Lee found himself thinking back on a book he had read, The Stand, by
Stephen King. The inhabitants of that fairy tale had called their disease
"Captain Trips", like it was some twisted, obscene joke. This was no joke.
Rosenkreuz's virus had wiped out almost the entire population on Tokyo. From the attitude of the last news program to air in Japan, the rest of the world was hit just as hard. Most of those who still remained were still alive because their Talents had provided immunity. Rosenkreuz had Sweeper teams out looking for survivors.
Lee used his Talent now to propel himself high above the Tokyo skyline. The smell receded the higher he went, but he suspected he would never completely be rid of it. A few people moved about in the streets below, but now was not the time to approach them. Let them wait a few more days, stewing in their terror of being alone. Then Lee would show himself to them, like a God. Lee would be their Lord and Savior, their Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all in one.
____________________________________________________________________________ ______
The last television broadcast had been on Thursday, two days ago. Schuldig was going out of his mind, forced to rely on watching Farfarello mutilate himself for entertainment. Crawford had been missing for a week now, and the German telepath was beginning to wonder if the plague had somehow gotten him. He mentioned this to Farfarello once and had quickly shut off his mind from the barrage of vivid mental himages of Crawford's rotting corpse coming from the psychopath's mind. Nagi had been hiding out in his room doing God-knew-what when he wasn't cooking himself ramen or whining to Schuldig about one thing or the other.
"Gott, this place is going to hell," Schuldig said, gesturing elaborately around the apartment on the vast Rosenkreuz compound.
"Crawford would tell us to clean up," Farfarello remarked. He was stretched out on his back on the living room floor, naked to the waist and carving a detailed cross into his stomach.
Schuldig sighed and sat foppishly by his bare-chested teammate, his legs splayed out haphazardly. "Wanna fuck?"
Farfarello brought the knife up to his lips and licked the blood away. "When i finish."
"Ja, ja, as long as i get top." Schuldig started undressing.
The music that had been pounding from Nagi's room stopped abruptly and the telekinetic emerged. Eyeing Farfarello (half naked) and Schuldig (completely naked), he retreated slowly back into his roomand closed the door. "Crawford will not be happy if he finds out you screwed in the living room!" came his muffled voice.
"I think Crawford died," Farfarello replied vaguely as the music started up again, louder than ever.
"Are you done yet?" Schuldig asked, eyeing Farfarello's crotch rather possessively.
Farfarello sat up. "Yes."
Schuldig wasted no time in yanking his teammate's pants off and proceeding to screw his brains out. It would have been extremely pleasant had Crawford chosen to come back later. As it was, he announced his presence by announcing rather cooly "I think Farfarello's bleeding on the carpet."
____________________________________________________________________________ ______
Nagi sat on his bed, hungry and bored. The music was up as loud as it would go, but the occasional scream from Schuldig still made it through. Nagi had two choices: brave the scene in the living room to get some dinner, or he could hide out in his room until it was over and starve to death. He was about to see if he could telekinetically blast a whole to the kitchen and bipass Schuldig and Farfarello entirely when the door swung open. Thinking it was Schuldig, he gathered his Talent about him and almost crushed Crawford. Schuldig lounged in the doorway behind him, trying to conceal his relief at the precog's return with a sulky pout.
"You have not done the best job managing your teammates, Nagi. I'm dissapointed," Crawford said reproachfully. "Farfarello has carved six new religious symbols into himself, there is a considerable amount of new blood all over the apartment, we have nothing to eat besides ramen noodles, and Schuldig has not been walked in days." He smirked when he referred to Schuldig as his dog. Few people saw the more lustful side of the cold American. For better or worse, the members of Schwarz caught the full brunt of it. Nagi gave him another twenty minutes before he dragged Schuldig into their bedroom and screwed him senseless.
"You shouldn't have left," was all Nagi said in his usual bland tone.
"It was necessary."
"Oh? What was-"
"Turn that damned music off and i'll explain." Nagi realized they had been shouting. He shut his CD player off telekinetically and followed Crawford and Schuldig into the living room. Crawford seated himself on the couch, after a careful inspection of its many stains. Schuldig stretched out seductively on the floor and Nagi remained standing. Farfarello leaned against the doorframe to the kitchen, munching on ramen and spreading crumbs everywhere, adding to the mess.
Nagi checked the clock. 2:53 pm.
"I left to see what had happened to Weiß," Crawford said simply when he was certain he had their attention.
"Und?" What did you find?" Schuldig asked, suddenly interested. Nagi knew he was thinking about Balinese. Or, more specifically, seme Balinese's unexperienced ass.
"Nothing on Weiß. But Rosenkreuz now has guards with rifles, video cameras, and dogs at every gate. The fences are electrified and constantly monitered. It took quite some bargaining to gain permmission to leave for as long as i did."
"Not that kind of bargaining, i assume?" Schuldig questioned. Nagi wondered if normal seixteen-year-old boys were supposed to know what Schuldig was talking about and decided he really didn't want to know.
"What do you mean, 'nothing about Weiß'?" Nagi asked, changing the subject.
"Obviously i wasn't able to visit the flowershop myself, but it was clear from the photographs a special team took last week that it was completely empty. No equipment left behind. Nothing. And there's no word on where they went."
"The extra security?" Farfarello asked between bites.
"Don't put crumbs on the floor," Crawford said absently.
"Well?" Nagi prompted.
"What could it mean? Simply that Rosenkreuz is tightening control- as it has been doing for the past ten years. Nothing more," Crawford concluded.
"And that's all you found out," Nagi said flatly, a little credulous. Crawford never did things half-ass, and this was one sorry half-assed job. "Not even a vision?"
"No," the precog replied coldly. "And right now it is probably best that we know only a little."
"What do you-"
"I mean exactly what i said, Nagi, don't be stupid." The playful, almost fatherly Crawford was gone. Crawford the cool, calculating leader of Schwarz was back, and his immediate goal was made clear with his next sentence: "Come tell me what's happened while i was gone, Schuldig."
Nagi checked the clock again as Crawford and Schuldig, whose smirk was as self-assured as it had ever been, disappeared into their bedroom. 3:11 pm.
Rosenkreuz's virus had wiped out almost the entire population on Tokyo. From the attitude of the last news program to air in Japan, the rest of the world was hit just as hard. Most of those who still remained were still alive because their Talents had provided immunity. Rosenkreuz had Sweeper teams out looking for survivors.
Lee used his Talent now to propel himself high above the Tokyo skyline. The smell receded the higher he went, but he suspected he would never completely be rid of it. A few people moved about in the streets below, but now was not the time to approach them. Let them wait a few more days, stewing in their terror of being alone. Then Lee would show himself to them, like a God. Lee would be their Lord and Savior, their Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all in one.
____________________________________________________________________________ ______
The last television broadcast had been on Thursday, two days ago. Schuldig was going out of his mind, forced to rely on watching Farfarello mutilate himself for entertainment. Crawford had been missing for a week now, and the German telepath was beginning to wonder if the plague had somehow gotten him. He mentioned this to Farfarello once and had quickly shut off his mind from the barrage of vivid mental himages of Crawford's rotting corpse coming from the psychopath's mind. Nagi had been hiding out in his room doing God-knew-what when he wasn't cooking himself ramen or whining to Schuldig about one thing or the other.
"Gott, this place is going to hell," Schuldig said, gesturing elaborately around the apartment on the vast Rosenkreuz compound.
"Crawford would tell us to clean up," Farfarello remarked. He was stretched out on his back on the living room floor, naked to the waist and carving a detailed cross into his stomach.
Schuldig sighed and sat foppishly by his bare-chested teammate, his legs splayed out haphazardly. "Wanna fuck?"
Farfarello brought the knife up to his lips and licked the blood away. "When i finish."
"Ja, ja, as long as i get top." Schuldig started undressing.
The music that had been pounding from Nagi's room stopped abruptly and the telekinetic emerged. Eyeing Farfarello (half naked) and Schuldig (completely naked), he retreated slowly back into his roomand closed the door. "Crawford will not be happy if he finds out you screwed in the living room!" came his muffled voice.
"I think Crawford died," Farfarello replied vaguely as the music started up again, louder than ever.
"Are you done yet?" Schuldig asked, eyeing Farfarello's crotch rather possessively.
Farfarello sat up. "Yes."
Schuldig wasted no time in yanking his teammate's pants off and proceeding to screw his brains out. It would have been extremely pleasant had Crawford chosen to come back later. As it was, he announced his presence by announcing rather cooly "I think Farfarello's bleeding on the carpet."
____________________________________________________________________________ ______
Nagi sat on his bed, hungry and bored. The music was up as loud as it would go, but the occasional scream from Schuldig still made it through. Nagi had two choices: brave the scene in the living room to get some dinner, or he could hide out in his room until it was over and starve to death. He was about to see if he could telekinetically blast a whole to the kitchen and bipass Schuldig and Farfarello entirely when the door swung open. Thinking it was Schuldig, he gathered his Talent about him and almost crushed Crawford. Schuldig lounged in the doorway behind him, trying to conceal his relief at the precog's return with a sulky pout.
"You have not done the best job managing your teammates, Nagi. I'm dissapointed," Crawford said reproachfully. "Farfarello has carved six new religious symbols into himself, there is a considerable amount of new blood all over the apartment, we have nothing to eat besides ramen noodles, and Schuldig has not been walked in days." He smirked when he referred to Schuldig as his dog. Few people saw the more lustful side of the cold American. For better or worse, the members of Schwarz caught the full brunt of it. Nagi gave him another twenty minutes before he dragged Schuldig into their bedroom and screwed him senseless.
"You shouldn't have left," was all Nagi said in his usual bland tone.
"It was necessary."
"Oh? What was-"
"Turn that damned music off and i'll explain." Nagi realized they had been shouting. He shut his CD player off telekinetically and followed Crawford and Schuldig into the living room. Crawford seated himself on the couch, after a careful inspection of its many stains. Schuldig stretched out seductively on the floor and Nagi remained standing. Farfarello leaned against the doorframe to the kitchen, munching on ramen and spreading crumbs everywhere, adding to the mess.
Nagi checked the clock. 2:53 pm.
"I left to see what had happened to Weiß," Crawford said simply when he was certain he had their attention.
"Und?" What did you find?" Schuldig asked, suddenly interested. Nagi knew he was thinking about Balinese. Or, more specifically, seme Balinese's unexperienced ass.
"Nothing on Weiß. But Rosenkreuz now has guards with rifles, video cameras, and dogs at every gate. The fences are electrified and constantly monitered. It took quite some bargaining to gain permmission to leave for as long as i did."
"Not that kind of bargaining, i assume?" Schuldig questioned. Nagi wondered if normal seixteen-year-old boys were supposed to know what Schuldig was talking about and decided he really didn't want to know.
"What do you mean, 'nothing about Weiß'?" Nagi asked, changing the subject.
"Obviously i wasn't able to visit the flowershop myself, but it was clear from the photographs a special team took last week that it was completely empty. No equipment left behind. Nothing. And there's no word on where they went."
"The extra security?" Farfarello asked between bites.
"Don't put crumbs on the floor," Crawford said absently.
"Well?" Nagi prompted.
"What could it mean? Simply that Rosenkreuz is tightening control- as it has been doing for the past ten years. Nothing more," Crawford concluded.
"And that's all you found out," Nagi said flatly, a little credulous. Crawford never did things half-ass, and this was one sorry half-assed job. "Not even a vision?"
"No," the precog replied coldly. "And right now it is probably best that we know only a little."
"What do you-"
"I mean exactly what i said, Nagi, don't be stupid." The playful, almost fatherly Crawford was gone. Crawford the cool, calculating leader of Schwarz was back, and his immediate goal was made clear with his next sentence: "Come tell me what's happened while i was gone, Schuldig."
Nagi checked the clock again as Crawford and Schuldig, whose smirk was as self-assured as it had ever been, disappeared into their bedroom. 3:11 pm.
