Disclaimer: Noblesse isn't mine.

I Am Tao (Part 26)

"You don't have to drop me off tonight." Suyi twisted her fingers together and stared at her hands, at the cracks in the sidewalk, at anything other than the one she was speaking to. "I can make it home alone."

"We always walk you home." Picking up on her behavior, M-21 watched her movements carefully. She had waited until they were alone to say this. The boys were already home, and Regis was escorting Yuna to her door. Suyi was the only one left. She intended this to be a private conversation. "Why are you suddenly talking like this?"

"I was thinking about what Mr. Jameson had said. He warned me not to trust the news or the hospital, and he told you to watch your back. I don't know what's going on, and I promise I won't try to find out. But," she finally lifted her eyes to meet his, "I don't want you to put yourself in danger because of me. Please, just go home. I'll be fine."

"I told you that he mistook me for someone else."

"I know, and I believe you. But…" She grasped the sleeve of her jacket at the elbow as her gaze fell again. "Ajussi, if one person made that mistake, another one could make it as well. What if the man he warned you about-"

"Suyi, it really was just a mistake!" He laughed, softening his voice into the most reassuring, lighthearted tone he could muster. "And this Mr. Jameson was pretty distracted when he said that, wasn't he? Do you know how much stress he must be under? He had to get you to safety, and if he was the head of security, he had to deal with that alarm and all those panicking kids. He's probably still handing out refunds!"

"Do you think so?" Suyi smiled.

"Yeah, that's it exactly." He matched her smile, but something felt wrong. They shouldn't waste any more time here. "Now, what do you say? Let us walk you home?"

"Of course."

"Hey, Regis!" M-21 yelled from the sidewalk. "Hurry up! We still have one to go!"

Regis warily approached them. One more child, and he would be alone with M-21. What then? He followed the two without a word. Like him, both of them seemed to be lost in thought. Even after they dropped off Suyi, M-21 remained silent as he surveyed the area. Was he too angry to speak? Was he waiting for an explanation? An apology?

"M-21, I didn't mean to lie to you about the footage and about what Tao found after the practice mission. We intended to tell you very soon, but we were unsure how to do it. Tao needed more information first. I hope you can understand. We never meant to exclude you." Regis pressed his lips as desperation coated his voice and hoped the vulnerability he felt didn't show on his face. M-21 didn't even look at him. Was he angry enough to ignore him like this? "Please, say something."

He watched the skyline for any unusual shapes, any shifting shadows, anything at all that could explain this feeling. Somebody was watching them. He was certain of it, but Regis seemed oblivious to the sensation. M-21 took a deep breath and tried to calm this apprehension. If Regis didn't notice it, it probably wasn't there. He was just nervous about what happened at the convention. Paranoid. They should get off the streets.

"Come on." M-21 sped up his pace.

"Why are you walking so fast?" Regis ran a couple steps to keep up. The streetlights glowed above him as they cut through the park.

"We're almost home. We'll talk about it inside."

"Ah, yes, I suppose that would be better."

"It's gone." M-21 stopped. His eyes swept through the trees. Nothing. No feeling of being watched.

"What is?"

Paranoid. He was just being paranoid. "It's nothing."

"You're behaving strangely." Regis smiled as he walked the rest of the way to the house. But at least he's talking.

[-] [-] [-]

Excellent. Dr. Crombel will be pleased with the results.

Yuriy marked down the differentiation between M-21's previous abilities and his current abilities. In the past, he would have never been able to sense that small of an amount of energy being focused on him. His skills certainly have improved.

And that boy was with him again. Perhaps he should evaluate that child as well.

[-] [-] [-]

"Boss?" Takeo tentatively peeked through the office door. "We need to talk to you."

"I am rather busy right now." Frankenstein scanned the health record, but the information revealed nothing new. The vitals were normal for a human. Regular heart rate. The body condition as a whole was typical for someone his age. The student was in good health before he was infected. Well, as far as the report could be trusted.

"It's important." Tao pushed Takeo aside with one hand and ducking into the room uninvited.

Frankenstein set the papers on the desk and pulled off his glasses, dangling them casually from his fingers. "I'm listening."

"I caused some trouble." Tao gracelessly fell into one of the chairs and rested his hands on his knees. "It's my fault."

"I'm responsible, too." Takeo followed him inside, opting to stand at attention beside his friend rather than take the remaining seat. "I knew about it from the start."

"If you insist, I will hold you both accountable. It must be serious if this is how you start the conversation." Frankenstein waited as they exchanged an uncertain glance. "Now, what have you done?"

"I attacked the Union lab." Tao flinched at Frankenstein's expression. He already looked displeased, and it was only the beginning of the confession. The worst was yet to come. "It didn't go well. I was reckless. I got angry, took the tracker from the kid, and stormed in while there were civilians nearby."

"I assume you attacked it for a reason. Was it for the infected child or for M-21? Both, I suppose. Otherwise, you wouldn't have done something so rash."

"You knew about it?"

"Of course."

"For how long?"

"Do you mean a year ago when this first began or a few days ago when you first realized it?" Frankenstein rapped his fingers against the desktop. "Perhaps if you had asked me, I could have saved you quite a bit of time. You have certainly caused more trouble than you are aware. Now, tell me what you found, or did you attack the lab only to come back empty handed?"

"I have some of the scientists notes about the experiment." Tao offered him a printed copy of the information. "I don't understand the experiment. If infected beings are the result of being bitten by an experiment that is able to infect-"

"Not necessarily." Frankenstein slid his glasses over his eyes once again and quickly scanned the papers. This was the information he had been looking for. "And, in your case, none of these children were bitten at any point. They were injected with a solution that would cause the infection. It's a very simple procedure compared to the typical Union experiments I have seen. Medically, there's no reason to do this since-" He stopped and read the paper more carefully. "Perhaps there is a reason after all. Are you aware of the purpose of a time bomb?"

"Of course we are." Takeo answered for both of them. They had seen Hammer create countless explosives in their DA-5 days. The aftermath was always disastrous. "I don't like where this is going."

"The infected solution is attached to antibodies, which prevents the infection from occurring even though one has been injected. If left alone, the antibodies will eventually breakdown and allow the infection to spread regardless, but the timing is somewhat indefinite. Think of the infection as a time bomb ticking inside the person until it finally explodes."

"Like a dormant experiment?" Tao asked, using the terms that Jameson had used before. "They were making dormant experiments, and S-17 was awakened."

"S-17?" Frankenstein glanced up from his papers.

"The infected student." Tao muttered under his breath. "That's what they called him."

"I see." He set the papers on the table and took on a more considerate undertone. "To say 'dormant' or 'awakened' is a very effective description. As I said, the dormancy of the experiment can last until the antibodies in the solution naturally break down and release the infection, or the experiment can be purposely awakened by forcibly causing the antibodies to breakdown. There are many ways to do this. Drugs that specifically target the antibodies would be the most likely."

"Like detonating a bomb instead of waiting for the explosion?" Takeo spoke to Frankenstein, but his eyes were on Tao. This must be difficult for him to hear.

"Exactly. What you discovered is who created the bomb. Now, you have three questions. Who is detonating it, who is ordering it, and why?"

"Jameson said he didn't know who had awakened the experiments, but it may be the hospital or his boss…" Tao allowed his words to trail off.

"Jameson?"

"Union worker."

"If that information was concealed from him, it is surprising he figured it out." Frankenstein scooped the student's health record from his desk and compared it to the information Tao had provided. "The student was in perfect health when the police took him to the hospital. When you found him the next morning, the infection had already set in. Partially, at least. Considering the other 'awakened' experiments also had the same schedule and the experiments that had remained 'dormant' had varying schedules, your options become quite limited. Yes, the hospital is the source."

There were more infected children? Of course there would be more. This experiment was a series. Tao attempted to suppress the memories of his infected child, but they raced through his mind in spite of his resistance. Finding the boy in the house. Moving locations. Calling Frankenstein. The tracker. The burns. The window. "How-" Tao cleared his throat. "How did you know about the tracker? You told me to stay away from the blood bank."

Knock Knock Knock

"Hey, Frankenstein, I need to ask you something." M-21 walked into the office and paused when he saw his comrades. They looked tense, apprehensive, as if his presence alone made them uncomfortable. "What's going on?"

"Ah, good timing. You should hear this." Frankenstein waved him into the meeting and continued as if he had never been interrupted. "As for the tracker, I guessed. I didn't know for sure that the infected was related to my research, but the plausibility-"

"What infected?" M-21 approached the desk and stood at attention beside Takeo and Tao. Regis lingered in the doorway, uncertain whether he should enter but unwilling to leave. All three of them were nervous. Was this also something they were trying to hide?

"Tao found an infected being earlier today."

"What's the problem? It shouldn't be hard to kill."

"You can't just kill him!" Tao shouted, leaping from his chair and slamming his palms down on Frankenstein's desk. Takeo placed his hand on his arm as a reminder to calm down. M-21 doesn't know. He didn't mean it.

"Aren't you overreacting?" M-21 stepped back in annoyance and disbelief. "That's the only thing you can do with an infected. They're not human anymore."

"He was still human! The infection hadn't fully set in yet! The boss could have done something!" Tao lowered his voice as the hand tightened around his arm. Calm down. "He could have stopped it somehow."

"The best method would be to prevent the infection altogether." Frankenstein carefully sidestepped the comment. There was nothing that could be done aside from experimenting on a subject without their consent. His master would not easily approve of that.

"But there are other children that have gone through this experiment! We can't just prevent something that has already happened!" The hand dug into his skin, and Tao knocked it away. He didn't want to calm down. He should be angry about this.

"Children?" M-21's eyes flashed at the words. Then, what happened at the convention didn't stave off anything? And his comrades knew about this? The comic. The infected. The character contest. They knew and- "You're the ones that set off that alarm! You were hiding this the whole time! Since our practice mission! Why would you go behind my back?"

"Because you'd lose your temper and-"

"Do exactly what you have done." Takeo interjected more harshly than he had intended but didn't try to take back the words. He meant them.

"Takeo…" Tao said in astonishment. He had rarely heard Takeo say something so sarcastic. Had this been bothering him the whole time?

"He deserves to know about the S-Series."

"I knew." M-21 stared at the ground with his hands clenched tightly at his sides, and the room fell silent. "We always knew. We were not the first, and we wouldn't be the last. M-24 and I, we knew. So what if it's to the S-Series now? We had always known, and we never had the ability to stop it! Now that I'm finally strong enough to do something about it, you steal that away from me?! A year ago, all I had was my life, a quest for one hundred names, and M-24! I lost my comrade, but I thought I had gained new comrades! Now, I don't even know if I have that!"

Regis heart sank. He couldn't bear to see his friend suffer so much pain. "M-21, you don't mean that. I know that the experiments were difficult-"

"You don't know what you're talking about." M-21 spat out sharply.

"I can… I can understand that hearing about the experiments must be difficult for you, but you don't mean that." Regis whispered, stepping forward to comfort his friend, but a glare stopped him in his tracks.

"No, you don't understand! It has never happened to you! You don't understand anything!"

"I-I know I…" Regis stumbled over his words. He could feel his face burning with shame. M-21 looked furious. Livid. He turned to Tao and Takeo for support, but even they refused to meet his eyes. "I… I'm sorry. I… I just… I-I didn't know… this was how you… you saw me… I… I'm sorry. Excuse me." Regis turned on his heels, managing to take two composed steps before running from the room.

"M-21, go after him!" A tinge of anger filled Takeo's voice. "Everything he did was for your sake."

"None of this was for my sake! If any of you had done this for me, you would have told me. The only thing you did was ease your own consciences."

"M-21," Frankenstein touched the tips of his fingers together, making a triangle with his hands, "the only one truly hiding something from you was me."

"What?"

"After the infected being you and M-24 created caused the massacre at the hospital, the staff was replaced largely by Union scientists. I have known this for a year, and I have been watching them until now. They have finally made their move."

"Then, the experiments… This is my fault?"

"M-21..."

"I don't want to talk about this right now." M-21 ran in the direction Regis had fled. "I'm leaving."