Chapter 35: Information Gathering

Sonnet returned to her apartment after jogging in the area for just over an hour. As she shut her apartment door, she sensed another presence behind her. She turned around, ready to telekinetically attack the intruder, when she realised that it was Ran.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

"I'm just a little concerned." Ran replied.

"About what?"

"The zoanoids. They are attacking closer and closer to home. Do they know who we are?"

"I don't think so, it appeared to be a sweep to gain more zoanoids. They are done on random areas, at random times. They must be running low on troops."

"OK."

Ran started to go to the door. Before she passed Sonnet, she turned back to her."

"Could you find out?"

"Find out what?"

"If Chronos Japan is running low on zoanoids?"

"Maybe."

"If they are, we might be able to use it to our advantage."

"You have a plan in mind?"

"Why not carry out a search and destroy mission? Between the six of us, we should be able to destroy the Japan Branch. Plus, their Relics Point Base has already been destroyed, so they would be removed from Japan."

"It's not a bad idea. I'll see what I can dig up later today, regarding the Japan Branch's resources. Don't forget about Mt Narisawa though."

"OK."

Ran then opened the door, and stepped out into the hall. Before Sonnet could shut the door, she said:

"I wish I'd called here earlier. If I had known you were going jogging, I'd have gone with you."

"Having trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah. Once I'm up, I can't go back to sleep, regardless of the time."

"I'll check with you next time."

"Thanks."

Ran then left, and Sonnet began considering what she had suggested.

It's not a bad idea. She thought, it'd put me out of a job, but I don't mind that. My only real concern is Balcus. He's more powerful than any one of us. However, with several of us working together, we should have a chance.

Sonnet moved to her lounge proper, away from the door, and sat down on the sofa. She then started considering all the scenarios that could take place if they attacked the Chronos Japan branch. It was more important than the Phoenix branch, since the second in command of the organisation was based there. Plus, the projects that went on there were Ultra Secret. Only about half of the Council of Twelve knew about the majority of them, Balcus among them. Even though it was the second most important branch of the organisation, the Ark didn't count, given it was in Earth orbit over Arizona, it seemed to be running low on troops. Or, at least, that was what Ran suspected. This didn't seem right to Sonnet, since, given its position, it should be regularly re-supplied.

Sonnet decided to check how many zoanoids were currently available to the Japan Branch when she went into work. After she had done that, she would try to contact Aptom, to see if he had any information that might help her, since she had detected at least one of his copies in the Japan building when she was walking to and from her office.

It might be possible to launch a two-pronged attack, she speculated, if we can gather enough information that indicates we would have a chance, we could attack the Chronos Japan building, and the Mt Narisawa Production Facility at the same time. Then Chronos would be set back quite a bit. I'll discuss this with the others later today, and see what they think. Agito especially, since he will have to alter his plans for the Mt Narisawa facility if we decide to attack the Japan building too. Before that though, I'm going to pay a visit to LA and see if Alicia has found anything.

Sonnet then teleported herself to Los Angeles. This time, she had a better idea of the area, and didn't materialise 20 floors high. She wandered around the San Fernando Valley, getting her bearings, for a few minutes, before heading for Rin's Detective Agency. Once at the door, she pushed it open, and entered the reception area of the office. A young man greeted her as she entered.

"Hello, can I help you?"

"Yes, I was hoping to talk to Alicia. I'm a client of hers"

"She's in her office. Hold on, I'll let her know she has a client, Miss…?"

"Baji."

The young man picked up the phone, and spoke into it. Sonnet could clearly hear what was being said at both ends of the phone. By listening to Alicia's voice, she learned that the young man was called Winston. Winston then informed her that she could go into the main office, and indicated the door to it. Sonnet nodded at him, to indicate her gratitude, and then walked through the door. She found herself in a moderately sized, yet windowless, office. There was a light brown desk in the middle of the room, facing the door, with two chairs in front of it for possible clients. There was a computer and a printer on the desk, along with a couple of pens, notepads, and disk holders, for floppy disks, zip disks, and CDs. Lining the wall to the left of the desk was a cupboard that would have been level with Sonnet's waist. This, Sonnet assumed, was used to store the agencies completed case files, three shoulder height filing cabinets, in a row, for other case files, were next to that and a small fridge was next to the cabinets. Against the wall to the left of the desk, and next to the door, were two fold up chairs, folded up since they were not being used, and a two-seat sofa was on the right side of the desk, next to the door. Sonnet suspected the sofa might be one that unfolded into a bed, in case Alicia worked very late.

Alicia herself was typing something at the computer, which she stopped as soon as Sonnet stood in front of the desk.

"Hello Sonnet, take a seat."

Sonnet did so, noticing that half a sandwich, on a paper plate was on the desk.

"I didn't interrupt your lunch, did I?" She asked.

"No," Alicia replied, "I usually get a sandwich for lunch, and then work and eat at the same time, usually paperwork, or typing."

"OK. Were you able to find anything out?"

"Only a little so far. Do you want a printout?"

"Please."

Alicia turned back to her computer, and a minute later, a single sheet of paper came out of the printer. She took it, and handed it to Sonnet, who skimmed through it. Overall, it was the family history of Seiya Baji. It included a mention of his immediate family at the time of his death, and a few details about his wife, Rachel Baji, formerly Rachel Wilmore, a British citizen. No information on his daughter though, except for the fact that she was 14 at the time Seiya was killed, which might have been relevant, seeing as Sonnet's abilities had awoken while she had been living on the streets of some city at age 15.

"I know it's not much," Alicia said, "I'm trying to find more specific information about his daughter and wife, and not him."

"It's a start. Thank you. Do you want any more money for this?"

"No, thanks. It would have only been about $8 anyway, since it only took me a couple of hours to find that."

"Add it to my bill then. I don't mind paying expenses."

"I might. Mind if I ask you a question though?"

"Go on."

"When you hired me for this, you said you had 'very few memories' of your past. What can you remember?"

"Only bits and pieces, and I have no idea how old I was during the things I do remember."

"No memory of your parents?"

Sonnet shook her head.

"You know how something familiar can help an amnesiac remember things? I'm hoping that'll happen with me."

"Something will jog your memory eventually." Alicia said. Her face then lit up: "I could try and find Mr Baji's last address. You might then be able to go there, and see if that helps."

"It's worth a try," Sonnet replied, "I'll call back in about three days. Thanks for your help so far."

Alicia nodded. Sonnet then got up from the chair, and left the office. Nodding at Winston as she walked through the reception area, she then left the building and headed to somewhere she could teleport home. As she turned a corner, going towards a housing estate, she collided with another pedestrian, knocking him over, and causing her to stumble back a little.

Almost instantly after the impact, Sonnet felt her zoanoid sense kick in, and her eyes start to glow. She turned away from him for a second, and cleared her mind, allowing her eyes to turn back to their normal colour. She then looked at the man she had knocked to the floor, and extended a hand to him.

"I'm sorry sir, are you OK?"

The man looked at her for a second, and then grabbed her offered hand, allowing her to pull him to his feet.

"Yes I'm fine."

"I'm sorry, I should have watched where I was going."

"Don't worry about it."

Sonnet glanced at the man, before realising what he was.

"I need to be going now. Sorry again."

She then walked away as fast as she could; yet keeping on a direct line of sight with the man. Once she was about 15 metres away, she checked the area was clear of other people, and made use of her psycho kinesis ability. A few seconds later, the man's brain exploded, and he fell to the floor. A few seconds later, his corpse began to disintegrate. A minute or so after that, and there was no trace to indicate that the man had existed at all.

I hope I wasn't too rash just now. She thought, Oh well, it's done now, so there's no point worrying about it.

Sonnet then found a small alleyway, and teleported back to her apartment. She then changed into a suit, and left for the Chronos Japan building.

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At about 09:00, Mizuki was woken up by a voice in her head.

[Guyver 5, can you hear me?]

She recognised the voice as Guyver Red, and responded.

[Loud and clear. Something wrong Red?]

[No. But I would like your opinion on something. Could you come to my apartment?]

[Sure. Give me about 20 minutes. Should I bring anyone else?]

[Your call. It is 'work' related, so it might help.]

[OK, see you soon.]

Mizuki then felt the voice leave her head, and she decided to get herself ready. She got out of bed, and woke Sho up in the process.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, seeing her up.

"No. Red wants me to come to her apartment for some sort of meeting. You might want to come too."

"Sounds serious." He stated.

"Maybe. Shame Agito is away for the time being, he might have wanted to tag along.

"We can bring him up to speed later." Sho said, getting out of the bed.

"Yeah, you're right."

Mizuki moved into the bathroom of the apartment, within the Zeus base, to make use of the shower, while Sho went to the small kitchen area, and make some breakfast for Mizuki and himself.

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About 15 minutes later, Mizuki came out of the bathroom, towelling her hair dry. After getting herself dressed, she moved to the kitchen area, and saw the breakfast Sho had made.

"Not exactly as good as what you can make, but I think I did pretty well." He stated, as she entered the small kitchen area. He had made a breakfast consisting of bacon, eggs and toast, all of it slightly burnt. As she moved to one of the seats, he pulled it out for her, and then moved to his seat once she was sitting down.

"Very gentlemanly." She commented.

"I try." He replied.

Once they had finished their breakfast, she moved to the small lounge area while Sho went to shower. After he had showered, she took his hands in hers, concentrated, and teleported them to Ran's apartment. Ran and Mutaru then filled them in on Ran's idea, if Sonnet could obtain the necessary information, to launch a two-pronged attack on Chronos Japan.

"Sounds like a good idea." Sho stated.

"What about splitting us up though?" Mizuki asked, "Who would work with whom?"

"I think we all need to discuss that." Ran stated.

"When does Agito get back?" Mutaru asked.

Sho and Mizuki glanced at each other.

"We don't know." Mizuki admitted.

"I'd venture a guess, and say a few days at most." Sho said.

"What makes you say that?"

"I know him."

Mizuki had closed her eyes during this, and she reopened them as Sho finished speaking.

"He'll be back tonight. He's helping part of Zeus Thunderbolt neutralise a zoanoid attack group somewhere in Kyushu."

"He likes to get involved?" Mutaru asked.

"Yes," Mizuki answered him, "Plus, he feels it's partly his responsibility, due to the power his Guyver grants him."

"Makes sense." Ran commented.

"So, should we all get together tomorrow night, and refine the attack plan?" Ran asked, "Sonnet should be able to get some information by then."

"Good idea," Sho said, "I'll inform Agito."

"Great," Mutaru said, "Now, what do you two plan to do today?"

Sho and Mizuki had a short telepathic conversation.

"We hadn't planned anything, why?"

"Sis and I were planning on going swimming later today. There is a leisure centre near to the tennis centre she works at, which has a nice swimming pool, and a hydrotherapy pool, which she likes. If you want, you can join us?"

Ran glanced at him for a second; looking surprised that he had invited them.

[Why did you invite them?] She telepathically asked him.

[I thought they would enjoy something relaxing.] He replied. [Does it bother you?]

[No, I'm just surprised you did invite them.]

While they had been telepathically talking, Sho and Mizuki had been having a quiet, verbal discussion. Mizuki then answered Mutaru:

"We'd love to. It'd make a change from constant training and battles," She said, "We'll need to go back for a few things though."

"Right," Ran replied, "Meet back here at 14:00?"

The two guests then left the apartment, leaving the two alone.

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A few hours later, Sho and Mizuki reappeared in Ran's apartment, carrying small bags.

"Good timing." Ran stated.

"Thanks," Mizuki replied, "This should be fun."

"Yeah," Mutaru added, "I've not been swimming for a while."

He sounded a little concerned, Sho thought.

He dismissed it as his imagination, and waited for Ran and Mutaru to gather their things together. While he was waiting, he glanced at Mizuki. The two of them had done what they could recently to alter their appearance, so that Chronos personnel wouldn't recognise them as easily. They all then left the building, passing the Landlady's open office door on the way out, talking about their planned afternoon out.

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The walk to the leisure centre took about 20 minutes. Once there, they all went into the separate changing rooms (male and female), changed into swimwear, and then went to the pool. After swimming for a bit, Mutaru challenged Sho to a race: swim 20 lengths of the pool as quickly as possible. Sho agreed, and they started. Mizuki and Ran, decided to go into the hydrotherapy pool while the men raced.

Mizuki and Ran had been talking and relaxing in the hydrotherapy pool for about 12 minutes, while Sho and Mutaru had finished their race, with Mutaru winning. The men had decided to also try the hydrotherapy, and were walking towards it when the windows at the far end of the room exploded inwards. Most of the people using the pool screamed as a group of zoanoids entered the leisure centre. Sho and Mutaru dived back into the main pool as, an Enzyme II, presumably the leader, shouted to them:

"GUYVERS!! WE KNOW YOU'RE HERE. SHOW YOURSELVES!!"

[Damn!] Sho said, via the telepathic organisms, [How did they know where to find us?]

[Worry about that later,] Mutaru said, [What do we do now?]

Mizuki then joined the conversation:

[At least one of us needs to be able to activate our armour. That way, the Guyver can create a distraction while the others bio-boost too.]

[Not to mention evacuate any civilians.] Ran added.

[Psychic?] Sho asked.

[Yeah?]

[How long can you hold your breath?]

[About a minute.]

[OK, can you swim, underwater, to the far end of this pool and bio boost?]

Mutaru looked down the pool, away from the zoanoids.

[Yeah, I think so.]

[Good,] Sho replied, [Do so. I can draw their attention.]

[How, Sho?] Mizuki asks, in a worried voice.

[Easy. They should know me by sight. They don't know you are a Guyver yet, so they wouldn't make you as high a priority.]

[OK, I can see the logic there,] She replied, [But Sho?]

[Yes?]

[Be careful.]

Sho smiles at her concern, before replying:

[I will. I'll have help anyway.]

He then decides to draw the attention of the zoanoids. He does so in the most efficient way he can think of:

"GUYVER!!!"

The spherical energy field appeared around Sho, and caused any water that was close to him to be blown away from his body. The blue organic armour then wrapped around him. Using the enhanced strength and agility he now had, he jumped straight up from the pool, and flipped so he landed on one side of it.

"What do you want?" Guyver 1 demanded.

"What else, Guyver?" The Enzyme II sneered back, "Your control medal, and those of your friends. Care to hand them over?"

"Are you crazy? I'd never…"

Before Guyver 1 could complete that sentence, there was another explosion of water, and Psychic Guyver then appeared on the other side of the pool. The Enzyme noticed him.

"Ah good, that's two of you. Where are the other five?"

"You really think we'd tell you?" A female voice demanded.

Guyver 1 glanced in the direction of the voice, and saw Guyver 5 standing there, hands on hips. He smiled under his armour, before he realised what the Enzyme II had said.

'Where are the other five?' was what it asked. He thought, that means they fell for her idea! Great!

The group seemed to be getting a little impatient, or maybe developing a craving for blood, as one of the zoanoids, a Thancrus, unsheathed it sonic swords, as if preparing to charge. To the surprise of all the Guyvers, the Enzyme II held out an arm, blocking it in place.

"We were told not to initiate hostilities, remember?"

Before anyone could react to this, however, a large pressure cannon blast flew through the air, from above, and blew the left arm off the impatient Thancrus, without damaging the other zoanoids.

"Well," A voice said, "Too bad for you that we have no such commands to follow."

Guyver 1 tracked the blast back to its source, and saw Guyver Red standing on a balcony for observation area, with her hands holding another pressure blast at the ready.

[Is it me, or did that sound a little cliché?] Guyver 1 heard in his mind: Psychic's voice.

Then, everything went crazy, as both sides began attacking. Red and Psychic targeted the weaker zoanoids, the few Gregole and Vamore that were in the group, while Guyvers 1 & 5 took on the Enzyme II and Thancrus, respectively.

Guyver 5 started by firing three pressure cannon blasts, while running, at the Thancrus, and then jumping up, so it couldn't fire back. As it stumbled from the impact of two of the blasts, Guyver 5 once again made use of a move that Blue had taught her, landing behind the creature, and slicing off its other arm as she landed. At least, that was her intent. What she actually did was cut from the base of its neck, down to its waist, as it moved to avoid an attack from Guyver 1, leaving a bloody gap down one side of its body, separating the shoulder from the torso, yet still attached to the body at the waist.

[Ouch!] She heard Red comment via the organisms.

[I missed.] She replied, with a little sarcasm in her voice, as she retracted the blade into her wrist.

[You need to miss more often then.] Psychic stated, also with a touch of sarcasm, and also humour, in his voice.

The conversation was then ended as the fight continued. Guyver 5 then fired three fast mid level pressure cannon blast at the Thancrus and destroyed it. Mainly because one blew its head up. She then turned to assist Guyver 1 with the Enzyme II. She activated her sonic swords first, knowing that she would only get one strike before its acid melted the blades, and activated her gravity orb as she jumped. This allowed her to fly up about eight metres, before she dived at the Enzyme II. The dive was angled pretty well, allowing her to slice off its right arm, and three of the four appendages on its back. She then completed the move by angling her body so that she could roll as she hit the floor, and then pull herself up to her feet.

I managed it! She thought, with shock, as her sonic swords disintegrated, Won't be able to repeat that for a while though.

[LOOK OUT!!] She heard through the organisms.

She, on reflex, tried to avoid the zoanoid that he had detected milliseconds before the warning, but wasn't quite fast enough as the remaining appendage stabbed through her chest, destroying her right lung in the process. She tried to scream, but was unable to, as she couldn't get enough oxygen to her mouth. Instead, she collapsed to the floor, appearing to be dead.

Guyver 1 saw her lying on the floor of the pool area, blood pouring out of the injury, and pooling around her. He jumped away from the Enzyme II, and vented steam from his mouth vents. While he was a safe distance away, he summoned his armour upgrade, becoming Gigantic Guyver 1, but damaging the internal structure of the leisure centre in the process, as the blast field shattered what remained of the windows that the zoanoids had come through.

[I think the building is empty of non-combatants.] Red reported via her organisms.

[I wondered where you went after cutting that Vamore down.] Psychic said.

[Do you copy Guyver 1?] Red enquired.

Gigantic Guyver, however, didn't hear any of the conversation, as he felt like he was going to explode. Twice now, an Enzyme class zoanoid had killed the woman he loved, and he couldn't hold back his anger. He ran at the creature, and sliced at it with the sonic swords. As they disintegrated, he fired the sonic disruptor, causing its body to shake violently. While it was feeling that, he opened a hyper smasher, and fired it at very close range. The Enzyme II, and most of the building structure near it, was vaporised, along with pieces of the other zoanoids.

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Guyver Red turned to Guyver 1, when he didn't reply to her question. She was a little surprised to see that he had upgraded himself, and wondered why he had. Psychic then tapped her shoulder, and pointed a short distance from the two of them. As quickly as possible, they took out the three remaining zoanoids, and rushed to Guyver 5's body. Luckily, the defence mode hadn't activated yet so they were able to pick up the body. They managed to carry it to a safe distance before they felt the hyper smasher charging up. After it had fired, they saw the building damage, and got themselves out of there as fast as they could. Gigantic Guyver 1, however, seemed to stay rooted to the spot as the building started to collapse around them.

"COME ON!" Red yelled at him, trying to get him to move.

Psychic took a more practical approach. Passing the body of Guyver 5 to his sister, he moved in front of Gigantic Guyver 1, and punched him in the jaw, as hard as he could. The larger Guyver stumbled slightly from the hit, but then seemed to realise what was going on. Seeing that his girlfriend, and Red, were safe, he grabbed the arm of Psychic Guyver, and they both disappeared in a flash of white light.

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Red saw the flash of white light, and realised that Sho had used the power of the Gigantic unit to teleport himself and her brother out of the building. A few seconds later, the sensors on her head moved in their groves, and she sensed two people behind her. As she turned to face them, the gold armour detached from Guyver 1, and vanished. As she completed her 180° turn, she saw her brother take a few steps away from Guyver 1, and Guyver 1 crouch down next to Guyver 5s body. Luckily, the part that had skewered her had dissolved when the Enzyme II was killed, so there was nothing left to do but wait for it to heal.

I hope she wakes up soon. Red thought.

"She'll be fine, Sho. You know that." Psychic stated.

"Yes, I know." the synthesised voice of Guyver 1 replied.

Red glanced back at the leisure centre.

"Do you think we should risk going back for our clothes and money?" She asked.

"I think we should," Guyver 1 stated, "I don't know about you two, but I suspect Chronos could find something that might link to who we really are in there."

He heard Red say something under her breath, before she said:

"You're right. My pass for the leisure centre is in there, which is photo ID."

"My gym card too," Psychic stated, "I don't want to leave that behind."

"Will you two be able to go in and retrieve your things?" Guyver 1 asked.

"Yes." Both siblings replied.

"While you are there," Guyver 1 hesitated mid sentence, "Break into a few extra lockers, and cause a little damage."

Both Red and Psychic had a shocked look under their armours.

"Why?" Red demanded.

"Chronos might be able to obtain any information from here, including who was here, and what locker that person used. If they can do that…"

"They can get our identities." Psychic finished for him.

Both Guyvers nodded at Guyver 1, and then ran into the remains of the leisure centre.

How the hell did they know where we were? Sho wondered as he watched Guyver 5 heal.

About ten minutes later, they emerged, carrying a few bags of clothes. Psychic carried his and Guyver 1's things, while Red carried Guyver 5's things, as well as her own. Guyver 1 became Gigantic Guyver 1, picked up Guyver 5's body, and then teleported the four of them back to Ran's apartment. As they were about to deactivate their armours, a voice said:

"I was wondering when you'd get back."

With the exception of Guyver 5, they all turned to face the source of the voice, who got up from the sofa so that Guyver 1 could place his girlfriends healing body on it. The healthy Guyvers then deactivated their armours.

"Mr Makishima, how did you know where to find us?" Ran queried.

"I brought him here." Sonnet stated.

"That's helpful," Ran said, "Once Mizuki recovers, we can discuss what we are going to do."

"I believe that's why she offered to bring me here," Agito said, "Oh and Ran, call me Agito please. You're a friend, so there is no need to be so formal."

Ran simply nodded in acknowledgement to that request/statement. She then turned to Sonnet, and observed that she must have recently come back to the apartment building from working, as she was still wearing her grey suit, with a white blouse. The only thing that might suggest otherwise was that she had untied her hair, letting it hang down her back.

"I've got some information regarding the strength of the zoanoid forces in the Japan Branch, and some for the Mt Narisawa facility. It looks favourable. However, I'd like to check it with a friend of mine first, to see if he can offer any more insights."

"Anyone we know?" Sho queried.

Sonnet debated with herself weather or not to tell him, considering what Aptom had done to him and Mizuki in the past. If she did tell him, he could react in several ways, most of which were negative. But, he could just take it at face value, or decide that the past is the past. In the end, however, she decided he was better off knowing.

"Aptom." She simply said.

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Sonnet saw Sho tense up as she revealed whom her friend was, as well as a look of shock pass across Mutaru's face.

That's interesting, she thought, I didn't think Mutaru knew Aptom even existed.

"Since he is capable of splitting himself up as many times as he likes, he has been able to make himself into quite an intelligence gatherer," Sonnet explained, "He has copies of himself in several Chronos branches, including Japan, and can obtain information quite easily."

"So you're going to contact him, and ask him for info?" Sho asked.

"Yes. He might even offer to help out, seeing as he is a Chronos fugitive."

"Based in what you already know," Agito questioned, "Could we pull off a two pronged attack on both Chronos Japan, and Mt Narisawa?"

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AN: Sorry to anyone who might be reading this fic for the long delay in updating, but I've been busy with a lot of things recently, and just not had the time to work on it. Hopefully, updates will be more regular now.