CHAPTER 7

Author's notes part 1 – chapter 7

Thanks everyone for re-blogging, liking and commenting on Tumblr! Every time I get the notification I am so overwhelmed with joy that it didn't even occur to me to read the tags you guys put on the posts. My friend pointed it out to me and told me to read all of them. I have to say my mind is blown! I'm smiling even now! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

He had a feeling he was drowning in stifling heat. It was foggy before his eyes and he didn't want to wake up.

He was in the middle of a heated discussion about law and its practise. One of his companions mentioned how governments sometimes use loopholes in the system to use military, police and their citizens to their benefits. Then the others started talking about military and wars they waged against each other in the past and present, pointing fingers and shouting accusations.

Military plans, soldier counts and units positions, battle formations and aerial attacks, submarines and satellite espionage, appointed spies and spooks in high places, names and codes of people holding the switches to nuclear bombs, blueprints of military facilities, secret labs and testing ground locations, new weapons, new chemical and cyber-war plans for the future, super soldiers and spies, robots on earth and in space, nuclear warheads…. How to disarm high tech bombs, how to hack NASA and self-destruct rockets or missiles, how to sink ships and submarines, how to infiltrate highly secured organisations, how to infiltrate White house, Pentagon, FBI, CIA, KGB, MI6, Mossad, Interpol, how to use terrorists and human rights groups, green peace organisations, women rights groups, gender rights groups, student rights groups… Any group. How to find people with certain keys, passwords… millions and millions of passwords… Facebook profiles, twitter accounts, mobile phone numbers, Google maps… They are watched, people are spied on, there are no secrets, and there is no privacy. Hacking privacy… files, piles and piles of files, case records, and criminal records. Keeping tabs on prisoners and mafia, and using the members of the underground society for the higher cause. (My cause.) How to control and navigate rich, untouchable people who make countries go to war against each other… how to replace certain people without anyone noticing… how to destroy a country from within in 24 hours. The way to acquire army battle formations, contacts and insiders… How to recognise, avoid and deal with other super humans, experimental data and viruses and land mines… (Just like that computer game. Ha ha ha…)

He felt a cold rubbery hand on his jaw. Thin fingers wrapped themselves around his mouth.

"Shut it, Tao." She hardened the grip. "You're annoying, my head hurts."

"Oh… Sorry about that- Redhead?"

"I sincerely hope all this jumbled up gibberish you're babbling about makes sense in that pretty head of yours. I don't want to start from scratch…" She was grumbling while checking some papers. When he didn't say anything, she turned to him with a serious and analysing look in her yellow fish eyes. "Tao?"

He was looking wan and bleary-eyed. And not registering her at all even though his eyes were fixed on her face. Her brows puckered in a frown. (Well, that was an odd expression she was making.)

She moved his head with her hand and he thought that felt nice. Her touch was familiar and soothing. She took a little flashlight from her top pocket. The light was yellow just like her eyes. And it hurt. He shut his eyes and a few seconds later the light was gone.

"Tao… Do you know who you are?"

"In general or in a philosophical way?" He snorted thinking to himself.

"Do you know where you are?"

"Because there are a lot of philosophical and biological explanations of who I am… as a human… Or am I a human? Not sure, I should be sure of that tough… Ah, well, what's the difference between a robot and a human nowadays, anyway?

"Did you know the Japanese are working on a robot who can express emotions and learn? He- It… He'll be able to form his own opinion… Well, not entirely, he'll be forming it from the knowledge someone else feeds him. Nevertheless, an opinion, he will be thinking on his own. That's just a step away from having feelings, isn't it?

"There are also robots who can perform the roles of human organs, they can build tissues and… Nanotechnology, wow, chips in humans… Tagged like dogs… having everything stuffed in their wrists, from their mobile phones and medical charts to their bank accounts… Humans will have everything they need in their arms, they will finish all of their daily chores on foot, never missing a message from their friends on the net, always in tune with the latest world's news. They'll become a walking Wi-Fi, a talking mini computers.

"Wow, that's a neat plan world government is planning, they have already tried it on prisoners and… There's this organisation building first real cyborg… Cyborgs and super humans, super humans and cyborgs, super human cyborgs… supborg cymans. Pff… humans.

"But, that organisation, those cyborgs… It could mean trouble. To disable a cyborg, you need to get inside his brain cortex and send a virus that… I can make a virus. Not a biological one, but I know people who can make it for me. It looks pretty interesting, I must ask them about it. A digital virus, however... It's easy, you can even find tutorials on YouTube. You take some code and…"

"Tao." She called and he looked at her for some reason. "Focus. Answer my question. What's your name?"

"What's my name? That's an easy one, boring one, let's talk about something else. Like… oh, that's funny."

"Focus." She grabbed him again. Her red curls were really close to his face now. He could feel her breath on his lips. "Look at me. Listen. What's your name?"

"56.289." He chuckled. "There are 56.289 Taos on the Internet."

That made her pause for a second. She lifted her head watching him cautiously, still holding his neck. "And your name is?"

"Tao, I'm one of 56.289 Taos, I guess… Do I have a profile…?"

"Focus." She ordered strictly and he closed his mouth. "Do you know where you are, Tao?"

The red haired woman waited as he slowly looked around. He recognised the barren metal walls with no windows. There was a washbasin and a toilet seat in the corner of a small room. One chair she was sitting on and one bed he was lying on. "A room. My room. I'm in my room."

"And where is this room of yours, Tao?"

Tao was thinking hard. Hard enough for his head to start throbbing. There was a strange feeling of insecurity and panic forming in his gut.

"I… There's… there's no such information," he said quietly. Was he… ashamed? Of course he was. A smart guy like him to not know something so basic. (Was it basic?) Something was telling him it was an essential piece of information. Necessary information he was missing.

"Hmm… What about a memory? Do you remember this place?"

A memory. Yes, he remembered this institution. He was brought here and… she did something to him. She did it for a long time. Training. He was… muscle training. His brain. It hurt.

His brain hurt because she tempered with it and filled it with all that knowledge he's been thinking about non-stop. Just like that Japanese robot. (Ha ha ha…) His inner laughter turned into painful moaning.

It scared him, but not as much as he thought it would. Maybe he got used to it. Yeah, he was like this for a long time now. (Hundred… Hundred sessions?) He successfully finished hundred inputs and outputs. (When… When did that happen? How much time has passed…? Wait…) He was sleeping till now.

(Did she put him to sleep again? Again. This happened before.)

How long was he under?

Enhancing. She changed his molecular structure. He was changed from the core. His head was going to really explode. He wanted to feel it, to check if it was still there. He wanted to touch it and…

"Do you remember who I am?" The woman was gingerly patting his hair.

(That bitch.)

(Right, I hate this red haired lunatic. I'm Tao she tried to erase. Well, I still feel like Tao, I know I'm Tao, so you're enhancing must have failed.)

He remembered she said his physical appearance won't change. He didn't feel different at all. He felt the same as before, except there was less pain, less fear and his thoughts were clearer. He felt more complete… More like himself. He felt like himself even though there was something missing. Something important. (What? What was it?)

(Ah… whatever… I feel alive again.)

She did say enhancing will help him.

As on cue, Tao's heart was beating faster, load enough to leave an echo in the cold room. His chest was so hot his whole body was about to melt. To melt under her tender touch that was still playing with his hair, caressing his temple and eyelids.

(Damn her, damn that bitch.)

He was so happy he was awake and well and not alone… and he was so sad.

Why? There were many reasons for sure. One of which that hurt the most was also the one that shocked him the most – the fact that he couldn't return the touch.

All this time reality was just happening around him. He was not a part of it, he was simply there, playing a role of a high quality recorder. Whenever he would feel her on his skin his mind would tell him, you're alive, you're real, it's happening to you. You're still here.

It was a weird mixture of horror and bliss. Despite hating it so much he was desperate to feel that hand on his cheek, to touch it, to make sure… (Sure of what?) That he didn't change? That he did? That there was still fear inside him he was accustomed to even if he couldn't find it anymore. The fear he was relying on to snap him back to his senses when reason failed him. Or did he want to make sure she was here right now for him? Him personally. Because she was satisfied and…

He had no clue.

There was only hate and love in him. It saddened him, because they were not separate feelings anymore. It was like that for a long while now, it was just that this was the first time his mind was clear enough to understand it. And accept it.

It was disturbing, it was horrible, but she was truly everything to him now. The only person he knows by the touch and not from the screenings. The only person who talked to him, who cared for him in this entire facility. He needed her and Tao prayed to God she needed him too, because he had a feeling the moment she doesn't will be the moment he dies. Tao didn't want to die even though he thought many times dying was the only solution. It sounded ridiculous, him wanting to continue to exist like this, but he did. Tao wanted to live. He'll do everything. Everything to make her care about him.

And that's when he came to the conclusion that she didn't fail. She did erase him. She erased him completely and created her pretty little obedient pet Tao, who was dependent of her in every way possible. Just like she was planning to.

"I'm so happy you remember your Dr Aris." She smiled when his head unconsciously followed her hand. She wanted to go check on others, but he was being so cute, touching her palm with his cheek like a baby begging her not to leave him. "I'll let you rest for a couple of days. We'll then continue with the training. Hopefully, I'll be able to start working on a surprise for you."

More tests and experiments. Will they ever end? (Do I want them to end? What will happen when they're done with all the tempering? Who knows?)

"I don't wanna know."

"We need to work on your concentration skills. And we need to install some off switches in your brain. Until then, you'll be taking these pills." She showed him the tablets. "It's going to be infeasible for you to sleep without medical help. Despite being more than a human now, you still need some sleep. I reckon about one or two hours of complete shutdown."

"Shut… down?"

(Like a computer?)

"You won't be able to do that until we install the off switches." She took out one pill. "For now, you'll be taking one of these when instructed to sleep. It's a special pill made just for you that will knock you out and give your body the needed rest. Your brain will still be working, processing and shelving the information you recorded till today. Since you're enhanced you won't be in that much pain when you regain consciousness. Your body can regenerate itself faster than ever."

A pill made for him… Just for him, especially for him… He was so grateful the pain will be gone he almost uttered a thank you. Out of nowhere, his mind turned so sharply to the other direction, it was impossible to stop the burning in his body.

(Is that true? Being enhanced makes it painless? Then… Why didn't you do that from the start? Why torture me when you could have just enhanced me and then feed me all that knowledge?)

"You could have enhanced me first."

Dr Aris rouse her brow. Tao made a statement. About medicine and science. Those were her fields of expertise. She folded her fingers into fists. Her knuckles were so white from the force she used to keep calm.

"Are you a doctor?"

"No."

"Don't butt in then." That would have been enough before. Now, however, Tao was not that frightened by her hissing.

"You just wanted me to suffer." He was saying out loud what was on his mind and he didn't care. He needed to say it, he needed to hear himself say it. No matter how much his heart told him to shut up, he needed this… defiance? He needed to fight, just a little, to prove himself the war was not yet over, that she didn't erase him completely and that he didn't love her more than he hated her. Tao needed to need this more than he needed her, even though he was aware that was not the case anymore.

He needed to stay Tao. The Tao. Whoever that may had been.

"I've already told you we couldn't do that because of the unstable hormones during puberty. I didn't want to waste time, so we did rewiring and muscle training. You did better than expected so what if it hurt a little. This is actually good. Because of all the knowledge you now possess, all further learning will go so much faster and we'll be able to move to phase three in no time. I did this all for you so you can have your surprise sooner," she recited. "You'll be thanking me when I finish with you, you have no idea."

"You risked my death just because you were bored. Nothing you do is for me."

She stiffened like a doll. Tao's face said he was confident about the things he was saying. And he was not about to back down, truly believing in everything he uttered. He was freely expressing his opinion with no regard to the consequences. It was almost like that time he dared to call her insane. She was offended alright, but she let it slide because Tao didn't even know what he was saying. Hell, he didn't even realise he was laughing.

"And what an eerily cute little laugh that was," she remembered. Tao was out of it and nothing he said in that state was worth mentioning. It was just a burst of emotions not a thought out opinion of a cold, calculating mind. A mind she fell in love with at first sight, more than three years ago during her visit at the National Science Competition.

"Could it be…? Oh dear," she taught, "I did quite a number on his hypothalamus."

She contemplated the fact and decided that might have not been a mistake. She loved to play with men who weren't afraid to speak their minds.

"So what if you died? I would have found another. One without a foul mouth."

"There's no one better than me."

She actually felt butterflies in her stomach.

"Yes," she thought and concealed her victorious smile, "yes, this is good."

That strong, assertive stare of his was the best thing ever. It openly told her she didn't need fear to subdue him anymore. He was truly hers. If there were still some parts of him resisting they were doing it in a way that only helped her cause and Tao was not aware of it. All those trifling parts of him that could risk the beauty of her final product will soon be lost.

There was another reason why she wanted him to take the pills. Once the off switches are installed there will be no need for the pills. She wanted to use the time before she installs them, because not only will his body be asleep when Tao turns himself off with the switch but his brain too, which pauses the further evolution of his thought process. It's too early to hit the brakes on it.

On the other hand, the pills were not a strong enough sedative to rest his mind alongside his body. And that was perfect. The more his brain works the more trivial sides of Tao will be erased. He needed to know her and the knowledge she provided – everything else was irrelevant. She just had to nurture his personality a bit more so that he'll grow into a person who'll know exactly how to use and protect his knowledge.

"Ah… Yes, he'll be perfect," she thought to herself, "the only one perfect like that."

"I'm Tao. The only one." With those final strong words Tao turned his head towards the ceiling. He was done. He said it all. It was the truth. It was a fact she needed him. And they both knew it. She was controlling him, but now, he was controlling some of her too.

Her hand with a pink pill in it moved into his view. She waved with it playfully trying to be funny. He blinked and opened his mouth. Dr Aris stood up when he swallowed it and wished him good night.

Tao gazed at the ceiling, waiting for the drug to kick in. Soon enough, his muscles were relaxing and he felt his body getting heavier while his eyes felt hot and wet. Lukewarm drops formed on his eyelashes and trembled with his silent breath. Quiet tears gathered between his swollen eyelids and when the pain was too much to bare, Tao let them roll down his temples unbidden.

In the approaching darkness there were voices and pictures of places he's never been to before.

(Let's find a nice one.)

Tao realised some time ago that he enjoyed traveling. Seeing beautiful places was perhaps the only thing he liked to experience in the screenings. They felt so real and close, yet so far away. (Let's go… to Beijing.) How wonderful it would be to actually see it one day in person. Or any other city, really. Mountains, rivers, streets and factories. All he knew were labs and empty rooms.

There was a surprise for him, she said. What was it? A gift? Was she telling the truth? That would be the first time he ever got a gift.

"Maybe… Maybe she'll let me visit some of the real world. If I become the best, perhaps I'll be allowed to walk the streets, eat some junk food and hang out with the crowd like all those people from the images do. Maybe she'll let me be normal… to meet some normal people… who are not insane. If I make some friends I wouldn't feel so lonely… and insane.

"I wouldn't need her."

Just before he passed out, Tao made a solemn oath to himself to do everything in his power to escape this place.

Takeo woke up with the worst headache in his life. That was partly because someone decided to shove a foot in his face. Covering his nose, he rolled on the floor growling in pain… which disappeared in two seconds.

(What the…?)

That never happened before. Stronger kicks created greater suffering; this one was nowhere near weak, yet it was like he never felt it. Takeo had a lot of experience with taking a beating and when it came to kicks he couldn't not compare.

"Oh, did I disturb your beauty sleep, princess?" Takeo heard a high-pitched grunt above him. He didn't recognise the voice. The initial buzzing in his ears was dying down when the harsh bark of "Get the fuck up!" rang out in one aggressive note.

Takeo registered a heavy shoe coming towards him. He scrambled to his feet trying to dodge it even though the kick was coming fast. Too fast in fact. He made a step and slammed into the wall that was five meters away. He was sure that was the distance, but… Takeo fell right on his back holding his broken nose. (What the hell? Where did the wall come from?)

Shark missed. In the blink of an eye, the Asian kid moved and flew at the wall. That was fast. Too fast for Shark to see the run. It was like the kid disappeared for a moment just to reappear again far away from him.

"Alright, so little shit is quick on his feet," Shark thought. "No biggy. I'm still stronger."

Takeo examined his bloody palm. He was sure he heard a crack in the root of his nose, but the next thing he knew, his nose fixed itself.

(The hell?!)

He stood up, wobbling a bit and leaning on the wall. He wanted to stay calm, collect his thoughts, order his memories, look around and see where he was when his peripheral vision picked up another dangerous movement coming at two o'clock. Takeo ran so fast he hit another wall, managing to stay on his feet this time. He was holding his hurting head, feeling dizzy. Something was wrong with his stomach too. (Wait,don'tpanic!)

Shark spat angrily. He made quite a wide dent into the metal wall, far bigger from the last few times. He was getting a hang of his new strength.

"Still missed, tough," Shark thought. "Ok, so little shit is really fast. And his reaction time is mind boggling."

Shark was not that fast, but he was super-fast in comparison to normal humans. How the hell did the Asian brat know when Shark was coming for him? And from which direction? The good news was, the brat was obviously having difficulties with his abilities. Shark wondered if the brat was even aware that his uncontrolled speed was causing him to crash into walls.

"He can see me coming, but he can't see the wall which isn't even moving," Shark seethed inwardly. "What a dumbass."

"Don't panic, it's ok, you just overlooked the wall. Twice," Takeo thought.

Before Takeo could take a breath his legs moved on their own, running again. There was a man with curly black hair raising his leg in slow motion. The man was getting further and further away, his presence becoming smaller and foggy. Takeo glanced on the side and saw a grey metal wall about ten meters away. It was moving strangely… Actually it wasn't moving at all, just staying weirdly in place. Takeo was sure that was not what's supposed to happen.

Beside the wall was another man. A brawny man with a scar on his face. The man blinked. In slow motion. Suddenly the wall popped like a balloon right in front of Takeo's eyes. He ordered his legs to stop. Either they were too quick or his command was too slow. (How can any of those two possibilities sound normal?)

In the corner of the grey flatness there was something approaching in high speed. His leg changed direction before he even constructed a thought of evasion. Another wall popped up and his feet hit the floor hard. He felt his body turning, the room spinning like he was on a roller-coaster and then his feet slid across the floor. Takeo stopped moving when his back hit the cold wall behind him.

Takeo's breath was caught in his throat. From the corner of his eye he saw the brawny man open his eyes again, as if he was in the process of blinking this whole time. His hand was in the air. Was that the thing Takeo saw coming at him from the side? (No way.)

Then his stomach churned in an unpleasant way. The space was moving in normal speed... (Normal? So… what about slow motion? Was that him? Was he… moving too fast?) Something inside Takeo told him that's probably true since his stomach felt like it was trying to catch up to him. It seemed like he dropped it somewhere along the way. Takeo bent over, nausea hitting him faster than he could think: "Shit."

Krantz shook his head in annoyance when Takeo threw up. He turned to Shark who was laughing like a maniac.

"Yuri picked up a real nutjob this time," Krantz thought. "No matter, those are the easiest to handle once you put them in their place."

Shark was obviously impatient to show his new powers and doing so prove he's high up in the food chain. He was acting like a desperate child, which wasn't surprising considering Krantz already mopped the floor with him. (Shark tried to pull the same shit with Krantz he was trying now with Takeo. It didn't work, of course. Krantz was way more evolved and had full control of his abilities and more than enough experience using them.)

"Letting those two beat each other up would be entertaining to watch at another time, when both of them had their abilities in check. Giving Shark too much freedom early on could lead to problems, especially if it meant hurting one of the DA5 subjects," Krantz mulled over the possibilities.

The project was already taking long; destroying a subject with potential and valuable skills will be a great setback. Not to mention Dr Aris would flip. (Not that Takeo was fragile, it's just that they were expected to be careful since they were all a bit unstable after enhancing. Takeo's newly developed speed could ruin him if not supervised.)

Taking care of soldiers was Krantz's expertise. Training and disciplining them was his job, as Dr Aris had informed him. Yuri will be there if Krantz needed help, she had said.

Needless to say, that pissed the hell out of Krantz. He wanted to flatten that ugly face of his every time the blonde opened his posh mouth. Krantz was not stupid, though. Yuri was on another level and therefore not to be messed with.

"Only until I eat these fools. We'll see who's under who then," Krantz thought with a smirk, before finally uttering aloud:

"You take another step, Shark, and I'll cut your leg off."

Shark pulled back. He had a very good poker face, not dropping the sneer of his face for a second.

Takeo couldn't remember the last time he felt this sick. He emptied the whole content of his stomach, which was inexplicably mostly sour fluids and water.

"Where's the sandwich I had this morning?" He taught and then mentally kicked himself. "Takeo, you idiot, what are you thinking about in a situation like this? Can't you read the atmosphere? Don't you remember you were in a water tank the last time you opened your eyes?"

(Shit. That was not a dream?) The curly man was also in a tank and there was another… armless guy with white hair. He was not in the room, but the curly man was and he was attacking him in a way that reminded Takeo of a blondie that beat the crap out of him. This time, however, Takeo managed to escape… with unfathomable speed. He was fast, faster- Too fast… for a human. Takeo didn't believe in magic and aliens.

What did they do to him?

"Enhancing went pretty well I see." The brawny man with a scar said in English. Was he with the blond guy?

"I just need my knife and I'm all set for work," grinned the other one.

Takeo winced at the sound of his voice. That was not a normal high-pitched voice. It stabbed his ears, it was like someone was scratching their nails on the blackboard and had it played over and over again on a speaker right next to him. It was too loud… Too close, even though the man spoke normally. It echoed and got mixed up in other odd sounds that Takeo never noticed before.

Krantz took a step and it banged in Takeo's head as if Krantz weighed a ton. The shoe clanged and Takeo hid his ears with his hands. It didn't help one bit. He could still hear footsteps. Footsteps from upstairs… and downstairs. Padding from behind the door of this room. (A door?)

When did he see the door? He had no idea, but he knew exactly where it was, how far and big it was and how many locks it had. It was a thick metal door with three locks, one of which needed a card to be unlocked. The room was empty with no windows, ten metres high with a radius of fifteen meters. How the hell did he even know this stuff? Did he really see all this during his fast running and didn't notice till now?

Takeo didn't think much about it, because his head split down the middle from sudden pain. There were people outside of the room making conversation and Takeo tuned in on it like he was a radio and somebody was adjusting the stations with no regard to his well-being whatsoever. Takeo recoiled to the side when Krantz came closer.

"What is it?" The man asked not as politely as you would expect. It sounded like screaming in Takeo's ears.

"Ugh… What… what's happening to me?" He blurted in bad English.

"Your abilities are waking up," Krantz explained. "Super speed and strength, hyper awareness and many other things you'll discover soon."

"Abili… wha…? The blond…?"

"His name is Yuri. He brought you two here two months ago."

"Ha! Time flies, doesn't it? No wonder my wound healed," Shark said with a bit of Italian accent you'd come across in an American gangster movie.

"Your wounds will heal ten times faster now; your bodies have been modified."

"Modi…fy?" It was too confusing for Takeo.

"Basically, Takeo, you're a super soldier now. Ever read comics? Or… manga? As you say." Krantz frowned at him and continued with the prepared introduction, not waiting for Takeo to answer. "Listen up both of you. You were chosen to be a part of an experiment better known as DA5 project. You are test subjects modified by Dr Aris. From now on, you are the property of the organisation called the Union and as such, you will obey the Elders' every command. All you ever knew, all you ever possessed, the life you thought you had doesn't exist anymore. Your lives begin right here and will also end here. How long you last depends on your performance. I advise you to do as told and not think too much, because if you try something fishy there will be a hell to pay. You have no idea what this place and its people are capable of and the less you know the better for the greater good of the project. Don't provoke. Did I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," said Shark.

"Mm… Wait," Takeo pointed at himself in shock. "There's a mistake. Mistake, this is… I'm ordinary… I was in Sapporo and a man… I didn't apply…!"

"Zip it princess, nobody asked you for an opinion."

"This is a mistake! I want- I demand to go back!" Takeo suddenly stood up. "Your boss… Supervisor! I demand to speak to him!"

Takeo barely managed to dodge Krantz's fist. He slammed in the wall with his back and saw the next one coming, but was too slow to avoid it. Krantz hit his throat almost choking him to death. He grabbed his neck and banged him in the wall. Takeo gasped as the man's grip tighten so he couldn't breathe anymore. His head was ringing from something cracking under Krantz's steal-hard fingers.

"For someone with super hearing, you're not listening very carefully." Krantz was cold as ice. "You are the Union's new weapon and they will use you as they see fit. You don't have a say in it so I don't wanna hear it."

Krantz pulled him up with no effort. Takeo couldn't reach the ground anymore. He was on a brink of blacking out. How he stayed awake with a broken neck he had no clue.

"You were chosen for this Takeo, so you better accept it. If you don't forget about the life outside these walls the Union also won't forget about those people in Sapporo. Yamamoto Koichi, was it? Sugimoto Mimi, Miyako Rin? All those people with hilarious names are on the Union's watch list and if you don't behave as expected of a pet, they might end up joining you."

(What in the world…? What the hell? What is this Union?)

Takeo never heard of it before.

Krantz let him go and he fell on the floor coughing. It took him a while till his neck fixed itself and allowed him to breathe again. It seems his modified body could work for some time even without oxygen which was disturbing.

What in God's name did they do to him? What were they doing to him for two months? The police should have found him by now. Koichi-san reported him missing, there was no doubt. He might have not noticed Takeo was gone, but not getting the newspapers he had ordered? He'd be pissed.

Nobody came to save him.

"Did I make myself clear this time?"

Save him from what? What's going on?

(Why are you so surprised, Takeo?)

Tama-san was the only person ever to save him and even he gave up on him in the end.

"No… no, don't, this is not the time, this is… What…?" Takeo's mind was swirling.

"I'm the leader of our little group. I'm in charge of your training starting today. You may call me Krantz."

(What's going on?)

Author's notes part 2 – chapter 7

Wow, this chapter was a huge one. Well, it is somewhat of a turning point in the story.

Hope you enjoyed! Leave some comments!

See you soon!