Chapter 29: In Doubts Of Our Future
"You seem awfully happy today Miriana." Yin said casually as he and the two other girls strolled through the walkway, a gentle breeze blowing their hair around. Partially to look for Roy and Boy and partially just to get out and move around, Yin had noticed quite soon that Miriana seemed a little more cheerful even for her. After asking the question, her already broad smile widened as she looked at him and then at Elrya whom for the most tried to ignore it with an embarrassed blush.
"She knows." The Diclonius finally said, going even redder in the face than normal.
"Knows what?" Yin asked while raisin an eyebrow.
"About us..and…you know…" She muttered, not disliking it but she never thought it would become public this soon.
"You mean…OH!" He gasped, and instantly put his hands together behind his back, straightened himself up and tried to put himself into the most adult form he could manage. "Alright listen Miriana, I know that this might come as a surprise. Now I want you to know that in these situations it's uh, often good to keep a keen eye on those that you care about."
Ignoring the fact that she didn't understand a word he just said, Miriana continued to smile that happy go lucky grin of hers. "That's nice Yin, so it might be a bit early, I understand that, but tell me, when are you two are going to get married?" She asked so simplistically it was like having a conversation about the weather. Needless to say, Yin spluttered and choked on his own breath, if such a thing was possible, collapsed on the floor and struggled to regain his lost composure. Elrya, surprisingly enough, managed to hold herself a little more calmly but one might have thought she was having a massive fever with her face so red and sweating like crazy. "Ah! Ah! N-Now wait just a minute Miriana! Don't you think it's a little too early to be thinking about something like that?"
"No. I think it's a nice." The scarred girl said simply. "Besides Elrya's 15 right? The legal age of consent for marriage is 16 in Japan. Elrya when is your birthday?" She asked looking at the girl who fidgeted her fingers slightly and muttered. "It's…today." The other two looked at her for a few seconds before Miriana, as her usual self would do, squealed joyfully while hugging Elrya with all of her might. "That's amazing! Why didn't you tell us it was your birthday!"
"Uh…birthdays haven't exactly been that fun for me ever since I was taken to the facility. Honestly it really wasn't that big of a deal for me, it's just another day." She replied, trying to save if off as just that, another regular day for Elrya Alya, the random Diclonius who's been talking to herself for 10 years and now went from 15 years to 16 years old. Miriana wasn't having any of that however and the ecstatic girl took Elrya's hand, shaking her hand rapidly and grinning from ear to ear.
"We can't have that at all! Oh this is terrible all this trouble that you've been through you deserve to have at least one happy birthday. Oh my god!" She suddenly cried out, realizing something that must've been so amazing because the excited girl was suddenly dancing on her feet, looking at the two of them with the brightest of gleams in her eyes. "You two love each other right! Right! Oh this is amazing for both of you!"
"I don't like where this conversation is going." Elrya said quickly while Yin seemed to be making some sort of half attempt to exit.
"Now you two can get married!"
"Eh..uh…M-Miriana…the thing about that is…she needs…kind of parental consent anyways." Yin said quickly, looking rather apologetically at both of them. Elrya's mood soured greatly as she turned around, unable to look at them.
"Parents? Both of my parents are dead. Really the only person who's ever had the consent on my life was Garder and like hell I'm asking him for anything."
"Hmmm, I got it! Maybe you could ask Roy to adopt you!"
"GAH! AH! AH! EXCUSE ME!" The Diclonius shrieked as if she hadn't heard, much less comprehended what her friend had just said. "it's not like I completely dislike the guy, but he kind of shot me before."
"Well I mean I would suggest Yin but I think it would be kind of awkward to be married to your adopted father."
"Yes it would Miriana and so we're going to get away from that topic right now." Yin spoke quickly, wondering how on earth this kind of conversation came to be.
"How about Bando?"
"Are you insane? He'd freaking murder me!" Elrya cried out.
"Oh this is such a terrible predicament." Miriana whined, trying to think of any solutions. "Are you sure Bando wouldn't mind adopting you?"
"Hey Bando, you want to be my dad?"
"…You want me to shoot you don't you, ya horned freak?"
"Yeah I'm pretty sure." Elrya said after a moment of thought.
"Hmm…I think I've got it! Alright so Elrya's at the age where she can't get married and I know you two would be a great couple." She answered beaming. "However at only 16 years old she'd need parental consent! But what if…you and Yin had a baby!"
"GAH! AH! OH SNAP LOOK AT THE TIME!" Yin yelled loudly, looking at his wrist closely where not a watch could be found. "Oh dear me, it'll start getting late in about 8 hours from now, we should seriously get off this topic right now before I get in trouble and start looking for Roy and Bando."
"I agree Yin!" Elrya yelled with equal blush, staring up at the sky. "Wow it's such a nice day outside. The sun is shining, oh boy what a day."
"Eh? You don't want children?" Miriana asked kindly.
"Ehhh…it's not so much about wanting to have kids…more of the fact that I can't have them. I'm a Sipilet remember Miriana? The only one of my kind who can reproduce is the Queen Lucy, whom why we're on that subject is a royal bitch." She said, just feeling that random vive of hate for the woman. "So even if that was a good idea, which it is not…!" She added quickly , raising her finger. "I couldn't have one even if I wanted to."
"Awwww." The young girl cried out, seemingly on the verge of tears almost. "I will think of way!"
"She's determined." Alya moaned, Elrya nodding in agreement. Children, even now such a thought while unique never really occurred to her. She was young after all, and most of her time had been spent thinking about how much she hated everything in life. It was definitely something that didn't cross her mind very often. Yet, and even she tried to push such thoughts aside, perhaps deep down, in that random maternal instinct that resided in all girls, having a baby…might not be such a bad idea.
While conversations issued from far away, Roy and Bando were making business of their own. The two sat against the edge of the brick walls, hidden amongst the alley ways. Their wounds, while keeping them from operating at their full potential, had been cured enough to keep them from suffering any sort of fatal injuries. While looking for the three people, though Bando seemed keener on getting out looking for Lucy, Roy had stumbled upon something very important. Walking by, talking to another person, they probably never would've guessed that someone would know what they were talking about in the first place.
"I can't believe that crazy director, sending in #35 to look for Lucy…"
"Crap…" Roy hissed angrily, clenching the metaphorical fists as the soldier glared at him in question. "#35 is Kurama's daughter and the strongest Diclonius that Kakuzawa possesses. In reality she's strong but she's not unbeatable, however she's still dangerous enough to be a threat. It also means that the old bastard has finally decided to stop screwing around. The other three will have to wait, I want to talk to Kurama about this."
"Whatever." Bando grumbled.
Her hair fluttering in the wind, what soul could possibly think that little girl sitting almost timidly in the wheelchair? Isobe and Shirawaka by her side, looking nervous and hoping the girl, whom in an instant could slaughter them for the sole reason that it was just possible, didn't believe that everyone had to die anyways. Her caretaker had already met a grisly end, slashed in half and thrown through a window, only managing to detonate the bomb in her arm in the nick of time. This small, innocent looking girl…a dangerous amalgamation of child's nightmare.
"Do you sense Lucy?" Shirakawa asked.
"It's not Lucy. It's someone else." The small girl replied with a childish grin on her face. "I can kill that one right?" She asked gleefully while Nana, with an incredulous look upon her face, starred at what she could only assume to be a little girl. It didn't take long, for her to realize just how childish that girl really was.
The word of Mariko's release spread quickly throughout the facilities, most of them just keeping a distance and making their own adjustments as needed. The only one who actually paid any concern was Garder who sat at his desk, reading the computer screen through his black slit eyes. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened and it was time, as much as he wanted to wait, to take action. "Julius, keep a watch on Lucy, I'm putting you in charge of the facility here."
"Aye sir, I'll keep watch. What do you plan on doing though?"
"The last thing we need is to have somebody like Mariko getting out of hand. It's bad enough that we barely know what Vladimir is up to now a days, I don't need more problems than necessary and I know that most people are too foolish to deal with this themselves. I'm going to kill Kurama Mariko." He said deadly serious, a cold glare shining upon his glasses for a moment before he took them off and placed them in his pockets. A cold, almost vicious gaze could be seen on his face, almost a shadow under his eyes as it became clear that no longer was there time to wait. He would kill her, end it now and end her threat as well, because there were too many threats in the world. There were just too many threats like Lucy, Mariko and Alya…dangerous, inconceivable threats.
"Will you promise me something Garder?"
"Is something wrong Garder?" Julius queried as the old man stopped suddenly, looking up at the ceiling.
"No. Nothing is wrong…I'm off."
It had become a warzone, the factions spread out almost randomly, each with their own desires. Woe betides the foolish that get in their ways, a world of fury, revenge and insanity. Gods stand behind; looking at their work, grinning widely as they know that victory is assured. Generals go out to the field, preparing to end even the life of children no older than 5 years old. Madmen, seeking a fulfillment of absolute suffering stand upon the ruins of their own delightful mess. Innocents who want to make a better world, who wants to prove that there is good in it. Soldiers line up, prepare their bullets and head off to shoot, to kill and to die. A warzone in a small city called Kamakura.
And in that city…
One single girl…Elrya Alya.
"Looks like something's going on?" Yin said simply, seeing a blockade in the road and shrugging his shoulders indifferently. Roadwork was always happening, so it wasn't something he paid much concern to anyways. Elrya starred for a moment at it, the operation having left her unable to sense the powerful presence of another one of her species, before calmly walking away with Miriana and Yin. None of them had a clue that Nana and Mariko were currently fighting, nor that Garder was along the way. Yet even that seemed to pale in comparison with the secret that Kakuzawa had in store. A few miles away, Orlana as well as a rather unpleasant partner were stationed there, although both had a completely different reason for it.
The man had no name, no address, no point of origin, no compassion. A sick freak who wore a thick black hat upon his head, his dark hair falling over his face. The kind of sick freak that only came from hell, a perverted man not beyond raping even the smallest of children. He was there, holding his strange shaped weapon of a crossbow and leering at Orlana with a hungry look in his eyes as the woman had donned her usual two piece outfit. He was there for the sole purpose of keeping watch on the missile silo so that nothing would happen when Kakuzawa released it, having it detonate above the city and spread the glorious vector virus throughout the world. His partner, or rather as he saw it, his next possible sexual satisfaction, apparently had been sent by one of the other facility members to help him out. Well that was what Orlana had told him and for him, what lies could a little woman like her tell?
"You know…" he hissed, licking his lips obscenely. "After this is over, you and I should…get a room and…you know. Hm?"
As with Vladimir, it was best just to ignore such talk and concentrate on the business at hand. The only reason she hadn't killed him herself was the mere fact that, even a complete monster like him could be useful, especially if Elrya came. Would it happen? Perhaps not, almost unlikely really, but it was possible. Yet if she didn't come, she would merely wait until the missile was going to be launched and stop it herself. The only person who nobody seemed to know what they were up to was Vladimir Cents, who taken the entire thing far more seriously than any of them would've wanted. Yet it was his nature after all, just a monster in a monster's body.
"I'm wondering…if you've ever been touched by a real man."
She had to again, repress the urge to stab his heart. "I have decided that sex is not for me. You may not understand it, but there are those of us who rather appreciate virginity."
"Oh…a virgin eh." He uttered hungrily to the point where one could almost see the crotch of his pants rising a bit. "You must be so delectable." Whispering, he came up to her, and in the most disgusting manner available began sliding his hot tongue all up against her ear. She didn't shudder, she didn't shake, she hardly seemed to care with the way she looked on without worry. Yet deep down, she had to repress, that absolute urge to kill this sick bastard. But she kept calm, much as she was trained to be, even when the freak began groping her like some sort of animal. "Ah I bet you taste so…"
*SLICE*
"GYA!" And the patience was quickly diverted when, with but a single stroke, she struck her blade into his palm and twisted, leaving him mortified and hideously angry. "Y-You little bitch! How dare you!"
"Touch me again…and I'll slice off your manhood." She muttered coldly, said object of the man's body almost shrinking back in fear. "We are here to keep the missile ready for its release. So quietly wait, and the next time you pull some stunt like that on me, I will make sure this blade goes straight through your heart." Before pulling it out quickly and sheathing it.
"Ugh…Urggh…Kah…" The unknown man groaned, wondering how this had happened.
"There's a select code on the missile that will keep it from launching." She thought, looking at the massive weapon that was stationed behind them. "Code 3 1 5 1 2 9 8, that'll stop it from launching. However it won't work unless the operation starts and it begins to run. This might prove difficult if I actually get into a fight and it begins to launch."
"Yo Kurama…have you heard what's going on?" Roy asked, stepping into the hidden hospital as the other staff members gave them a fleeting look before going on with their business. "I have…the director is using my daughter." He said, knowing the sick nature of his boss and knowing that this was revenge for letting Number 7 go. He'd have done a lot worse if he knew that he was working in this place, helping out the Diclonius. "Excuse me…" He replied quickly, picking up his ringing phone and answering it. "Shirakawa is that true? You have to be kidding me!" He yelled, the tension growing even deeper.
"What's up?" Roy asked.
"Shirakawa just told me of the Director's plan to use a vector virus incased missile."
"The hell?" Roy yelled out shocked.
"He's going to launch it and then have detonate over the city, spreading the virus. Damn, I have to stop my daughter at all cost. Please you have to go to the silo and stop it right now."
"Of course, damn idiots trying to screw up the world. Like hell I'll let this world be overrun by those horned freaks." Bando barked, Roy nodding in agreement. "Good luck Kurama, it's about to get hectic and I can't promise there won't be any casualties.
"Will you two be alright?" Kurama queried.
"We're both injured, but not beyond fighting." Roy replied back simply. "However…" He thought seriously. "There's a good chance we'll run into some serious problems and I don't even know how we'll get out of it. Oh well…that's how it goes I guess.
That's…just how it goes I guess."
Author's Note: Finally got the next chapter done. A little bit of a wait but nothing big. Been busy with some other stuff so there are times when i can't post a chapter a day. The climax for the second arc of Pinpoint Lifeline's is ready, the people are set and the great battle is about to begin. What will come out of this battle? Who will ultimately be victorious? Stay tuned for the next chapter of "Pinpoint Lifeline."
R&R
