AN;; I did promise, didn't I? C: I'm picking this up again. Enjoy this next chapter. It's a tad short, but it introduces some new characters and develops current ones a bit.

Hard Drive Singer

Chapter 21

Another new dawn sounded, bright and innocent as any. Pink, impish light danced across the sky, brought on by the magnificent rising sun. It yawned and stretched as if it were a lion, roaring in the new day. But of course it was silent, the only sounds being the frantic chirping of birds and the gentle rustle in the trees. A morning like any other.

But it was not a morning like any other. Because today, Mari would meet everyone. The ones who would partake in the plan; her supporters, for lack of a better word. They would all be here soon, crowding and bustling and chatting amongst themselves. She couldn't wait. Thinking of Rin and Len, Gumi, Kaiko... And knowing that every one of them was with her and wouldn't leave. Unless they died, and she would do all she could to stop such a thing.

Mari was lying in a sleeping bag. It was a cheap red one, but it did its job. Lying next to her was a blue one, occupied by Kaito. In his sleep he had snuggled close to her and wrapped his arms around her. At first she had blushed profusely, but now it was almost comforting, relaxing. Well, besides the fact that he was snoring rather loudly in her ear.

"Hnn, ice," she heard him murmur groggily. "Mmm..."

Mari giggled softly, unable to resist. He did have quite the attachment to ice cream and ice in general.

Kaito's eyes shot open at once, awake. Whoops, he's a light sleeper. "Yes?" he said, alert. Mari supposed all that time of being a guard had trained him to wake up that way. Otherwise you get people sneaking in, and doing things. Criminal things, maybe. Stealing, killing... No, it wasn't surprising. Not in the least. "Ah, sorry about that," he smiled, letting go of her.

"S'okay," she said, waving it off. The two sat up, breathing in the air of the new day. And it was a new day, in more ways than one. Too many to count, really. Life was a blank slate, a fresh sheet of paper. And she would pen a song onto it.

A few moments passed. Then laughter could be heard, loud footsteps. And then, slipping through the gnarled trees were two very familiar faces. Wait, make that three. No, four, five... After a bit it seemed more like ten.

"Guys!" Mari shouted, smile widening. There they all stood, like a rainbow of people. Rin, grinning wide, Len, shying away, a confident Gumi, a ball-jointed Miki, a businesslike Luka, a beaming Haku and Neru, a woman with long blond hair, arms crossed, a young, pig tailed, girl, and a man who looked rather like a teacher. "I missed you..." Mari said, tears nearly gathering in her eyes.

A feeling filled her, one warm and heavy. Seeing all these faces, both new and old... She honestly just didn't know what to say.

" Ohoho, what happened here?" Rin joked, gesturing toward Mari. "Your sleeping bags are pretty close." Mari blushed immediately, edging away from Kaito. "Ha, relax, I was just joking. So how have you been, Master?"

It was odd being called Master again. Quite odd. Mari didn't exactly know how to react. Kaito had been calling her 'Mari'. Teto (the thought of her still made Mari uncomfortable, but...) had called her Mari. She hadn't been called Master in a while. It reminded her of her days back in VocaUTAU Central. But, while she couldn't go back there, almost all the people who she had cared about were here. Almost, but that was all she needed.

"I've been alright, I suppose. I've had Queen Frostine here to keep me company, after all," Mari replied. They laughed. It was such a typical thing. Such an ordinary thing. In fact, Mari may not be in an imaginary field inside a computer with robots at all. She might be in a school, or at the mall, or anywhere for that matter. It was such an average little thing.

"Sounds fun," Gumi spoke up. She was still a shy girl, but now that she didn't tail after Gakupo, she was much more independent. It was a remarkable thing. "I was stuck with Plumpy over in VocaUTAU Central." More laughs.

"But, ah, I'm sorry," Mari said suddenly, standing up. She walked up to the blond woman, the little girl, and the teacher. "Who are you?"

The blond woman (who had looked annoyed to start with), flipped her hair and glanced away. "I'm Lily. I would think Master, of all people, would know my name." Her blue eyes were narrowed, mouth flicked downward.

The teacher spoke next. "Ah, I'm sorry. She's a tad... My name is Kiyoteru. I run the elementary division in VocaUTAU Central's school." Well, no wonder he had looked like a teacher! He actually looked very modest. Brushed dark brown hair, dark eyes. A plain, friendly face. He wore a suit of sorts. Very bland looking (and sounding), but friendly.

"And I'm Yuki," came the third voice. Mari looked down at the girl, who was pouting cutely. "I'm seven years old, you know. Mr. Kiyo came into class one day, saying that he was gonna stop Mr. Akaito. But I wanted to help!" She was a young girl, shining eyes and pigtailed brown hair. Plump blushing cheeks. She wore a simple dress and a decorated red bookbag. Mari did all she could not to squeal.

"It's a pleasure meeting you, Lily, Kiyoteru, and Yuki," Mari said politely, shaking hands with the three of them. And it was, she supposed. They were pleasant people. Well, if you want to be technical, they were robots. But all the same. She looked forward to working with them. It sounded a rather wooden thing to say, though. Like a canned response. But what else could she say?

"Now," Kaito said loudly. "We'll just go over the ambush plan. Hopefully they'll remain oblivious; the element of surprise is important." He seemed like such a natural leader. And everyone looked at Gakupo! Really, Kaito had the bravery and speaking skills of someone a couple times his age. Of course, that was only Mari's opinion. But she thought it made sense, and who am I to disagree, being a simple narrator?

Kaito stepped onto a raise in the ground, waiting for the chatter to subside. And it did. Soon everyone was looking straight at him, silent and stone-faced. He smiled and motioned Mari forward. Right, she was Master. She had a rather large part in this. Blue eyes shining, he began.

"We'll set out tomorrow, an hour before dawn. We'll go about half the way, and then separate into groups of two, each going their own way to Fanmade Central. Me going with Mari would seem too obvious, as would her going with Gumi, Rin, or Len. So she'll go with Lily ("Damn, that brat?" Lily complained softly). The rest of us will choose our own partners, alright?

"We won't be arriving directly at Fanmade Central, but instead at the 'turtle' building. You all know what I mean by that. Once I give the signal, we'll sneak in. Disturb no one, and if you do, tell them you're a new Fanmade. You'll all be wearing disguises, dressed up as new Fanmades. They shouldn't be able to tell.

"Once we get to the castle, raid it. If a guard finds you, fight them. If one of Akaito's ladies finds you, well, it depends. We'll distract all of the guards, every single one, so that when Mari goes up to delete Akaito, he'll be alone. Mari, I'm sure you know what to do. Show no mercy."

And he finished, folding his hands and waiting patiently for a response. And the response was a cheer, booming and impossibly loud for such a small group. No questions were asked; everyone just accepted his words as fact. Even Mari had no qualms. Well, except for one. But that wasn't a problem with his plan, per say, but more the deed itself. As in, she wasn't sure how to delete Akaito. Delete was such a nice way to describe it too. It really was the Vocaloid equivalent of 'kill'.

As everyone broke up and began to talk amongst themselves, Mari approched Kaito.

"Um, I've got a question," she said nervously. Both hands gripped, blue eyes directed downward. She wet her lips. "I'm not sure how I should do it. You know, deleting him." She accepted that he wasn't human. So technically the guilt of killing shouldn't apply. And yet... It did. She didn't want to end another's life, regardless if it was actual 'life' or not. It still felt wrong, morally wrong, despite the technicalities. Earlier it had seemed like a faraway dream. Of course she was going to do it. In the future. But now the moment was nearly upon her. It was closing in on her.

"Afraid, are you?" It was not a taunt, as a line like that usually would be. But rather, an observation. A statement. And a correct one at that, Mari frowned. Kaito sighed. "It's alright. It's only natural to feel that way. I mean, I wish there was another way of ending this. He's my brother, I don't want him to die. But as of now, this is the only way." Mari looked into his eyes. For a moment, they seemed hollow, empty. Only for a moment. But then they were back to normal. He wore a typical, comforting smile. "So just do your best, alright?"

And, not having any other way to reply, she simply nodded.

"Tomorrow," Mari murmured, "is the day I fix this."

AN;; Next one will be out as soon as possible. I don't know how soon possible is, but it'll be out then.