be leaked to some army we'd get assaulted by all of them trying to get their hands on it as well as terrorists…" Akemi shivered.
"Yeah… That's why we must make sure this information is kept as secret as possible… Or else the balance will crumble."
Both girls fell silent as the wind began to blow across the area: Golden Star held too many dangerous tools and secrets…