A shrilling mental alarm sounded throughout the Angels' headquarters, audible only in their minds and thoroughly annoying enough to wake anyone from a sound sleep. Probably sounded by Seishirou, given the undertones of it, thought Satsuki as she roused herself. She cursed at the lurid red numerals of her clock, which read 3:51 am. Beast was still quiescent, so she instead readied what other defenses she had, mentally reciting the strings of Hebrew and liquid Angelic languages that helped her create her other arcane protections. As the mental shields 'clicked' into place, she ran out into the hall, looking up and down it. Eerily, everything was quiet, physically at least, and the alarm stopped when she'd proved awake enough. She began noticing strange things; the tenseness in the air that made the quiet so strange, the chill of the floors that made her run briefly back to her room for her slippers, and a feeling of anticipation that both scared and fascinated her.
"Hey, what's going on?" A rumpled-looking Yuuto hissed from the doorway to his own room. Satsuki shrugged and made her way to the end of the hall, towards the entrance to the Angels' secret complex. He followed, still obviously fighting his way to full alert from sleep. The others had already awakened, and were most likely gathered where the disturbance happened to be located. It might've even been a test, in which case Satsuki vowed silently to eviscerate whoever was responsible. She'd never get back to sleep now, and she'd had some intense work planned for the next day to try and fix the Beast. She was already calming herself with this mental movie as she followed Yuuto into the main room. The rest of the Angels were there as well, except Kusanagi and Kakyou, who didn't live in the complex, and Fuuma, who probably didn't want to be bothered.
"Who's that?" She froze, and pointed at a strange figure. Yuuto finally noticed and stopped as well. The Angels stood around a figure, one so wrapped in Nataku's bindings as to be completely unrecognizable. It was strong, putting up a valiant struggle against the flowing ribbons of cloth strengthened by the bioroid's power.
"An intruder. It's astonishing that they made it this far." The Sakurazukamori commented, looking impeccable, as usual. "Kamui-sama will want to have fun with him when he finds out. Too bad. Waste of good talent."
"How did he get in, anyway?"
"Got me. I'm nowhere near as knowledgeable with machines as you. Ask Beast, or hasn't it stopped sulking yet?" At the mention of Beast, the assassin's words from before echoed through her mind....'Maybe it's not sulking. Maybe it's solving a problem for you. That is, after all, what computers are for.' A chill ran down her spine and firmly coiled itself in the pit of her stomach as she turned to the androgyne.
"Nataku. May I see the intruder?" Nataku turned great pale eyes to her.
"Of course." It unwound a bit of cloth from around the captive's head. Shining dark hair spilled out, and a sharp, eerily perfect face turned towards her, chromed eyes shining and wide. As if unfamiliar with the mechanics, the man struggled to speak.
"Sa-sa-Satsuki? W-will you function better now that I can be closer to you?"
With stuttered speech, the figure had confirmed her chilling thought. The Beast had somehow found a body. She felt all the blood drain from her face, as Seishirou and Yuuto turned to her, bewildered looks on both their faces. She sat down, hard, on the chill metal floor, and was silent for a long moment.
"Well, Sakurazuka-san. It seems you were more correct than either of us ever thought."
"Hey, what's going on?" A rumpled-looking Yuuto hissed from the doorway to his own room. Satsuki shrugged and made her way to the end of the hall, towards the entrance to the Angels' secret complex. He followed, still obviously fighting his way to full alert from sleep. The others had already awakened, and were most likely gathered where the disturbance happened to be located. It might've even been a test, in which case Satsuki vowed silently to eviscerate whoever was responsible. She'd never get back to sleep now, and she'd had some intense work planned for the next day to try and fix the Beast. She was already calming herself with this mental movie as she followed Yuuto into the main room. The rest of the Angels were there as well, except Kusanagi and Kakyou, who didn't live in the complex, and Fuuma, who probably didn't want to be bothered.
"Who's that?" She froze, and pointed at a strange figure. Yuuto finally noticed and stopped as well. The Angels stood around a figure, one so wrapped in Nataku's bindings as to be completely unrecognizable. It was strong, putting up a valiant struggle against the flowing ribbons of cloth strengthened by the bioroid's power.
"An intruder. It's astonishing that they made it this far." The Sakurazukamori commented, looking impeccable, as usual. "Kamui-sama will want to have fun with him when he finds out. Too bad. Waste of good talent."
"How did he get in, anyway?"
"Got me. I'm nowhere near as knowledgeable with machines as you. Ask Beast, or hasn't it stopped sulking yet?" At the mention of Beast, the assassin's words from before echoed through her mind....'Maybe it's not sulking. Maybe it's solving a problem for you. That is, after all, what computers are for.' A chill ran down her spine and firmly coiled itself in the pit of her stomach as she turned to the androgyne.
"Nataku. May I see the intruder?" Nataku turned great pale eyes to her.
"Of course." It unwound a bit of cloth from around the captive's head. Shining dark hair spilled out, and a sharp, eerily perfect face turned towards her, chromed eyes shining and wide. As if unfamiliar with the mechanics, the man struggled to speak.
"Sa-sa-Satsuki? W-will you function better now that I can be closer to you?"
With stuttered speech, the figure had confirmed her chilling thought. The Beast had somehow found a body. She felt all the blood drain from her face, as Seishirou and Yuuto turned to her, bewildered looks on both their faces. She sat down, hard, on the chill metal floor, and was silent for a long moment.
"Well, Sakurazuka-san. It seems you were more correct than either of us ever thought."
