Time-line Update: Sunday Afternoon, December 8th

Chapter 45: Twin Cobra's


Niketas had told them to wait in this conference room and then vanished off to who knows where. Minutes had ticked by and then turned into nearly three hours as they waited for something to happen.

"Ugh! Enough already! Is she coming or is she not coming? I need some news or I'm going to go crazy!" Ren shouted as she paced around the room irritably.

"It's a little too late for that I'm afraid., Kisho stated just loud enough for her to hear. Then he smirked as he felt the burning heat of his twin's glare settle on him. She snarled something at him and then resumed walking.

The sound of her mumbling as well as that of her shuffling footsteps would have been more annoying if not for the ebook reader he always carried with him in his satchel; Ren insisted on calling it a "man purse". Either way it saved him during moments like this when waiting was inevitable. It was a convenient way to pass the time.

Ren glanced down at the bag which was now hanging off the side of his chair and sneered at him. "Did you really have to bring that thing with you? Being in the same room with you and that makeup is embarrassing enough as it is," she commented as her fingers twitched uneasily. As usual she was teasing him to try and alleviate her own nerves.

Well if it would help calm his sister down then he didn't mind. Not that he ever really had a problem with it. It was one of the many ways they showed their love for one another.

Kisho watched as Ren took a couple more steps back and forth across by the table. Growing bored he reached down into his bag and pulled out a small mirror so he could check his makeup. No need to have it smudged before meeting his little sister. It was best to make as good of an impression as possible.

Sensing a set of eyes on him he looked up and cocked an eyebrow. "What now? Just go back to wearing out your little pathway in the carpet would you?" he said with a shooing motion.

However, Ren continued to look at him and her gaze went down the mirror in his hand and then to his face as he smoothed out his eyeshadow. Another second later she shook her head in apparent disbelief.

"You... are soooo ga..."

"Don't say it. You know how offensive that phrase is to some people," he cut her off before she could finish her sentence, however. With a roll of her eyes Ren pulled out a chair and then slumped down into it.

"You can't get upset when it's true, Mister Mom," she shot back.

In truth he had no problem whatsoever with her saying it since it was in fact true, but there was no reason for her to get in the habit of saying it. Especially when she had the habit of saying whatever came to mind whenever it came to mind. He had pulled her out of tight situations plenty of times before and had no desire to repeat the performance.

Kisho thought for a moment before smirking at her and saying, "You're just jealous because I'm prettier than you are."

Her mouth dropped open and then closed as she had nothing to say to that one. Satisfied at winning the argument and at his appearance, he put the mirror back and was about to go back to he ebook when a heavy and very irritated sigh suddenly gusted across his neck. Kisho frowned and looked up to see his sister leaning on the edge of the table inches away from him. He stared at her for a moment before going right back to his book. Best not to indulge her at moments like this.

"Well?"

Apparently she was not going to leave him alone, however. Letting out a small breath he slowly raised his head and patiently waited for her to get to the point. Seeing that he was paying attention now, Ren settled into the chair behind her and chewed on her fingernail nervously.

"When is she going to get here? I mean she is coming right?" she demanded. Once again her worries were getting the best of her. Shifting his gaze down he saw her hands starting to shake. Ren wasn't not good in stressful situations and the idea of meeting her long lost sister was about as stressful as you could get.

Seeing how concerned she was, Kisho took pity on her. Reaching over he put his hand over her's and squeezed it tightly. "Don't worry. I'm sure she'll be here any minute now," he said softly to reassure her. Gently he rubbed the back of her hand. Despite all the teasing and banter they did he really did love her. Seeing his twin upset like this always was always hard and he did whatever he could to help calm her down when this happened.

"Just give her a little time. This is a big step for her as well," Kisho added persuasively. Ren nodded slowly and then took a deep breath and leaned back in the plush office chair.

"Yeah... yeah you're right," she admitted. Lapsing into silence she waited patiently for close to five minutes... and then exploded into action once again. "Where in the world is she!" Jumping to her feet she resumed her pacing back and forth.

Well so much for my pep talk, Kisho thought with a roll of his eyes as Ren continued to wear a path in the carpet.

There was a small click and both of them froze and turned towards the door. The handle turned down slowly and the door slowly swung open. Two teenagers were standing there. One was a slim girl with long black hair tied back in a ponytail. She had on a long sleeved shirt and skirt that flowed down to her knees. Standing beside and just behind her was a young man with brown hair dressed in a black and gray hoodie with dark pants.

A small gasp came from Ren, but Kisho didn't need to look over at her to know what she was thinking. Pushing the ebook reader away from him, Kisho swiveled his chair fully around and rose to his feet.

Right away the guy narrowed his eyes slightly. His hand went to her waist and he leaned forward to whisper something in her ear. After a moment he pushed her forward, earning a worried look from her. The guy smiled and nudged her forwards again this time getting her to take a couple steps closer to them before stopping again.

Must be her boyfriend, Kisho thought as he brushed a speck of lint off his pants. Before leaving Ren had tried to get him to 'tone down' his outfit. In return he had shot a pointed look towards her newly dyed blue hair, piercings, black studded boots, and her black "Who need aliens when you have me?" t-shirt. Then he proceeded to ignore her. His own black tank top, spiked gloves and black jeans, which came complete with more zippers than a clothing store, was positively tame by comparison.

Since she was so clearly hesitant that it only made sense for them to take the first step and break the ice. Kisho nodded slightly to Ren and she fell in at his side as they closed the distance separating them from their sister.

"Chigusa Kusaka is that right?" he asked as she cocked her head back to look up at him. She just over five feet tall and he just over six, so there was quite a difference in height between them.

"I'm Kisho and this is my twin Ren. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I can't begin to describe how long we've been waiting for this day," he said warmly and held his hand out to her. With a little effort he managed to soften his naturally deep voice so it, hopefully, wasn't quite so intimidating. Chigusa stared down at the proffered limb for a second before hesitantly reaching out and grasping it in a surprisingly firm grip.

Letting go, Kisho stepped aside so that Ren could come closer. Only thing was that she was too busy staring to notice. Kisho frowned and was about to give her a harsh nudge when his twin snapped out of it and flushed with fear and embarrassment.

"Sorry it's just... you look just like..." Ren hesitated at the word and then managed to get it out, "You look just like our mom," she said softly. Chigusa gasped and pulled her hand back suddenly her eyes going wide.

Kisho groaned inwardly. What did she have to go and say that for? That was a subject best left alone considering how the woman had abandoned them all. It was the guy next to her who rescued the conversation, however.

"Your mother must have been a beautiful woman then," he said easily. A blush flew up to Chigusa's cheeks and she looked back at him with a grateful smile. The exchange between them spoke volumes. Obviously they were in love. Shifting his attention back to them he bowed politely in typical Japanese fashion.

"My name is Ryou Misaki... I'm Chigusa's boyfriend," he said by way of introduction. After eyeing him for a moment, Ren brushed a lock of blue hair away as her eyes narrowed.

"So I guess you're the one who's been taking care of my little sister in our absence, hunh?" Her voice was flat and carefully controlled.

Kisho knew that tone all too well. His twin did not take well to sudden changes. The fact that she had suddenly been "forced" to meet her sister with no preparation beforehand was surely nerve wracking enough. Having a new person that she knew even less about was not going to end well. At best she would just shut down and quite responding. At the worst she would freak out and start screaming and cursing before running out of the room in a panic the way she had last time a situation like this had presented itself.

"Why don't we sit down and talk some more? We have a lot of catching up to do," Kisho stated with a tiny smile as he motioned them towards the seats. Ren gave him a look and then fixed it on Ryou as he walked past and pulled the chair out for Chigusa before taking a seat himself. A quick step next to his twin had his hand on her arm. It wouldn't do any of them any good if Ren allowed herself to be stressed out like this. It was vital that she try to calm herself down and not let her paranoia get the best of her.

Since both of them spoke fluent English from all of their time in the United States, Kisho switched over to that for more privacy. "See? The guy's a gentleman. He seems good enough for now and no one's telling you to like him. You don't even have to acknowledge his presence. Just try to take it easy and remember that we're here for our little sister," he said softly.

Over at the table, Ryou was busy talking to Chigusa but he glanced up and clearly noticed them talking.

It wasn't cold but Ren rubbed arms anyway. Nodding slowly she took a deep breath and turned away. She pulled out a chair and sat down as Kisho pulled one up next to her. Under the table he took her hand and slid her fingers through his. Her shaking hands had gotten worse and were now trembling uncontrollably.

Time to move this conversation along. She had taken her medication earlier today so she was doing pretty well, but this was what she considered an extremely stressful environment so the cocktail of meds could only do so much.

Ren slumped back in her chair and stared down at the table as her face went cold. She was starting to shut down just as he expected. Not good but he had seen worse responses from her. When her eyes closed he could see her shoulders starting to shiver. Kisho noticed and his eyes softened with pity. Reaching across with his other hand he rubbed the back of his sister's hand to comfort her.

"Should I leave? I don't want to make you more uncomfortable," Ryou said abruptly. From the way he was looking at Chigusa he was clearly asking her if it was okay for him to do so.

Chigusa on the other hand clearly didn't like the idea of being left alone. Then she looked over at Ren and chewed on her thumb hesitantly as her eyes unfocused slightly. After a moment she blinked and turned back to her boyfriend.

"I'll be okay. Why don't you just wait outside for us?" she offered with a forced smile.

For a moment he stared at her suspiciously and then glanced over their way. Kisho met his gaze but said nothing.

Ryou pursed his lips slightly but nodded and stood up. "Just let me know whenever you're done. I'll be outside," he said before walking out.


Aihane watched with impassive eyes as the AIDA went through their performance drills; some willingly, some unwillingly. However, after the previous demonstration all of them were now fighting for their lives. Literally. Those who did not meet the hacker's expert standards were fed to Xen and Scorpius. No need to have them around wasting space on his locked computer systems as he could always find more of the AI's; they multiplied faster then he could capture them. Yet, despite their massive numbers they didn't slow down computer systems until they actually started creating their own Avatar's and messing around with the data. That particular facet of their nature was still being explored.

Scorpius watched passively while Xen darted back and forth around him. Currently Gorre were resting while Corbenik and Fidchell fought wave after wave of AIDA. Since they were originally one connected being, the AIDA fragments were experts at coordinating attacks. Precision hitting and expert timing made for a deadly combination.

Thousands upon thousands of AIDA all splitting and multiplying like so many bacteria. Their sheer numbers will tear the remaining Epitaphs to pieces. Especially since only Skeith, Innis, Magus, and Tarvos are left. All I need to do is keep them out of the way so that Scorpius can subdue the Terror of Death. Once that is done he can summon Aura and the AIDA will infect her and copy her abilities, Aihane considered as he reviewed his plans.

Already he had Atlas and Kodachi, another of the Eight AIDA. They corresponded to Gorre and using Corbenik and Xen's abilities he would force them to combine into their final and complete form. Verreaux was still being hunted down. The bird AIDA had the eyes of an eagle and could see his moves almost before he made them. As long as Verreaux didn't interfere then he didn't mind if it took a while.

Once the fusion of Atlas and Kodachi to Hinote Gorre and Gorre Taiga was complete then he would be ready to invade The World and flush the Epitaph Users out of hiding. One battle to capture Aura and then he would use one of his slave systems to bring her completely and totally under his control. Once that was done he could control and subtly manipulate military agency's, terrorist groups, governments, and entire countries. Network access meant everything these days. Richer countries with greater resources were always more powerful, but now that Africa had climbed out of its third world status it was climbing the ranks as more countries became more and more wealthy. People that had been dirt poor years ago were now being trained to operate machines and perform IT services.

Robotics facilities were springing up all over the once poor continent, fueling an economic boom and providing jobs not just to thousands, but to millions of people. That was just one tech industry, however. Rhodesia Kajongwe of the NAB was the perfect example of how young minds were being tapped for international jobs and national pride.

Of course China was the new world power now with Japan recovering and making up the second place on the list. Technology was the future and those countries that had rushed to make better and more efficient technologies and renewable power sources that could be employed in various facets of life had emerged victorious. The United States of America had been behind the curve due to great expense involved in transforming the entire country and the more sparsely populated western regions. Only now were they starting to catch up. It would take a lot more time, but in a couple more decades with their economy fully recovered they would be ready to step back onto the world stage as a major heavyweight.

Aihane swiveled his chair around and looked at the world map that completely covered one section of his massive home. China, Africa, and America were outlined in red, brown, and green respectively. Glancing over his shoulder he looked at the screen one more time to make sure the test was still going properly. It was so he turned back to the world map.

Fumbling around in his shirt pocket he pulled out a cigarette and pulled the tab at the end. It lit up with a satisfying red glow and he inhaled deeply before blowing out a cloud of smoke. A smoke break always helped calm him down.

I've got robotics plants all over the coast and interior of Africa. I have construction robots all throughout Europe and China now has just as many machines as Japan. However, in a few years the economic state of America might prove more fruitful to my plans, Aihane considered as a smile came to his lips.

Just you wait Aura... soon... so very soon and you will be all mine. My AIDA are already taking over machines and robots all over the world where they can stay for years if necessary thanks to my slave systems, the rich computer hacker took a long drag on his cigarette and let the cloud of smoke fill the air in front of him.

A few weeks or a couple more days... it all depended on how well his AIDA performed during this current round of fighting. If he felt they were ready then he would be able to execute his plan by the end of this week.


AN: So here is the next chapter! Chigusa finally gets to meet her siblings and a little more about Aihane's plan as well. The world scene is also expounded on and you get hints as to what's going to be happening not only in the sequel to this story but in the final battle of this story as well. Going to be a major event that you'll want to stay tuned to for sure.

For now though Aihane is as evil as ever while Ren and Kisho try their best to connect with their little sister.

So tell me what you think of the chapter! I need reviews to fuel my creativity. So please comment, point out something that could be improved, whatever!

And a big thank you to Okami Princess for helping me out by being my beta reader! Until next time everyone! And I'll try to keep the updates coming sooner!