disclaimer on chapter 1
Detective Stone rolled his eyes and moved towards the door. "Fine. Whatever. You've got five minutes, no more than that."
"Thank you, Detective Stone." Yuuichirou waited until the man had left the room and pushed his chair to the the side of the bed to get a closer look to the black haired man that laid on it. "So, Dr. Regal, what exactly can you remember?"
Dr. Regal sighed, giving a genuinely thankful look to the brunette, relieved of having the detective off him for at least a few minutes. "I am not sure. I can remember working with my father on a project I was assisting him with, then everything seems to be blurry. I can't remember anything. It's almost like... like I've been sleeping for 10 years. I don't know or remember anything that happened in that lapse. I'm surprised of what year we're at now." Regal sighed heavily, feeling truly lost and frustrated about his current condition. "I... I think you're familiar. Have we met before? I'm sure I've seen you in the past."
Dr. Hikari adjusted his glasses, absentmindedly. It seemed that, indeed, he had lost his memory partially. But how could it be? Why only the last 10 years or so of his memory have been erased? Such an accident couldn't have happened just because. Could it have been caused or provoked in some way by the Kokoro Network?
"I... yes. My father is Hikari Tadashi, I'm sure you've met him before."
Regal blinked. "So you're the son of my father's partner? I've heard about you from him, but I never had the chance to meet you." He extended his hand to shake Yuuichirou's. "It's a pleasure to meet you... though in these odd circumstances."
Yuuichirou felt odd to be introduced again to this man, but he shaked hands nonetheless. "Likewise."
Regal nodded slightly, he could feel some sort of tension in the air. Not from him, but from the scientist before him. Something was making him uneasy, and Dr. Regal could only think it had to do with himself. "May I ask, Dr. Hikari, if you know what's happening here? I am uncertain of what answers this Detective seeks."
Yuuichirou sighed. "I think I do. But judging by your current state, I'd rather not take risks and give you my full version of the story." The brown-haired scientist didn't think it would be wise to dump the details in his brain just like that, not until he learned the results of the tests anyway.
To be honest with himself, he couldn't think of a better way to summarize to this man all the crimes he's had committed during the past years in just 5 minutes.
Regal frowned and looked around the room for a second, not knowing what else to say. Not only he had been harassed by the police into details of some supposed scheme he didn't remember taking part into, but now this man before him seemed to feel somewhat i distressed /i around him. What he could have done that would make people treat him and refer to him as a criminal?
In that moment, the black haired scientist just wished he could close his eyes and slink back into a dreamless sleep, hoping that he'd wake up to a world that'd make more sense.
Yuuichirou noticed Regal's face and realised Detective Stone wouldn't get the answers he was longing for. Breathing heavily, and hoping he wouldn't give the man a terrible shock, he said, "I can, however, give you a small tour, if that helps."
Regal blinked a couple of times and glanced back to the brunette. Right now, he didn't feel like being filled in anything. But he knew there was no way to avoid his current situation. Whatever happened, it was best to clear it as soon as possible.
"I'd appreciate it, Dr. Hikari." His reply was barely above a whisper.
Yuuichirou adjusted his glasses and did his best effort of summarizing Regal's life in succint phrases, avoiding small details like Regal's failed attempt to destroy humanity and Yuuichirou's whereabouts during the past months. As he had explained to him, Regal had suffered from severe stress and trauma caused by working 24/7, which in turn had caused him to 'become' evil, to create a NetMafia which in turn affected the whole world, and interfering with the Electopian government's Science Labs and a secret project which codename was 'Kokoro Network'. That seemed like a plausible explanation to Yuuichirou, for the time being.
The brunette looked at Regal, scrutinizing him. If anyone looked at his face in that moment, nobody would be able to tell if Dr. Regal was impressed or even affected by what Dr. Hikari had sumarized about him. His expression had barely changed one bit as the explanation proceeded. But his only visible eye betrayed what his face would not.
Dr. Regal was distressed by the news. Insanity had taken over him? But how? Why? He couldn't remember at all, he couldn't even think of much stress being placed into him. He couldn't remember anything, but he could tell the other man's words were truth.
On that moment, the detective decided to enter the room again. This time, though, he was holding an envelope, which he nonchalantly handed to Yuuichirou.
Stone sat down in a nearby chair and faced Regal. "Well."
Yuuichirou retrieved the tests and skimmed the documents. He then looked back at the detective. "This is..."
"'Impossible'?" countered the detective. "Yes. From all the accounts, yes, it is."
Regal sighed softly, grunting lowly as the detective came back into the room. He watched the other two men talking. "What is 'impossible'?" He shifted in the bed, trying to have a more comfortable position. "Would you care to inform me what is that?" The black haired man pointed to the envelope and the documents Yuuichiriou was holding.
"Your memories. It's all like Dr. Hikari said. They're just gone... somehow." Poor Detective Stone couldn't believe it either, judging by how bewildered he looked.
"According to the notes on the fMRI and EEG tests, some portions of Dr. Regal's brain, the ones related to memory functions, were damaged, which would explain the memory loss Dr. Regal claims." explained Yuuichirou. "By studying several process of the interactions between humans and navis, I've learned about neurological process, but I've never seen anything like this before. I've heard of documented cases, but this..."
The truth was, Yuuichirou was certain the Kokoro Network had caused it, although he hadn't quite figured out how. Only Regal would know how to operate it, and theoretically Yuuichirou could, too, but he had been unconscious when he supposed it had happened. The whole process of it would be hard to explain to the police, not just this detective. He knew the Kokoro Network by theory, having read his father's notes, and he was certain that if such an accident were to happen, it would've affected everyone in the range of the whole Network... including him. Yuuichirou could remember everything, save for a few fuzzy details.
Something doesn't fit here, thought Yuuichirou. Someone caused it... but who?
"Maybe I can shed some light into this matter." A voice interrupted.
The Detective Stone shot a nasty glare to the newcomer. "Who are you, sir? Who authorized you to come inside?" He stood up and stalked in quick steps towards the man at the door. Before the man could shout anything else, a badge was displayed in front of his face. "C-Commander Barrel?"
Barrel placed his badge back into the inner pocket of his jacket. "I have some information I'd like to share with Dr. Regal and Dr. Hikari if possible. In... private."
Regal couldn't quite hear what the other man said. He was beginning to feel a headache building up, too many things going at once were quickly wearing him off.
"I, uh, I guess I'll leave you alone." Detective Stone scuttled out of the room as fast as he had entered it.
"Commander Barrel, it's good to see you." said Yuuichirou, pointing to a nearby chair.
"Drop the boundaries, Dr. Hikari. And I'd prefer to stand, if you don't mind."
Yuuichirou nodded. "I suppose you're here to investigate?"
"On the contrary. I know all that is needed to know about this issue, Dr. Hikari. I will entrust you the following information, because I'm certain you'll do what's best with it." Barrel nodded, before glancing at Regal for a moment. He carefully chose how to word this information. "After you fell unconscious, the main system of the Kokoro Network restarted itself and overloaded. Somehow, the overload managed to erase completely the last 10 years of Dr. Regal's memories. To him, the last 10 years never happened." Barrel dismissed Yuuichirou's quizzical look, and the doctor understood there was something else, something the raven-haired man wanted to keep to himself.
"So..." Dr. Regal rubbed his temple tiredly, trying to understand. "What you're saying is that in the last few years I've been a criminal? That I tried to dominate the world for no aparent reason? If that's true, if I am really the mad man Detective Stone said I was... what is going to happen with me? What I am supposed to do?"
Barrel sighed. "What the police is going to do is to put you in jail, for an indefinite amount of time. All the proof points you as the only perpetrator, and your cronies have already confessed their crimes, naming you as their main leader."
Barrel looked outside through the window. It was a bright day, not a cloud in sight. He glanced at Regal, who was returning the look, wishing for a good reply. "However, due to the given circumstances, it's impossible to get a full-fledged confession from the main leader of Nebula. Our scientists are trying to decipher the way the Kokoro Network works, but all of its documents and the machines operating it were lost after the vulcano's eruption. It would be too much to have SciLabs recreate such an intrincate system just to get the answers the NetPolice wants."
Yuuichirou handed the tests results to Regal, assuming the black-haired scientist would like to review them. "Is there a way to change the sentence?"
The main commander of the NetPolice frowned. "What do you have on mind, Dr. Hikari?"
"I..." Yuuichirou paused and thought of the words that were to come out from his mouth. It was an ilogic decision, and more than one person would question his sanity. Why did he feel in such need to favor his kidnapper?
"I would like to appoint Regal as a SciLab intern, if possible. Let him repay his crimes there. That's what I suggest."