Chapter 13: The conspiracy

14:44 PM (Japan Time), Thursday August the 28th…

"… So, there's obviously a conspiracy going on. Harp Note brought up a good point which seemed to catch them off-guard."

"True…"

Shidou, Misora, Dr. Yoiri, Daigo, Utagai and Amachi had reunited around the holographic desk in the WAXA HQ's main room to discuss the recent happenings.

"It sounds like there's something impeding Subaru from contacting us… I wouldn't place much confidence if a message comes because they might have faked it." Daigo replied to Shidou's argument.

"Maybe they really are doing something bad and the reason Subaru – kun can't contact us is because he's isolated somewhere?" Amachi suggested.

"… Wait. I just remember something… Back when I saw that fake body… I collapsed into the ground from the shock, but I was still conscious for another little bit… I heard that old man discussing with someone else: the old man sounded rather annoyed at the whole ordeal while the other man merely laughed at it…" Misora suddenly brought up.

"Hum. Maybe there's a conflict of interests?" Shidou suggested.

"Could be… They could be differing into what methods or goals they're supposed to meet… Someone came up with that farce and forced that Mr. Denpa guy to play along with it… Maybe we should re-consider our current strategies: we should keep on chasing "Zataki Tosho" and I'm sure he'll lead us to an important spot." The Chief decided.

"By the way… I got into contact with someone who's gonna lend us a hand and some resources to look into these matters." Shidou brought up.

"Me." Someone announced.

Cepheus, the FM King, suddenly showed up in the middle of the room, to everyone's surprise.

"FM King!"

"Correct. I heard what happened. I'm willing to cooperate in the search for Subaru: he is, after all, my "Brother"… And I've come up with a bright idea so as to gather a lot of information from several places."

"The Denpa Viruses…?" Harp asked.

"True. I'm coming up with some of them designed to collect data and transport it while escorted by other Viruses: monitor Viruses… It could help gather a level of information higher than what we'd been gathering insofar." Cepheus explained.

"Good! And if those guys use the Wave Roads, then… We could trace their movements. But I don't think them to be so neglecting. The fact that they bother to come up with those "portals" or "gateways" is enough evidence that their "Boss" is a cautious man obsessed with leaving no trails. Yet, I'm sure that "Zataki Tosho" will end up leading us to him. We should try to ask the other Satella Police divisions to help us track him down." Dr. Yoiri exposed.

"Leave that to me." Shidou grinned.

"I shall send a monitor team to search information on this man immediately enough… Remember, Akatsuki: I will contact you through the Hunter – VG." Cepheus announced.

"Roger."

"Take heed."

Cepheus vanished but the earlier defeatist atmosphere had already brightened enough.

"Good! We should start working on a program capable of narrowing down information based on given keywords: it'll speed up the classifying of all gathered data." Amachi suggested.

"Let's go for it!" Shidou rallied.

"YEAH!"

An unidentified figure was looking and hearing into the events from inside of the AC duct: it wore a ninja's black clothes including a balaclava: the eyes were covered by black shades mounted upon some kind of device.

Heh, heh, heh. If Kuro Kaze could see me, then he'd be boiling with envy since he's still trying to quarrel with Dragon Hell up there on the HQ… Heh, heh, heh… Anyway… Maybe Boss should try to remove any Wave Roads around the Kazimura Mansion… It'd help bring more isolation to it and it's not like we need them to begin with, so…

The ninja slowly crawled backwards until he came out of the building and into a ledge close to the topmost section of the building: he then placed the cover on its place and jumped into a nearby cliff: he walked towards the sheer stone wall and passed through it to step into a cave: a sack, a bottle of water and some canned food cans were set around the cave: the man seemed to be about a meter and seventy tall.

My little hideout… Heh, heh, heh. Anyway… Let's report to Boss.

He sat down on the ground while folding his legs and spun a dial placed over his right ear: he then cleared his throat.

"Daratsu to Ninja Club President… Daratsu to Ninja Club President… Do you copy? Over."

"I copy. Over." Vadous replied.

"I have a report: the new sci-fi film will have little charming pets as its main cast. Maybe we need to isolate our drafts to avoid copying." He reported.

"… Roger. Continue on your post."

"Acknowledged."

"Over and out."

"Batter out!" Omega suddenly exclaimed.

"Shut up." Vadous growled.

Daratsu sighed and seemed to roll his eyes in defeat…

14:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Strike! You're fired!"

"Stop hijacking the radio."

"Stop hijacking tankers."

"Grjftx! Scram!"

"Scram sarcasm."

"I'm about to get angry."

"Ops. Then I'll go tell Bloody Shadowy to visit Area M."

"Dunno where that place is at but stop trolling around."

"Sure thing, Mr. President of Sinister Land."

"Nya~h!"

Vadous was working with the console and yelling into it given Omega's apparent hijack of the radio channel: he looked about to explode while Omega sounded amused.

"Get lost."

Vadous pressed the "RETURN" key to close down the radio and slapped his face in defeat.

"You really need another mission… Go bust Burai or whatever. Just stop coming up with that crazy humor." Vadous grumbled.

He then began to type into the console and brought up a live satellite view of the Kazimura Mansion: a black hole-like phenomenon suddenly appeared over it and began to suck in the Wave Roads and any Denpa Viruses or Denpa – kuns travelling through it: the black hole disappeared and the Wave Roads became visible for a moment as they re-arranged and changed shape to end up continuing past the Kazimura Mansion area and not coming closer than 600 meters from it.

"Good enough." Vadous looked satisfied.

The console suddenly beeped and a "WARNING" sign appeared onscreen to then give way to what seemed to be a first-person view of someone facing off Andromeda's first form: Vadous gasped and quickly began to type into the console.

"Crap! Sheesh! I knew it… Andromeda showed up, too! Bothersome meddling guy! Bothering me to no end! What a repulsive machine! Luckily enough… We can still make it look like it goes along Omega's "theory" which was a good idea, for once!" Vadous grumbled.

The imagery then showed up how Andromeda morphed into the second form: its attacks began to increase in power, range and speed while the person fighting it seemed to be doing its best to dodge.

"Crap… I can't abort it: it'd be bad… Guess we have to wait until it finishes playing out… Anyway… My little "black hole" sucked up all that data and then relocated it at random around the world… But it firstly wipes out any record of this phenomenon from the sucked up data and makes it look like one or two warps weren't working as they should…" Vadous muttered as he shrugged.

The video of Andromeda ended with Andromeda exploding and the person collapsing into the ground given the angle of the camera: the feed suddenly turned into black and was cut off.

"Phew. There was nothing compromising, anyway… But I'm worried about the leaked Black Hole Server one… That guy's voice was on it… But it didn't seem to trigger anything else… Given how the system works by names rather than by sounds…" Vadous sounded slightly relieved.

"… No way, Sir Omega! That is not possible, sir!"

"Possible, dude… Just do it and you'll have the number one thrill in life a guy at your age can have…"

"No, sir! I am not going to do something which conflicts with my moral subroutines, sir!"

"Heh, heh, heh. There… Ya sound like a lawyer guy just come out of college with his diploma…"

There was the sound of someone running down the corridor: Blood Shadow suddenly came into the room and shut the door behind him while keeping it closed by leaning his body into it: he looked nervous.

"What's going on, Blood Shadow?" Vadous questioned.

"Boss! Sir Omega wanted me to… to…" He trailed off.

"To what?"

"To sneak into "Area M" and…"

"What's "Area M" to begin with?" Vadous demanded.

"T-the "M" stands for "Misora – chan", so…"

"What? Sneak into her quarters? Has Omega gone nuts or what?"

"That's what I was arguing! I can't do that!"

"Omega~! You pervert! People have the right to privacy!" Vadous roared aloud.

"Heh, heh, heh. It's a joke!"

"It isn't funny!" Vadous growled.

"Well then… I'm off to send Burai flying all the way to Alaska without the need of DHL… Heh, heh, heh. Cut a cutter cat!"

Omega could be heard running off: Vadous fumed while Blood Shadow seemed to sigh in relief.

"That guy, really…! He's too much. First him and then Dragon Hell, the onboard cook… That guy needs to be showered with cold water to snap him outta his "creativity" manias…" Vadous exclaimed.

"Huh… Guess I should be glad I can't eat."

"Yeah. You can be glad of it."

"I'll b-be going to the simulator…"

"Just go."

"R-roger."

"And next time put up a stone face."

"I'll t-try to."

Blood Shadow stepped out while Vadous stood up and nervously paced around the console.

"I'm about to run out of patience and seal him inside of the capsule for some time in switched off mode so that we can have a break… I could always have Lartes cover it like the guy needs some extensive maintenance back at the lab where he was produced at…"

"Bwah, hah, hah, ha~h! You bull wannabe! You're slower than a turtle wannabe and I'm beating ya a thousand times over and over!" Sigma suddenly laughed.

"Another hyperactive guy… Whatever. At least he behaves within parameters… And, from the sounds of it, he's quarreling with Ox Fire by now…"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah! The end! Wander in despair and hopelessness! You're - FIRED! Hra~h!"

"Buro~!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Next!"

"Opponent 2 of the S1 Category: Cygnus Wing." An auto-voice announced.

"Heh, heh, heh. Come at full power!"

"Let's leave that guy be… And let's let the Satella Police follow all the leads they wish. Maybe it's about time we clarified things a bit for Albert because I'm sure these scandals are being felt upstairs, too." Vadous decided aloud.

He sat down on the desk and then seemed to be thinking about something: he typed into the console and brought up some information.

"Hmmm… Maybe like this…" He formed a smile.

16:55 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So, we had a dragon, a stone behemoth, and now some kind of gigantic war machine which could transform into a deadlier form out of a compact form?"

"Yes, Master… They seem to match Omega – san's theory… I "spaced out" for about three to four minutes…"

"Hum. Maybe we need to carry out another scan… There might be additional damage which we didn't spot back then."

"So… We would be going to the mainland?"

"Don't worry! Given how there's little staff in summer, no one would complain if I requested 5 minutes to use the resonance device."

"I see, sir."

Lartes and Albert were, as usual, sitting opposite each other in the living room's armchairs: Albert looked worried while Lartes was trying to cheer him up.

"Alright, sir… I'll try to look positive and confident."

"Good. Besides… The whole thing won't even take an hour's time."

"And we will be back quickly enough… Good. But… Maybe those bad guys are expecting this?"

"Hum. Good point. Maybe I could tell Omega to come along and make him pose as a new Wizard 'cause I've got a friend with influences… The usual tale… It'll be convincing."

"Ah. Then I feel more relieved, sir."

"Relax and remember: those guys must believe you to have been sent to some orphanage or another or even taken into adoption… And given how your name would be different, then… There are strict laws on the protection of info which prevent them from looking up whatever they want to… Given how you're a minor of legal age… Then you're protected by those and your info is safely stored."

"I understand, sir… By the way, sir… I once heard the word "Meteor Server" and it bugged me, so I did some research… Apparently, it was inside of the gigantic mass of "Crimson" known as Meteor G… And it was speculated that one could access its powers somehow…"

"Ah. The "Meteor Server", you say… I'd heard about it, too, but I never paid much heed to the details because the idea of a gigantic mass of Crimson which could crash-land and wreck all current technology was enough to keep me awake whole nights… Even though there was a massive filtering in place to prevent mass panic, things get leaked nevertheless." Lartes explained.

"Yet… Was it really WAXA the ones who destroyed it?" Albert asked while sounding curious.

"Yeah. I dunno the details but they seem to have used some sort of secret weapon to detonate it from the inside and render it harmless: most of the Crimson scattered across the Solar System and some auto-probes were damaged to the extent that they had to be replaced… And that didn't stop Crimson from raining down in several spot of the planet thus causing some focuses of trouble. In short: it was far from perfect but at the least the worst-case scenario had been prevented."

"I see, sir… I am sorry if I occupied too much of your time, Master."

"Don't be concerned over that, Albert. You're my disciple. I care for you and I want to help you try to figure out what happened to you. Who knows? Maybe even "Fate" led up to our meeting."

"Oh. It sounds like a possibility, true…"

"Don't take me seriously. I was trying to come up with some irony. Anyway… Try to have a short rest before we tackle some running around the perimeter."

"Roger, Master. If you'll excuse me…"

"Go."

"Later, sir."

Albert stepped out of the living room and headed upstairs: he suddenly heard a muffled hum sound and looked at the 1st floor hall to see Omega step out of the hidden elevator without spotting Albert: Omega headed into the gym room and closed the door: Albert then tiptoed up to the hall and checked the boar's eye: it was shining with a soft red light.

I wasn't imaging things, then. There's a basement… And something very important is hidden there. Let's play along for the time being…

Albert stepped into his room and sat down on his bed while looking thoughtful: he then began to glance around and caught sight of the sunlight making something shine: he crouched and looked at a spot half-way along the height between the ground and the bathroom's doorknob: a small camera's lenses had been placed there.

Hidden camera… And I'm sure it's not a joke. Recently, I felt like I'm not satisfied about what's going on around me… Have I run out of the frying pan and into the fire? But the info I have is too vague and it has a "censored" vibe to it… Maybe my amnesia is not so much of an accident and everything is carefully calculated to make me believe Dr. Lartes' theory… But I can't be too obvious, either. Let's have patience.

He stood up and sat down on the chair behind his desk: he opened his journal and began checking his annotations.

Like I thought… Nothing useful. Voices are something, but if I only could see the owners of them… Have patience, Albert! A chance will likely appear… Maybe in the hospital… They can't hope to control all which goes on in a hospital, after all!

Slowly forming a smile, he looked out towards the ocean and seemed to be imaging something good.

Even a golden cage has its flaws… And I'll keep on playing around as long as I need until I get some answers. I've been neglecting my status for way too long: it's about time I noticed that there's an ongoing conspiracy… I will get to the bottom of this or I'm not named Albert in vain.

He formed an amused smile and giggled under his breath…