Memories of Light (Chapter Three)
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon
A/N: Ok, a few things off the bat. As I hope it is clear to everybody now, this is hardly your normal Digimon fic. Now, as is the case when creating a world like this, you have to have a back history. You'll get a sense of it in this story. That history will be revealed sometime in the next two chapters. All I can say now is that all the events in 01/02/03 happened but afterwards a whole lot changed. For reference, Ruki is 29 years old in this fic. Ryo is 32 and the narrator is... well he's quite old. You'll see in the next two chapters.
BTW, Ruki will meet Ryo in the next chapter and uh, I'll eventually tell you who the narrator is. Oh and I had this chapter ready about a week ago but well, life came a knockin' and I had to answer.
Spread-eagled, and covered by high blades of grass, Ruki admitted to herself that this wasn't going to be as easy as she had thought. Not that she had thought it would be particularly easy in the first place. But, staring at the gigantic compound in front of her, she knew that whatever answers she sought, lay inside. Of course several hundred feet of barb wired fence separated her from those answers and there were regular checkpoints set up at intervals and patrolled by guards. Getting past all that was going to take some doing and she might well be caught anyway.
Sighing, Ruki lowered her binoculars and checked the watch on her Digivice. It was nearing one a.m. and yet the security had not slackened one bit. It seemed like she would have to wait until morning and then see whether she could sneak in using some other method.
She was about to get to her knees when something pressed into the small of her back. "Don't move," a voice whispered from behind her. Ruki froze, raising her hands slowly. "Now get up," the man behind her whispered again, "but slowly."
Getting to her knees, Ruki complied with the request. The man stepped around in front of her. "It's been a long time, Ruki."
"Victor?" Ruki said incredulously, lowering her arms.
Bowing, Victor lowered the stick in his hand. "I was contacted by a bar owner that works for me. He recognized and sent you here. I've been wandering around here all night, hoping to run into you."
"Where is Ryo?" Ruki asked immediately. "I need to talk to him."
"There may be a problem with that." Victor looked at her, hesitating briefly. "Come with me to the compound. I'll explain everything when we're inside."
And that was how she found herself sitting in a chair in his office, sipping a cup of coffee. He sat in his desk, across from her, a seemingly troubled expression on his face. She knew she was not going to like what he had to say.
"There was a problem with Ryo. It began about eight months ago when we first arrived in this dimension. For a while, it seemed as if everything was fine but he grew... distant. That's the only word I have for the look in his eyes. It was almost as if he was fighting something within himself. It got worse and worse until two months later he suddenly made off with an entire vial of a virus we had confiscated from the Order of the Dark Path. He has been missing ever since. We sent some of our troops after him but he killed all of them and escaped."
Ruki frowned, "What were you two doing here with a virus?"
"This base is one of several we have in other disconnected dimensions. It allows us anonymity and we can dispose of materials acquired, fairly easily and without too many questions. There is none of the legal or political maneuvering involved in dimensions that are part of the Multiverse."
"Except that you may be exposing innocent people to risk." Ruki replied with a sigh. "But I don't care what you do as long as it doesn't affect anything related to me. Do you have any leads on Ryo?"
"Not as of yet. You could be some help here. Our policy is not to have civilians interfere but you know Ryo better then anybody else. You would be a great asset."
Ruki closed her eyes, thinking over the proposition. Something about the whole situation didn't seem right to her but she couldn't turn down the offer either. At least this way she would have far more resources at her disposal then if she tried to go at it alone.
Opening her eyes, she said, "Ok, I will work with you but we will do this my way. When I find Ryo, you will keep your forces as far away as possible. I may be able to get to the bottom of this without interference."
Victor nodded, rising from his seat. "All right, I will have an ID set up for you so you can get around this compound. You are welcome to stay here. We will assign you private quarters since you probably don't have a place picked out."
Bowing her head, Ruki followed him out of the room.
It is the middle of the night when I wake up, my right arm throbbing with pain. Groaning, I roll out of bed and stumble to my feet. The moonlight, shining through the window adjacent to my bed creates a faint silver light that provides me with a hint of illumination. I stagger over to the computer table and pick up the small pack of syringes given to me by Gennai.
Now comes the hard part as I glance down at my arm. The skin is literally decomposing before my eyes and droplets of blood are beginning to come to the surface. There is a dull throbbing that is more annoying then painful but I can see that this is just the beginning. The infection is spreading through my arm at a steady rate. Taking one of the syringes, I plunge it into my arm. A feeling of drowsiness comes over me and I slump forward onto the desk.
As my eyes begin to drift shut, I can't help but find the humor in this situation. I was once a god in my world and now I am reduced to a lackey for Gennai, my life dependant on drugs. Things have really come full circle for me.
I am well versed in the ways of power though. My kingdom may well be ash by now but I am still alive and I will return every single injustice exacted on me tenfold. It is the way of the king; a typhoon devoid of emotions and morality that lets nothing stand in his way. The thought brings a small smile to my face and then everything fades away.
Early-afternoon of Day Two
After spending a restless night in a small room assigned to her, Ruki found herself back in Victor's office. He had summoned her at midday after working through the night setting up high level clearance for her so that she could get freely around the compound.
"Take these," Victor said, handing her a small microphone and a small semi-automatic. "The mic is connected to main security. It'll be handy in case you need directions on how to get from Point A to Point B. The gun is a necessity that can't be helped. Nobody is allowed outside the compound with force lances."
Ruki took the two items, affixing the mic to the underside of her jacket collar and holstering the gun in her jeans. "Thank you," she said, bowing. "I don't want to waste any time and would like to begin my investigation immediately."
Victor nodded in understanding. "You can contact security through the mic and have them send someone to escort you to Ryo's quarters here. Give it a try."
"Uh, hello." Ruki said, grabbing a hold of her collar and activating the mic.
"Hello Ms. Makino," a chipper female voice from the other end replied, "I've been expecting a communiqué from you. Whatever you need, we will provide."
"Thank you, I need someone to escort me to Ryo Akiyama's quarters. I am inside Director Sunderland's office at the moment."
"All right, I am sending two guards to escort you."
"Have them meet me in the lobby of the main building," Ruki said quickly. "It will be quicker that way."
"As you wish," the voice from the other end replied.
Terminating the connection, Ruki looked up at Victor. "Again, thank you for your help. By the way, does your head office know that I am involved in this now?"
Victor shook his head. "It is policy that we not involve civilians and despite your militaristic record, you are still a civilian. Your presence here is strictly between the staff here and us. We have enough resources so that we can get away with any deception and not get the head office involved."
"You're using me to cover your tracks."
Victor smiled. "Failure is not something I am accustomed to and a disaster of this magnitude is a colossal failure. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement, wouldn't you agree?"
"Be that as it may, you are not to interfere when I find him. I want to get to the bottom of this and the last thing we need is your forces coming in and screwing this up."
"As you wish. I will stay in the background until you've captured Ryo."
Ruki bowed, leaving the room. She did not completely trust Victor and a number of things he had said rang false with her. On the other hand, he could be trying to save face with the head office. After all, this was Ryo and nobody had ever been as good as him. She had her work cut out for her.
A low whistling tune suddenly cut through her thoughts as she was walking down a hallway. A man dressed in a blue janitorial jumpsuit was standing in the middle of the hallway, cleaning the walls. Ruki walked past him trying to place the tune he was whistling. It sounded a bit familiar to her.
And then she suddenly placed the tune.
Whirling around, she pulled the revolver at her hip and pressed it against the side of the man's head.
It was around ten o' clock in the morning when he had woken. A quick check revealed that his arm was fully functional once again. After a quick shower, he left for Gen-U-Tech's main lab. One thing became immediately clear when he arrived at the outskirts of the compound; sneaking in was out of the question. There was just too much security. He was making a sweep of the north perimeter when he saw a garbage truck come to a halt in front of the main entrance to the compound.
Sneaking up to the truck while one of the guards was questioning the driver, he slid under it and hung from its underside. Minutes later, he was inside the compound. After the driver had gotten out and left, he slid out from under the truck. A quick search of it revealed a spare uniform inside a dry cleaner cover. Sliding the plastic off, he put on the uniform quickly.
Nearly two hours later, he ran into Ruki Makino.
"Don't move," she hissed pointing the gun at my head.
I freeze, raising my hands and dropping the broom in my hand to the floor. What had given me away? Then it suddenly strikes me, the tune I had been whistling. It was something she had to recognize; I had picked it up in her dimension after all. Well, it couldn't be helped now. The first thing I had to do was put her off her game a little. Hopefully, I would be able to get out of here without too much trouble.
"Haven't we met somewhere before. I never forget such a pretty face. And the outfit isn't all that bad either. Black jeans, blue jacket, that's a nice look on you."
"The jumpsuit does nothing for you." She replies primly.
I chuckle softly. "Heh, I guess not." Moving forward suddenly, I step on the edge of the broom. It swings up and strikes her gun hand. I duck down as the gun discharges and aim a blow at her hand. The gun goes flying from her grip and I use the broom to send it skittering across the floor.
She gives me no room to breathe. I duck as she swings her leg in a roundhouse kick. Moving backwards, I barely avoid a short punching combination. The woman's improved since the last time I met her.
In my flight backwards, I retain the broom and start using it to mount my own offence. I flick it forward and she glides backwards avoiding the handle. A couple more flicks and I have her backed against the wall. She manages to catch the final blow of my combination on her forearm and shoulder. It is a perfect block and nulls most of the force behind my swing.
"Who are you?" She questions darkly.
"How about we flip for it, heads, I tell you, tails, we go out on a date."
She purses her lips in annoyance. "The more you know, the shorter your life will be."
I chuckle again. "I love the kind of girl that can kick my ass."
She darts forward as soon as the words are out of my mouth. I fall back again as she unleashes a flurry of kicks and punches. She manages to move in close to me and grabs my collar, bringing her knee up towards my stomach. I block the knee and use the broom to knock away her hands from my collar.
I flick the broom towards her again and she ducks, grabbing the handle. A quick strike upwards breaks it into two pieces. I back off, brandishing only the handle now.
And then something else catches my attention. At the far end of the hallway, two guards round the corner and come running towards us. They probably heard the gunshot and are responding to it. Ruki's eyes flick backwards but she keeps her eyes on me. The second long opening is all I need though. Using the handle of the broom, I thrust forward, making her back up again. As she is readying her counterattack, I throw the broom at her and take off in the opposite direction.
One thing immediately becomes clear as I am running away; I should have really planned an escape route in case something like this happened. As it is, I am not going to get out of this without putting a heavy toll on this body.
With the hallway, I am running down rapidly dwindling and energy discharges scarring the walls and floor around me, I take the only option left. There is a window on my right and I leap out of it.
All right, review please.
