Note: Hello, all. I hope you are all coping. The effect has really taken a toll on us on all levels. I do hope you are following the safety guidelines. Here is the next chapter. I am seeing that there are two more chapters left.
Chapter 19
"You son of a bitch!" yelled one of the soldiers from the Special Task Team as he punched Francisco in the jaw. The punch was strong enough to knock him down. Francisco was trying to recruit Tagitsuhime. He wanted her to join the team. The result backfired since Tagitsuhime disappeared from the room, leaving everyone to wonder where she ran off to.
As Francisco lay on the floor, the rest of the team came rushing in and all of them pointed their weapons at him. The sound of the guns made everyone in the room nervous. They feared the soldiers would start shooting and leave a bloody mess.
"Hey! Stop!" yelled Hiyori. She didn't want to risk getting close to the group.
"All right. That's enough," Yukari said as she walked over to the crowd of soldiers.
"But ma'am…" said the head soldier.
"Fuck. I know what I'm doing," Francisco said as he pushed some of the guns away and slowly got up.
"You let the bane of our existence escape. What the hell is this, 'I know what I'm doing'? Have you lost your mind? 'Cause I'll help you find it!" reprimanded the soldier.
"Like I said. I know what I'm doing. I'm not giving up on her."
"First we're trying to deal with MacArthur and now her. I'll let you handle this then. All on your own. Should a calamity happen just like the one we had a few months ago, I will personally hunt you down," said the soldier with a tone as serious as a heart attack.
"Go ahead then," Francisco replied back.
Simply turning around, the head soldier signaled for the rest of the team to follow him out of the office. Francisco can hear the muttering of the other soldiers as they walk away. The only thing he heard was, "Fucking ruined everything." The clatter of their gear caused by their walking was slowly fading away.
"I think you should stay here for a bit. I don't want the reporters to gather all around you for an interview," said Yukari.
"Whatever the result is, she's dead under MacArthur. I've witnessed him commit murder. Bloody murder at that. Whether through experiment or not."
"What did you see?" Mai asked.
"Have any of you ever seen a human head rupture?" The chilling question Francisco presented gave Maki and Suzuka goosebumps. It brought back that horrid memory of the ugly creature they encountered a while back.
"Stop! I don't want to hear it," Kanami pleaded as she covered her ears.
"We've actually fought something like that" Maki said, stepping forward.
"Really? What was it like?" Francisco asked.
"It was terrifying. An arrogant young man was challenging us to a fight. We fought him and things took a turn for the worse when we gave him substantial damage. The top half of his head ruptured and tentacles came out with a longer one that had a blade," Suzuka explained.
"I'm so sorry that happened to you," Hiyori commented. Kanami was still covering her ears. If this is what is to come, then she'd rather hide away and forget it all. At the same time, she needed to be brave to protect those she cared about.
"That was a parasitic Bloodshot. Those are actually fairly new. I believe it's a cross between the Plagas parasite that originated from Spain and the C-Virus," Francisco explained.
"Will your head explode?" Sayaka asked.
"No. I have the Omni virus. That one is the C-Virus."
"I heard that the virus cuts your lifespan. Do you know by how much, Francisco?" Ellen asked.
"I have no idea. I hope it's still a long time. MacArthur will go down before I do."
"If MacArthur had something like that, think about what else he has in stock. It could be things that are unimaginable." Yukari said. She seemed to be unfazed by what could be in store for all of them.
"Then we need to be ready. The…" Francisco stopped to count everyone in the room. "Ten of us. And that white one. Eleven. Eleven of us can bring him down. I just cannot guarantee everyone will make it out alive. Maybe we will. Who knows?"
Just like every mission they've ever been on, there was always a chance of death. This time, this prospect was different.
"It does not make any sense," Friedman said as he was looking at a computer screen. "What relationship does a virus have with noro?"
Richard Friedman was doing diligent research on the Omni virus in the Special Rare Metals Utilization Research Institute. The very same location where Mai and Ellen fought against the aradama princess. The lab he was located in was dimly lit. He was trying to see if it was possible to fuse the Omni virus with noro. What would be the result? Would an aradama born from this survive? Will it transcend a level greater than Tagitsuhime? Would any Toji be able to fight the creature born from this?
"I see you're immersed in that research," the chilling voice came from MacArthur who was standing at the doorway to the lab.
"MacArthur! What are you doing here?" Friedman said as he quickly stood up and with a hint of anger in his voice. At the same time, he was afraid. He firmly gripped the table with his right hand.
"I came here to catch up. It's been years since we have worked together. Is that correct?"
"Yes. I suppose it has been years."
MacArthur walked over to the computer and saw the pages the older man had open about the virus. He let out a whistle as he scanned the information presented.
"Busy work. Looks interesting," MacArthur said, impressed.
"How did you get in here?"
"Don't worry about that. I just wanted to talk."
"What are you trying to create here? What is this monstrosity?"
"I'm trying to create the ultimate soldier. One that is practically undefeatable."
"You're mad! Something as reckless as this goes against the laws of human nature. Even the Omni virus already went beyond that."
"No. You don't see things the way I do. Think of it as the next generation of soldiers."
"Suppose you create this, how would you know it's unbeatable?"
"I test it on Toji. It is a learning creature. The longer a Toji spends fighting it, the chances for her survival decreases. If it can kill a Toji with ease, then the next step would be to boost its intelligence to defeat harder foes. Why wait on testing the creature when we have Toji here?"
Friedman could not believe what he was hearing. MacArthur plans to commit mass murder for the sake of creating a monster that can not be defeated. He's seeing that the plan to make it stronger has flaws of some sort. He just can't point out what it is exactly? What does he mean by, "boost its intelligence"? By what means will that be done?
"I'm going to need your help," MacArthur said. His voice snapped the older man out of his thoughts.
"Absolutely not! You're asking me to commit mass homicide!"
"I know. You're thinking about your granddaughter, aren't you? What was her name? Ellen, was it?"
"I swear if you lay one finger on her."
"You'll do what? You're a powerless old man. Now. I need your help."
"I refuse!"
"Fine. I'll do it myself."
At that moment, MacArthur walked closer to Friedman. Making his hand into a fist, he impaled the older man with a punch to the chest. After pulling the fist from his chest, he fell to the floor. Friedman was struggling to breathe and after a few painful moments, he was gone. MacArthur stood there and looked at the old man's dead body. This was someone he used to work with.
"I'll gather the data myself."
As MacArthur was looking at the data present on the computer, he felt a striking pain in his heart. He felt as if he was having a heart attack and fell to the floor. He sat up, put a hand over his heart, and gripped.
"This virus is killing me. I know it is. I have to get a move on. This project will be finished."
Wanting to leave as fast as he could, he left everything the way it was. He didn't care if people accused him for Friedman's death. Part of him wanted people to know it was him. He would deal with those people accordingly. There was no way of knowing how much time he had left.
