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At about 12:49 p.m. the next day, Yayoi came into Kazuki's room. "Kazuki-kun, are you up yet?"
D was standing next to his bed, finger pressed down lightly on the snooze button of his alarm clock. Kazuki was invisible under the covers of his bed, sound asleep.
"What do you think you're doing," Yayoi shouted at the one-eyed android angrily. Her face flushed with embarrassment as Kazuki stirred awake.
"What's... going on," Kazuki's head came up from under the covers with a dazed expression.
He saw D next to him. "Did you shut off my alarm again, D?" Kazuki groaned.
"Good morning, Kazuki," it said.
"Ugh. It'd be a 'good morning' if you'd left my alarm alone." Kazuki sat up.
"If you'd like, I could be your alarm from now on. I'm sure I could wake you up very gently, Kazuki-kun," Yayoi spoke in a seductive tone with a matching smirk.
"Uh, I don't think that will be necessary, Yayoi," Kazuki quickly replied.
The tall woman sighed, her smile now friendlier.
"Can a guy get dressed in private, please," Kazuki requested.
"You sure you wouldn't like some help," Yayoi's smirk changed back as D casually walked on out.
"Positive, Ms. Schwael," Kazuki answered firmly.
Yayoi bowed slightly and left. She knew that when he used her last name, it was time to just do as he said.
Kazuki exhaled, "I need to have a chat with that machine later..."
At 7:00 p.m., Kazuki parked his car outside the arranged place for the exchange. He got out of the car, the briefcase containing $10 million in his hand. He stood in back of the old city hall outside the domes, seeing that the back door was wide open. Cautiously, the young man walked inside, pulling a flashlight from his inner coat pocket.
As he stepped through the doorway, a blinding spotlight shone in his face. Kazuki halted, turning off his flashlight and protecting his eyes from the beam.
He could see a silhouette standing in the light, apparently a woman. She turned her head to the side, "What do I say again, Ryla?"
Another woman Kazuki couldn't see growled sharply, "How could you forget?! And don't use my name!"
Ryla then addressed the negotiator, "Open the case!"
Kazuki did so, showing the contents. "Look's good. It's in there," another woman out of view assured.
"Ryla, I feel kind of stupid just standing here," the woman in the light complained.
"Then move! You were the one who insisted on doing this, Alice," Ryla snapped.
"I thought you said don't use names," Alice questioned innocently.
"Get out of the light!" Ryla ordered angrily. Alice jumped out of sight in fright.
Kazuki sighed before asking, "Where's Dr. Hayase?"
"To your left," Ryla stated. A different spotlight lit, shining on an unconscious woman tied to a chair across the room from him. "Now give us the case."
Kazuki made as if to throw it to them. "No! Alice, go take it from him," Ryla commanded.
Kazuki frowned. 'Why is she so worried about me throwing it? Money isn't going to get damaged in a fall.'
"Me?" the other woman checked.
"You're the only Alice here," Ryla's voice was full of annoyance.
"I thought you said not to use nam-," Alice began.
"Just do it," Ryla roared.
Alice ran over, halting a few yards away. She then moved with very timid steps, hands outstretched. Kazuki still couldn't see her face, due to the spotlight. He handed her the case and she ran back over to the others.
"Alright girls, we're done here. Go ahead, Mr. Negotiator," Ryla stated, the spotlights turning off. Kazuki could hear the three women running off.
Kazuki moved over to the woman in the chair. He shined the flashlight in her face and checked her pulse. 'It's definitely Dr. Hayase, and alive. Her sleeve is rolled up, showing a needle mark. She's been tranquilized, and probably won't wake up any time soon. Guess I'll have to carry her.'
Kazuki untied the ropes and slung her over his shoulder, slowly carrying her back to the car, "Ugf! Doctor, you are heavier than you look."
After opening the door, he set her down in the back seat with a grunt of relief. Next he moved the center seat belt to secure her waist, so she wouldn't fall off the seat while he drove.
The negotiator got in the driver's seat and started the car, 'What else was in that briefcase?'
Dr. Hayase awoke in a large living room on a comfortable couch. She sat right up with a gasp when she saw a girl with bright green hair staring at her from across the coffee table next to the couch.
The green-haired girl walked out without saying a word, leaving a very confused scientist. Moments later, in came a man in a blue business suit. "Dr. Hayase, my name is Kazuki Yotsuga. I am a negotiator who was hired to conduct your ransom exchange," he said.
Her eyes widened, "You didn't give them it, did you? The Omnus Processor Chip?"
'A computer chip... That must be why they didn't want me to throw the briefcase; the chip was hidden under the money. But why wasn't I told about it?'
"... What is this chip you speak of," Kazuki wondered.
"It's one of the things I've been working on. Very top secret. It's all those three needed to finish it. There'll be no way to stop them now," Dr. Hayase replied, an almost hysterical look in her eyes.
"Finish what," Kazuki asked.
"An abomination! I can't believe I helped create it! A Megacore unlike any other! Three times the destructive power of any Megacore we've ever seen! It-," Dr. Hayase fainted, her body too excited and under the recent influence of tranquilizers.
Just then, Kazuki's phone rang.
"Normally, I'd let Yayoi answer it, but I have a very good idea who it is," Kazuki muttered to himself, walking toward the phone.
Kazuki picked up the receiver. He recognized the voice of Ms. Casey, "Hello, Mr. Yotsuga. Ms. Rara wants you to bring Dr. Hayase back to Shourai Corp.'s headquarters immediately, where you shall receive the second half of your payment. Thank you." She promptly hung up.
Kazuki's knuckles clenched white around the phone before hanging up, "I hate that female."
Dr. Hayase awoke in the car, "Where am I?"
"In my car. I'm taking you back to Shourai Corp. HQ," Kazuki told her.
She held her head as if in pain, "Ugh... What happened? Last thing I remember, I was in my lab..."
"You don't remember being kidnapped?" Kazuki was surprised.
"Kidnapped?! No! I... I don't remember anything... What day is it?" she queried.
"July 23rd," he stated.
"Two weeks..." the scientist trailed off.
"They must've wiped your memory somehow with that injection. You had mentioned something about an 'Omnus Processor Chip', and that you had been forced to work on a Megacore," Kazuki reminded her.
"I don't remember..." Dr. Hayase mumbled.
"What does the chip do, exactly?" Kazuki asked.
"... It's used to make human technology compatible with ancient technology. It's still in testing, but it works under most circumstances. We've hadn't tested it on a Neo-Megacore yet; that was to be done next month," she remarked.
"Is there any way to detect this chip?" the negotiator checked.
"The chip is slightly radioactive. Harmless to humans in small doses, but that radiation is easily detectable. Unless they have fixed that in my absence," she answered.
'They must've detected the chip inside the case with some sort of device,' Kazuki thought. 'I wasn't told about the chip because it was radioactive. I REALLY hate that female.'
"Uh...how large of a dose of the radiation is safe?" he asked, slightly worried.
"Around five and a half hours over a two-day period. Less than five hours never showed any symptoms of radiation poisoning," she explained.
"That's good to know. I only had it for two," Kazuki was relieved.
"You had the chip?" Dr. Hayase was surprised.
"It was part of your ransom. I didn't know until afterward," he told her.
"You should know...you might have some minor side-effects..." she began.
"How minor?" he wondered.
"Heartburn, nausea, upset stomach, diarrhea, cramps, blackouts, fatigue, reduced resistance to sickness, rash, cough up blood..." Dr. Hayase listed.
Kazuki cut her off, "Okay, stop! I don't want to know."
"Side effects occur in less than 7% of those tested," she added.
"Well, that's something, I guess..." he sighed.
Moments later, Kazuki pulled up in front of the entrance to Shourai Corp. Headquarters. "Your employer is waiting for us."
As they walked inside, two guards approached. One said, "Mr. Yotsuga, Dr. Hayase. Come with us." The guards took them to the private elevator, one that went directly to Ayuko Rara's office.
"... I suppose I should thank you," Dr. Hayase muttered.
"Just doing my job," Kazuki waved his hand in protest.
As the doors of the elevator opened, Kazuki and the scientist stepped out. Ms. Casey approached them. "Dr. Hayase, Ms. Rara would like to see you immediately. Mr. Yotsuga, here is your check," the woman smiled softly as she handed Kazuki his payment.
Kazuki took the slip of paper. "Thank you," Kazuki stated and went right back to the elevator's doors.
He glanced over his shoulder back at Ms. Casey. 'She looks so much like Mitsuki... Her chest is a little larger, though. Heh! Sanada would hate to find that one out!'
Mere moments after Kazuki had begun driving home, a very loud crash came from behind him. He looked in the rear-view mirror to see the head of a Megacore over the tops of nearby buildings. It was headed straight for Shourai Corp. HQ, smashing anything that got in the way.
Yayoi's face came on the car's viewscreen, "Kazuki-kun, a strange robot is attacking the city."
"A little late to be making that announcement, Yayoi. Is Zinv ready?" Kazuki checked.
"Of course," she nodded.
Kazuki parked off on the shoulder of the road and got out in a hurry. He ran back towards the mecha, yelling into his watch, "Zinv! Action!" The white Megacore's hand soon burst through the ground and Kazuki leaped into the open cockpit.
As the computers turned on, the screen read, 'I'm making your favorite tonight, so don't take too long or it'll get cold. -Yayoi'
"You heard the lady, Zinv. I've got curry waiting for me, so let's get this over with," Kazuki declared.
The Military Police pulled up behind Zinv with their tanks and jeeps. Major Sanada stood up in her jeep, spotting Kazuki's car. "Of course he'd be involved in this somehow," she turned around to face her troops, a megaphone in hand. "Everyone back off! Be prepared to fire, but wait for my order!"
Zinv stood in the massive parking lot around Shourai Corp. Headquarters, empty except for a few cars and the skyscraper in the middle.
The enemy Megacore smashed through one last building, and as the dust settled, Kazuki could see it in its entirety.
"So, that's what she meant by an abomination," Kazuki mused.
The giant robot was actually three put together. Six legs, worked like an ant's to propel the mech forward. The three bodies were fused together, back to back, with a rotational base. One body had two giant wrecking balls on the end of each of its tentacle arms, another had some kind of energy rifle welded to each arm, and the third held a giant red-hot sword in its hands. All three worked simultaneously.
"Looks like we've got someone to play with, girls," Ryla playfully commented while piloting the sword wielder. "Ready?"
"Ready!" Mena was in the wrecking ball mech.
"Ready!" Alice drove the mech with the energy rifles.
The rotational base turned so that Ryla and Alice could face Zinv, while Mena was looking away from him. She could still see him on her screen, using the cameras on the other two.
Alice fired at Zinv. Kazuki moved the mech's arms up to a defensive posture. 'Shourai Corp. is right behind me. If I move, it'll be blasted.'
The blasts had little effect on Zinv, who charged at the Trio. Mena's wrecking balls slammed into him hard, knocking Zinv to the ground. All six of the Trio's legs flexed, and it jumped in the air. The base turned so Ryla was in front, her sword poised to slice into Zinv.
"Gravity shell, now!" Kazuki shouted, pointing Zinv's right arm at the strange Megacore fusion. The bright blue ball shot out and crashed into them. The Trio fell onto it's back, Ryla's mech body badly damaged, along with the two front legs.
"Are you alright, Ryla," Alice screamed.
"I'm fine, but my circuits aren't working very well," Ryla assured her.
"I'll get us back up," Mena pushed the Trio upright with her arms.
Zinv was also standing up at this point. "Blast! It's still moving," Kazuki exclaimed.
"Alice, increase the power of your shots. Mena, see if you can hold him still. I'll slice him in two, then," Ryla commanded.
"Got it," Mena and Alice replied in unison.
In Zinv's cockpit, Kazuki used the scanners on the enemy Megacore. "Unusual radiation detected in that rotational base. That must be where the Omnus Chip is. If I can take that thing out, then this freak will be disabled."
Once again, Zinv charged at the Trio and, again, the wrecking balls came right at him. "Not this time," Kazuki declared. Zinv caught the tentacles in his hands at the base of the wrecking balls. Mena's arms started retracting, pulling Zinv in closer to Ryla's searing blade. The tentacles suddenly stopped as they were crushed as Zinv used his gravity powers, making them appear as if they were withering. Ryla's swing of her sword was just out of reach.
Zinv moved in with lightning speed, wresting the weapon away from Ryla's damaged arms and stabbing it into the rotational base. The radiation signal ceased, as did all function within the enemy Megacore.
Three escape pods shot off out of the backs of the three bodies of the Trio, flying off through the glass dome, under the saucer of Upper Kodai, and away.
"Follow those pods," Major Sanada ordered her men, sitting back down in her jeep. The Military Police started driving away.
"Now then, I've got curry to eat back home!" Kazuki rubbed his hands together excitedly.
Zinv fell through the hole it had made upon arrival, returning to Kazuki's mansion. The negotiator himself got out of the cockpit as it became level with the ground, returning to his car.
"Kazuki!" Major Sanada yelled, spotting him just as he reached the vehicle.
Kazuki turned around as he deactivated the car's security system, "Yes, Major?"
"What are you doing here?!" she interrogated.
"Just finishing up a job. You can ask the receptionist," he replied.
"Since when do you work for Shourai?" the Major asked.
"I don't. I was merely employed temporarily to negotiate an exchange. You can ask them about the details, but I, Major, have a large bowl of curry with my name on it back home. Excuse me," Kazuki got in the front seat of his car.
Major Sanada pounded on the roof, "I'm not done with you yet, Kazuki!"
He ignored her, driving away, 'Mmmmm...I can taste it now.'
Hands on her hips, the young woman angrily watched him go. As the automobile disappeared from sight, a slight smile came to her lips as she quietly said, "You always did like curry a little too much, Kazuki. One day, you're going to turn orange."
In a darkly lit room somewhere in the slums of Lower Kodai City, three women stood under the dim light bulb in the center. They looked at their feet in shame.
In the shadows of the room stood another woman. Her outline showed that her hair was set back to her right and folded up and in upon itself, with a large strand on her left that hung in front of her face. She also had a cape to her hips and a tight outfit.
"You incompetent fools! How could the three of you lose to one Megacore?! After all my planning! I got you everything! The passwords, the equipment, even the scientist!" the fourth woman scolded.
"We'll do better next time. We promise," Ryla said.
"You had better. You know how much I don't like to be disappointed," the caped woman's voice was threatening.
Kazuki awoke the next day and checked his clock with sleepy eyes. It was 1:14 p.m. and a certain green-haired machine stared at him with its one purple eye.
"Good afternoon, Kazuki."
"D, I thought I told you not to touch my alarm clock anymore," he groaned.
"I didn't," D stated emotionlessly.
Kazuki looked again, seeing the pencil she was using to hold the snooze button down. "Using another object to touch it counts."
"Understood," it replied.
Somehow, I don't think it does understand.
Kazuki sighed, "Now, out of my room."
D left as ordered.
"That thing is really starting to bug me," Kazuki grumbled.
Three heads aren't always better than one.
----------------Next Episode!
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Major Sanada: "There comes a time in a relationship where one must take a step back and determine whether they're with the right person or not."
Kazuki: "What are you trying to say, Mitsuki?"
Major Sanada: "Kazuki, what's behind that door? What is Yayoi working on so late at night?"
Kazuki: "What does it matter?"
Major Sanada & Kazuki: "Next time on 'The Big Parallel Trouble Adventure': Something Old..."
Major Sanada: "It's either me or the door, Kazuki. Which will it be?"