Meetings
Despite being told that he would be part of the meeting, Sakaki requested that James hide his presence for the duration of the meeting as he believed that Rachel would be on guard if he was around.
This was not a problem for the god eater who managed to find a slot in the ceiling and climb into. Sakaki momentarily pondered about asking about how James knew to do that but decided against it. Once he settled into his position the doctor waited silently for Rachel and her sister to arrive.
Once they arrived, James pressed his ears to the false bottom he lay on and listened closely to the conversation, not the words itself but the way in which it was said. Throughout the entirety of the meeting, Rachel projected herself as a dilligent worker and researcher as well as a loving and thoughtful mother who only wanted what was best for her children which was the blood unit.
He detected a hint of animosity towards Damien when Sakaki brought up how the youth had improved the group's efforts as a whole since his arrival. He wondered if Sakaki caught onto this but his attention was now focused on the latest discovery that Sakaki had found.
Though he never stated who did the research (implying Shio), Sakaki stated that the Psions are in fact a mutation of existing aragami and not completely new types. By examining their oracle cell structure, the scientists at the far east were able to understand these mutations occur when certain aragami come into contact with the red rain.
Types like the Garam, the Gboro and Chi You only became more dangerous after their exposure to the red rain phenomenon.
The talk went further on to how they would try and gain more samples of the rain in an attempt to understand its nature a little better as well as provide an origin for it. When they were done, the sisters thanked the doctor for agreeing to meet them then left. The doctor waited in silence for five minutes till one of the roof tiles moved aside, allowing James to softly re-enter the room.
The boy turned to Sakaki for a moment, then turned back to the door and said "I don't trust her, not one bit".
"What makes you so sure?"
"Call it instinct", he replied.
"Then would you be interested in conducting an off the books investigation on Rachel and Leah?"
"Coz it went so well for the last guy", he commented sarcastically and the doctor let out a wry chuckle.
"This time you'll have my help as well as full access to the resources of the far east".
James nearly voiced his objection again but stopped when he heard the door open. Based on how fast the footsteps were coming towards him and the size of the arms that immediately embraced him upon contact, he knew it to be Shio.
"Something the matter?" he asked sounding concerned
"I met this really scary girl", said Shio with her head lowered.
"Was she in a wheelchair?" asked the doctor and she nodded.
"I can't understand why, she looked totally harmless and I could take her in a fight no sweat but when I walked by her, I felt this chill running down my spine".
"Well that's enough of an answer for me", said James "I'll even bet that she had something to do with the malfunction Julius faced."
Shio seemed confused at the statement and Jams simply stated that it was best she did not know what the two old men were talking about.
After finishing maintenance work and delegating the remainder of her tasks to the others in Cradle, Alisa came back to the base just in time to see Shio happily skip towards the elevator before her. When asked about the reason why she was cheery, the girl replied that today was the day they were finally taking off the bandages on James' eyes.
Alisa joined Shio and together the two headed to the medical room, surprised to see Lindow, Soma and Kota there as well.
"Well we are his friends", said Kota with a big grin "It's only right we be there".
Sakaki undid the knot on the back of James' head then proceeded to slowly unravel the bandages that covered nearly half of his head. When he removed the last piece that covered his eyes, the group breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing his closed eyelids. It meant that the wounds were fully healed.
The doctor removed the last bit of cloth and James almost nearly opened his eyes but all of a sudden the lights in the room went off. Everyone was momentarily caught off by this but Sakaki assured them there was nothing to worry about.
As he said, the lights came back on followed by James slowly opening his eyes and taking in his new surroundings.
"Whoa", he said shielding himself from the bright lights of the room but lowered his hand as he slowly got used to it.
"James?" asked Kota
"Wow dude", said his friend smiling to him "You look a lot cooler than I remember".
"And you too Lindow", he said looking to the veteran "Damn you look cool".
Lindow gave off a light chuckle at the statement then rubbed the back of his head.
Alisa drew closer to James who only now noticed she was there, given by how surprised he looked after seeing her.
"Holy hell", he said blinking a couple of times.
"What?" she asked
"You…. just look…. Wow you look pretty",
"James", she said her face turning beet red followed by her hitting him in the arm in retaliation.
"What?" he said rubbing the part that got hit, "I wasn't lying or anything".
"Hey James, you up for another tour of the place?" asked Kota and the boy in question nodded.
"Ah he's going to have to wait a little longer", said Sakaki preventing James from nearly leaping off the bed "I still need to run a few more tests on him, to make sure that his eyes are functioning properly".
"Alright", said Soma "When you're done with that, come meet us in the cafeteria and we'll take you on another tour".
Sakaki, Shio and James watched the team leave then saw the door close.
"You think they're suspicious of the blackout?" asked Shio
"Doubtful", said James removing the red lens over his eyes then looked at Shio for a moment.
"How do you feel? All systems functional?"
While the trio discussed what they planned on doing for the next couple of days, Damien and his team had finished their mission. The others headed to their rooms to rest a little while the interim leader made his way to the cafeteria. There he met with Lindow, Soma and Kota who told him about what happened.
"There is something else I'd like your help with Damien", said Lindow
"Sure, if you think I can help you out with something then I'm all ears", said the teen with a shrug.
AN: we're setting things up for the nine tails storyline. There will be a few side stories happening as well