Chapter twelve: Cause For Alarm?

"Sure hope Shiro's feelin' better today.." Lance commented, strolling down the hall with his hands shoved into the pockets of his Voltron/Garrison uniform. "The guy really needs a break from all this."

"Yeah.. I don't think even Marie Antoinette Syndrome could add more grey to his hair at this point." Pidge deadpanned, a seriousness slightly drowned out by her sarcasm. Lance and Hunk stopped to look at her.

"What?" Lance inquired.

"You know.. the event where a person's hair turns white or grey from massive or prolonged stress? It's a syndrome commonly seen in people who suffer from PTSD. It might be partially what turned Shiro's hair white."

"Right, but.. we have no way of ever confirming that." Lance returned, turning down the thought.

"Well I think there is a way.. but.. it wouldn't really matter. And plus.. Shiro doesn't seem to care all that much either way." Hunk's babbling was short-lived when a door opened, just barely ahead of them on the left side. Yawning, Keith strode from the other side, entering the hallway to meet them.

"Did.. you just come from the hangers?" Lance asked, looking his former leader up and down curiously.

"Yeah.. couldn't sleep.. needed to be with the Black Lion for Shiro." The reinstated Red Paladin yawned once more, his arm still cradled in the snug sling; leaving him only his left hand to cover his yawn.

"So you stayed up all night in the hanger with the Black Lion?" Pidge wondered, as they resumed walking.

"No.. must've fallen asleep in the hanger." Keith returned, sleep still glazing his eyes over. "Just being there seemed to be enough."

"Well.. I bet he'll be feeling better this morning, at least.." Pidge remarked brightly. "..With that vest my dad made for him. Sure hope it worked." Suddenly the cry of alarms froze them all in their tracks, as they collectively lifted their eyes up.

XXXX

"Commander Holt won't be long, Admiral Shirogane." A hazmatted nurse tech said, before leaving the room. Shiro lay glassy-eyed from sleep, pulling himself to awareness as best he could with such a low rate beating in his chest.

"Maybe when he gets here he can take this thing off you." Kimberly guessed.

"Gotta hand it to Sam, though." Shiro murmured loosely. "His products do work." Alarms screamed overhead and they both looked up on alert.

"Evacuation sequence initiated." Iverson's voice cracked over the com system. "This is not a drill!" The door opened and a hasmatted tech entered.

"Evacuate immediately, Iverson's orders." The tech said in a rather rushed fashion, beginning to usher Kimberly out of the room.

"Oh, but.. what about Shiro?" She asked, peering over the man's shoulder at him.

"He'll have to be properly evacuated, he'll be meeting you outside soon." The tech replied forwardly. "And take the underground tunnels on your way out." Kimberly turned.. glancing over her shoulder once again at the man, she proceeded to walk away; the opposite direction of the small crowd charging down the hallway. The hasmatted tech then turned and headed back into the room. Taking hold of the device on Shiro's chest, he was able to turn it just right to remove it from the vest and set it aside.

"What are you doing?" Shiro wondered feeling the beat of his heart resume on its own beat; making him feel more awake.

"Commander Holt is not here and you have to be evacuated.. we need to leave all forms of technology behind." The tech replied, continuing to work. Pressing and holding the button to raise the top half of the bed up, he waited til Shiro was almost sitting upright before plunging something at his left arm. Shiro felt a stick and looked down in surprise, but immediately felt the heaviness ensue and had no time to react before completely falling under its heavy influence. The hasmatted tech stood there staring at the, now unconscious, Shiro; before turning on his heel and leaving the room.

XXXX

"Sam, you made it. Thank goodness." Keith said, as the group reached him in the light of the morning sun. "Do you have any idea why Iverson called for an evacuation?"

"Uh-.. no. I was.. unaware there was one until now." Commander Holt's blank stare and blinking eyes further summed up the truth of his words. "I just got here. Where's Shiro?"

"Probably still coming." Keith guessed. "The techs are probably having to bring him out, per Garrison protocol."

"You mean you weren't with him when this all happened?" Sam wondered, Colleen standing worriedly at his side.

"No.. we were just going to see him when the alarms sounded." Keith looked up past Sam and the older man turned to view the younger one's field of vision.

"Commander Iverson." Sam addressed the man in question, as he strode toward them finishing what looked to be a breakfast sandwich.

"-e Commander Holt. What can I do for you on this fine day." Iverson replied brightly.

"You can start by providing an explanation for the evacuation of the whole Garrison facilities." Sam replied.

"-I didn't issue any evacuation." Iverson replied simply. "I was running an errand off campus early this morning, just arrived back from it… so what's this about an evacuation of the whole campus?" Sam's gaze brightened.

"But.. if you didn't.."

"What are you talking about?" Lance interrupted, crossing his arms. "We heard your voice over the mic system. It had to have been you."

"Sorry, son. But I don't know whatch'er talking about." Iverson reiterated. "I wasn't even here to give the order for one."

"Wait but then.. if you're not the one who issued the order…" Lance trailed, inclining everyone to look back at the Garrison building.

"Who did?" Keith finished for him.

"Evacuation complete." Called a commander to another, and the group began peering around expectantly.

"'Scuse me,.." Sam beckoned coming to the commander. "Might I ask where Admiral Shirogane is?" The commander's face broadened his head cocking slightly in thought; eyes blank. At that moment though.. CLASH, BANG, CLANG!

"Someone's activated lockdown mode!" Sam gasped, everyone staring in dismay and shock; chatter beginning.

"Hang on.. I'm almost there… ok! I'm in the system!" Pidge announced, tapping vigorously at the keys of her computer; sitting on the ground with it balanced in her lap. "The cameras are still operational and can easily be hacked, whoever's doing this,.. will soon be revealed."

"This doesn't add up." Sam remarked exasperatedly. "How could someone have hacked into our system, to impersonate Commander Iverson into initiating a fake evacuation sequence, and put the Garrison on lockdown?"

"The only way for this to be possible is for them to have an understanding of Garrison protocol.." Iverson stated. "High ranking knowledge."

"But then we were right about it being someone within the Garrison.. but who could it be?" Keith wondered. "Everyone seems to be accounted for." Gasping breaths drew their attention to Keith's left, as Evelyn and Mark came panting up to them with their family in tow.

"Have any of you.. seen Kimmie?" Evelyn breathed, between breaths. "We.. can't seem to find.. her."

"That's not good." Lance said, meeting Keith's gaze.

"Guys look!" Pidge squeaked, pointing to her screen. "Shiro's out cold in the medical bay."

"Well, what does that mean?" Hunk wondered nervously.

"You mean he's still inside?!" Keith gasped, clearly ignoring the Yellow Paladin's question.

"'Looks that way." Pidge went on; Hunk looking from Pidge to Keith then back again.

"What is happening right now?!" Hunk cried.

"Alright, everyone calm down." Sam demanded softly. "We need to find out who's doing all of this and figure out a way to stop them. And get into the Garrison to help Shiro. Pidge, can you see if you can find out where this person is and.. where they are inside the Garrison?" Pidge's fingers typed some more and the screen switched many times before settling on a figure, they were all-too-shocked to recognize.

Elbows rested on the arms of his chair, hands composed in front of his mouth..

"No… it.. can't be.." Sam breathed. Reddish brown hair and blondish highlights gave him away completely amongst the black of his suit.

"How?.." Keith's voice ventured.

"Tap into the system." Commander Holt instructed Veronica. "Find Shiro again."

"Its.." They all looked closer.

"Wayde?!" The group breathed together.

"I thought you might wanna spy on me from the outside." Wayde said, as if able to hear them, and looking up into the lens as if able to see them through it. "But by all means.." He stood up to face the camera squarely. "Now behold the destruction of your leader!"

"I don't believe it.." Sam remarked lowly. "All this time it has been Wayde that was plotting against us!"

"Sir?" Veronica's voice sounded off and they all look up to her. "Admiral Shirogane is gone." She finished turning her computer screen to them, to reveal a bed with no one in it.

XXXX

Ringing in his ears brought back the feeling of reality; the fabric of space and time restitching itself to form the waking world he'd soon returned to. Blinking, he rubbed the heaviness from his eyes with the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. Then realizing an anomaly just below him, he looked down. The plastic form of the knee brace was removed, cut in two and spread on either side of his leg. Should I risk it?, was a thought of his mind. Sliding to the side of the bed so his feet touched down to the floor, he hesitated. Silence? What happened to the alarms that were going off? Could it have been a false alarm? Eyes on the floor, he dared himself to stand; the weight of his body unchanging in strength upon his lower limbs. Nothing. Maybe heading to the control room will shed some light on all this. Iverson may be able to explain all this. Reaching the door easily, he decided now that his leg was mostly, if not completely, healed. And turning down the corridor, he began the journey.

XXXX

"Where could he be?" Pidge wondered, typing away at the computer in her lap.

"He can't possibly have gone far." Lance stated, peering over her shoulder. "I mean he was out cold, he couldn't have gotten too far from where he was in the short amount of time we weren't watching him."

"Right, but then where'd he go?" Pidge wondered again, continuing to flip camera feeds.

"There! Camera 9-2B." Veronica pointed, designating the screen the moment it popped up. Shiro ran through the halls, clearly on a mission.

"Where's he going?" Lance wondered, peering in closer.

XXXX

It's so quiet.. Something's not right.. What could all this mean? Where is everyone?.. And why am I the only one who seems to still be here? Stepping into a run, his haste grew to one more level;.. as his mission became more urgent.

XXXX

"He's pretty focused on getting where he's going." Lance observed further. "I wonder what's going through his mind right now."

"He's probably wondering why no one's there, and why it's so quiet in the Garrion." Pidge answered him bluntly. "He's probably heading to the,... main.. control room.. We need to stop him before he gets there!" She finished with a determined urgency, as she hair whipped her gaze toward them.

"What? Why?" Lance wondered, turning his curious gaze down on her now.

"Because.. Wayde is there." Pidge returned dryly. "If Shiro reaches the main control board before we reach him, he'll walk right into Wayde's trap. It's probably what he's been planning all along."

"And it was easy for him to do it too." Sam remarked hauntedly. "His knowledge of the Garrison's protocols and standard of security measures allowed him to coordinate his plan into getting this far."

XXXX

Shiro rushed on. The closer he got on his internal map to the room of his desired destination,.. the more his urgency seemed to grow. He turned a corner and suddenly a screen cut him off.

"Ahh.. Admiral Shirogane you here." Wayde teased cheekily, over the live feed upon the screen of his own form of robotic sentry.

"Wayde." Shiro sneered in a low tone. "I should've known you were behind this.. What do you want?"

"What I've always wanted…" Wayde returned easily. "You.. to stay out of my way!" The robot's arm swung forth and bashed Shiro against the wall behind him.

xxxx

"Shiro!" Pidge gasped, everyone leaning in closer.

xxxx

Shiro groaned, as he began to recover himself.

"This.. isn't even about Kimberly anymore.." Shiro breathed through seething breaths. "This.. is madness!"

"Cheap words, Shirogane." Wayde sniffed, his screened robot pacing forward. "But if you insist on playing 'knight in Shining Paladin Armor' be my guest." Stepping aside a figure kneeling behind him looked up.

"Takashi?!" Kimberly's voice cracked.

"No." Shiro breathed, his brows scrunched together then furrowed intensely. "You won't get away with this!" He sneered to Wayde's pleasureful smirk.

"Then come try and stop me." Wayde challenged proudly. His cackle rang out, as the robot delivered a hard punch to Shiro's chest and stomped away, leaving Shiro to drag himself up off the floor again.

Hey guys what's up?! Another chapter fresh and hot! As I have said, the end is near and I think you guys can kinda see it;.. but yet there is still much more to see before the end. So with that… enjoy! Thx!