"What is our next course of action?"
Eleven men and women sat around a table more expensive than most normal people's homes. The smell of cigar smoke permeated the air from the few who indulged, grey wisps floating around the room as they all shared a moment of ponderous silence.
"Where the hell is Yamamoto?!" One particularly loud Board member yelled, getting waved off by another.
"He's handling a crisis that erupted following the confrontation between Railgun and Matrioshka Brain. He'll be along."
"We can't be seriously talking about this, that child is nothing! How can you all be so frightened of-" One younger Board member began.
"She penetrated the Bank several times without effort to the point that we had to entirely relocate it. Can you even imagine the chaos that could have been unleashed if she knew what to look for, let alone what could happen if the awakening occurs?" Another quickly chastised.
"That's…"
"A doomsday scenario, yes." The chastisement was sharp and punctuated objections dying in members' throats.
Silence gripped the room once again, before a loud sigh interrupted it, one man tapping his cigar into an ashtray.
"I do believe we are in accord, however, regarding the most pressing matter and how to deal with it, should we have to. We'll go over the rest once Yamamoto arrives, but regarding the matter of the threat she poses..." He gestured with his cigar toward one of the floating screens containing a picture of a young girl.
"If the simulations and predictions made by the Parameter List using the Bank's data are accurate, we shouldn't have a problem. The level of influence her information gathering has had on the Level 5s of the city remains problematic but within the boundaries of our control.
"But if the unlikely happens and she does appear to be awakening to her true potential, then we'll observe as long as is reasonable to collect data before cutting our losses." He looked to the others, even the bleeding hearts of the room, all nodding.
"Good." He nodded, before looking up at the picture of the quiet, unassuming girl that embodied so many of their fears once more and puffing from his cigar.
"Then should this occur, we will move to immediately terminate both the direct associates and the threat itself-" He paused to narrow his eyes at the girl's likeness.
"-Uiharu Kazari."
Indigo panted as he came to a stop, pressing one hand against the metal wall of the hallway he found himself in. He thought this place would be secure, or at least give him some kind of edge against her, but-
Indigo nearly jumped as his phone began to buzz. Damn it all. He snapped the phone open with a growl.
"What?!" He yelled into the receiver.
"My my, Indigo-chan, having a bad day?" Came the unbearable voice of Kihara Gensei. Indigo clenched his jaw as he heard it.
"Gensei," he hissed as he leaned into the wall, removing his hat with his free hand, happy no one could see his strained face.
"Indeed. I have heard of your misfortunes, and thought I'd be so kind as to offer a helping hand." Indigo snorted as he heard him talk.
"Helping hand, huh? And what might that cost me?"
"Oh dear, that is a good question- after all, you have made an enemy of her. And by my estimations, every control restraint you put in place has failed to bring her to heel. At this rate, the city itself may not be long for this world. I suppos-" Gensei was clearly enjoying himself, but the call began to break up, Indigo glaring at the phone as he pushed off the wall.
"Here she comes." Indigo froze as he stared at the phone… his OWN voice coming out of the receiver. "Better start running… Indigo-chan." The identical voice finished with a mocking laugh before his phone went dead- as did every light in the hall. In the near darkness, only his cybernetic eye giving him sight, he heard the rhythmic steps of bare feet walking toward him.
He looked over his shoulder to look at the owner as they approached. From the darkness came a cloaked figure, seeming to wear little more than torn cloth. Appropriate for a Grim Reaper. From within the cloak she raised a gloved hand, electricity arcing up and down its length.
From beneath the hood, two eyes glowed an angry, crackling yellow.
"Fooooound youuuuuuu." The soft, angry, hateful voice hissed at him, the arcs of electricity increasing as her rage and violent anger built up. Indigo could only whisper her name in horror as he stared at the monster he'd created- the one he could never control.
"...Full Tuning."
To Be Continued in the next, and final, installment of the First Saga;
Tuneout.
A/N: And that's Sunrise! Years in the making and so many lessons learned and friends made. I appreciate all of my loyal readers who enjoyed this journey with me. My next story, Tuneout, may be the 'final' installment of this saga, but it won't be the last story I write in the Treefall universe. Look forward to many other stories featuring our favorite group of disaster lesbians. Oh, and of course, answers to the questions I've left hanging here will be in the next story too. ;)
EN: Sometimes you start reading shipfic and come out on the other end with a dear friend and conspirator. That's what's happened with Shade and I, and I think it's reflected well in the story. Editing this was, at times, a difficult process, and I still would like to go back and touch up the earlier chapters that were written before I got involved. There are major issues with this story that we realised far too late, not the least of which is having more ambition than good sense. But through everything the world (and stupid human bodies) could throw at us, we stuck with and I like to think we've done a good job getting it across the finish line. And our plans for the future... well, it was hard, at times, to focus on Sunrise when we were so excited about what the future holds. What was originally a collection of vague ideas have coalesced into some story beats I am very much looking forward to helping assemble. Eventually. I hope you're there with us when the time comes.