The Whisperer

AN: Dates and any details about exact time frames of how long this happens after the actual series has been removed so that the time of the story can be manipulated easily.

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-Chapter 51-

The wind blew his hair about as he stood on the roof of the apartment building. The sun was barely rising but there he was in the dim light packed and ready to depart. Really all he had with him was an equipment bag slung over his shoulder full of weapons, air-packed food that could be eaten immediately and MREs. This time he had his AS suit which he was currently wearing. Small sprinkles of water left over from last night's rain poked him every now and then as his gray eyes scanned the dawning sky for his transport. He pulled back the arm sleeve to look at his watch. He sighed realizing his ride was late. He rotated his shoulder, it still being sore from the wound last night. He thought about what had happened and what hadn't happened. Whether he wanted to or not he was in no condition to do that after losing so much blood. He was still in a less than efficient condition but he would live. He could tell Chidori was also tired and probably bewildered after her experience as well. Kurz had left last night and they hadn't met up since then. Kurz apparently hadn't been back last night. He could have been giving them privacy but he doubted that. Kurz had most likely run into some important some business. Below him Kaname slept soundly in his bed. It was difficult to get out of bed in the morning without waking her. They had shifted to a position where she slept her head resting on his chest. When he slid out she had slightly woken up mumbling a question to him. He had told her he was going to the bathroom before she fell back to sleep. After turning off the TV she had left on he did what he told her he would do. Instead of what was expected though he collected his equipment and put it in his equipment bag then showered. Exiting and finishing preparing what he needed to grabbed his AS suit and put it on. He had done one more thing as well. He had written her a letter. He was not one for emotional things, especially not heartfelt goodbyes. He said goodbye to people all the time never seeing them again but this was almost completely different. He left the letter in replacement for the goodbye. He knew she would be mad but she would get over it. He left it on the dining room table for her instead of next to the bed. That way she would definitely find it and it would not be right when she woke up. He looked up focusing on something in the sky. The arm-slave was in EIS and made no sound as it approached but he could hear the wind and the sound of how the sprinkles of water dropped differently so he knew it was near. He looked at his watch one more time just as Anon landed in front of him and crouched. Holding out its hand he jumped onto it and was brought up to its chest. A brief dim light appeared and the cock-pit was visible to him. Jumping in it disappeared, closing him in.

"Al."

"Yes sir?"

"Are you ready?"

"Yes but a lot of information on this AS has been encrypted or lost. I cannot find anything more to help us. Perhaps you should not have assimilated me with the AI of this machine. Along with the thought that it may have had more information then what I have obtained I feel strange."

"Would you like me to fix it?"

"Can you?"

"Maybe." Sousuke clicked a button brining information onto the screen.

"How will you do it?"

"I am different Al. Many things are different. I should be able to assist you. I forced an enemy AS to recognize me as a pilot instead of self-destructing by forcing it to take my Mithril ID as a member registration number."

"That is very different sir. Also it worried me a bit."

"Roger. It is worth the try however. What is the worst that could happen?"

"..." Al said nothing as a different window opened on the screen displaying more information. Sousuke closed his eyes placing his hand on the controls and taking a deep breath he opened them again.

--

"Okay I'll be there." Kurz walked down the street speaking to a member of the Danaan on his cell-phone. He was now carrying a case with him. Blood stained part of it but the color of the material was dark so it was almost unnoticeable unless you looked hard. He had a bandage wrapped around his hand and was wearing a heavy coat he had taken. Under it his gun rested against his body. Last night he had been sent out to get some documents, as well as files and folders plus a laptop and disks containing valuable information. It was supposed to be a grab and go with some pay for the work the other guy did but of course the deal went sour. Planning on selling the information to someone else the associate as well as some of his thugs tried to kill him take the money and the merchandise. Luckily Kurz had not come unprepared and not one of his thugs was nearly good enough. Numbers did not help them as Kurz killed as many as he could and escaped. The coat was actually taken from one of the thugs he killed. The meeting was supposed to be quick so he could rest for the night but his luck was not so good and now he had little time to prepare to depart. He was being given instructions on what to do, as well as informing them of what happened. He didn't mind though. In a bag on his shoulder was the money that was to be given in exchange for the information but was supposedly destroyed in an explosion. He was getting some reparation for his troubles. He needed to switch the money bag but he had everything planned out. The sun was only barely rising he still had some time. Not many stores in this area were open this early. He would have to go somewhere else or go to Sousuke's apartment and see if he had any. "Jeez this is just my luck. But this baby covers what happened." Kurz patted the bag he was carrying. He winced grabbing his side. "Man that smarts. Maybe I should go to numb nuts place. Maybe I can catch him and angel do you know what." Kurz winced again as he headed towards Sousuke's apartment.

After walking a while he noticed something strange. Looking up there was something different about the sky. He could not quite place it but something was definitely strange. He would have to have Mithril check for something just in case. Shifting the coat he once again continued on his way towards his friend's apartment.

-

Tessa stared down at the unconscious red haired young man. He was one of the few survivors from an attack against the S.O.W. Headquarters. They may have had Whispered but they lacked the equipment and financial ability to make what they needed to properly defend themselves. They had been attacked the day Mithril destroyed the supposed base of Origin. Now the few survivors were still recovering. Only a couple had woken up and some had died while being helped. While it was not a loss to Mithril it was still unfortunate. As for the attack they had reports that some of the escaping ships flew out of the atmosphere while others flew elsewhere but remained in the planet. They had been able to cut locations of the ships to hemispheres but they were still out of luck for which continent and even harder which country they went to. I was not hard to guess the continent considering there was probably at least one on each one. Many of the 'beacons' or 'pods' as they were dubbed were planted at various points around the world. The problem is, military and other forces were examining the large objects trying to find out what they were. China had tried to remove one and the area within 3 miles exploded. It was marked as a disaster and was being looked into. No one else had tried to remove one. Instead they examined it and took what they could to try to figure out exactly what they were. Tessa took a deep breath as she read his chart. He had slight burns and some bullet wounds as well as a broken arm but he was alright altogether. He was not in a coma but he was not expected to wake up for at least two more days if he was lucky late tomorrow. Tessa put the chart back down and walked back to the head of the bed. Looking down she removed a strand of hair from his face. Right now she wondered what her brother was doing.

-

She woke up in a blur. She as expected was very unhappy to find the one who had become a sleeping partner of hers was also as expected not there. He never seemed to be there when she woke, well at least not after the first few times. She did not pay much attention as she drowsily dragged herself to the shower. She remembered something about him going to the bathroom. He must have left then. She thought as she removed her clothing. She took a moment to examine herself in the mirror. She smiled at her figure happily. While she knew it was not perfect she was definitely much better then before and well on her way. She hadn't realized it at first but she had been taking better care of herself ever since she returned and admitted her feeling for her socially-inept protector. She had almost let herself slip when being held captive by Leonard but her metabolism let her stay in shape even if she did over-eat a little. She stopped when she got back, reorganizing her eating habits. She had also almost if not already filled-out quite well, considering she was almost eighteen. Suddenly memories of last night flooded her mind. She felt bad about the damage she had done to Sousuke. While it was not her fault entirely she felt full-responsibility. She was really tired after her ordeal, and Sousuke was in no condition to be doing much. She probably could have summoned the energy but she doubted Sousuke was in any condition to finish what they hadn't actually begun. She sighed annoyed,remembering others times when they were a little more successful but never went all the way. She laughed lowly then thought about the idea. Brushing it off she sighed as she entered the shower. Her shower was shorter than usual this morning. Still a little grumpy that the ex-sergeant hadn't hadn't at least woken her before disappearing she went straight to breakfast. She hoped he was coming back and had just gone out for moment, maybe seeing Kurz but she doubted it. Her conversation with him yesterday made her less hopeful. She took her plate straight to the couch and turned on the TV. Putting a cassette into the VCR she pressed play to start an episode of a soap Kyouko had recorded for her. She realized she still had friends to do things with during the summer. Next year would be there final year of high school and with Hayashimizu gone things would be a bit more difficult. She wondered who would be taking over council president now. She imagined Sousuke being recommended by Hayashimizu and the havoc it would cause. She would probably need need her harisen a lot and would have to take care of everything herself anyways. She sighed taking a piece of food into her mouth. She had not yet noticed the white envelope sitting on the table.

Suddenly a thought crossed her mind. She could call him. He said he would have his cell-phone in case of emergency. For him this could become an emergency. She walked back to the room to get her cell-phone. Pulling the pink object off the wall charger she dialed his number. It rang four times before going to a message. She called again with no response. Finally she decided on leaving a message.

"Sousuke it's Kaname call me as soon as you can." She hung up deciding she would call him again later. She walked back to the couch and grabbed her plate off the coffee table and headed for the kitchen. She cleaned her dishes and washed her hands. Walking back out she headed back to the phone to call some of her friends to see who was free. Picking up the phone she began pacing around the apartment. It rang a few times before Kyouko answered.

"Hi Kana. I'm glad to you're fine after what happened at the beach."

"Hey Ky. Are you free today?"

"What's the matter. Tired of spending time with the sergeant?" Kyouko laughed slightly. Actually she had spent her day yesterday free and was planning on calling Kaname herself.

"No we've spent a lot of time together and you guys are my friends."

"Okay."

Kaname walked around doing various chores and things while speaking to Kyouko. The attack at the beach the other day had slowed down the repair on her apartment but they would be starting tomorrow. She would probably have to lock he room. Everywhere else was pretty much cleared and packed in there anyway. She could probably just use one of Sousuke's surveillance systems to make sure the workers didn't take anything and if they did she had them red-handed. She spoke with Kyouko for awhile. In between plans they spoke of events of new and old. All the while the white envelope that beckoned her went unnoticed. When she had finally hung up she went into the room. Looking around she looked for some of her clothing. She went in search of her suitcase having left a supply of her clothes in it. After finding a suitable outfit to go out in. She picked something nice but something she could wear with her friends. After she packed everything and checked her purse she was ready to leave. She finally noticed the white object sitting on the table. She had spotted it earlier but mistook it for a napkin. Picking it up she found her name on one end of the letter. What's this. She thought as she opened it and pulled the letter out.

--

His breathing was quick and ragged inside the cock-pit. Whatever he had done it had not worked well and had consequences. He stared at the screen realizing the mistake he had made in even attempting such a thing. Perhaps he was getting arrogant. Looking at the screen he noticed they were in a different location. He sighed realizing he had moved before beginning his procedure. He sighed sitting back. Perhaps he was taking things a bit too far. This thought crossed his mind many times. Back on the sub when he made Chidori cry he had said he wanted things normal. Now that there seemed to be no chance of that he kept pushing his luck. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes, this time to rest.

"How are you sir?" Al's robotic voice sounded in the cock-pit.

"I'm still efficient. What is your condition? Did something happen?" He wiped sweat from his forehead as he asked.

"Nothing seems to have happened. It was a good attempt but fruitless. I will be fine we should continue our mission."

"Roger."

The AS took off into the sky still invisible to anyone looking. It soared through the air going higher and higher. They rose silently almost out of the planet. Suddenly the AS halted and dropped back slightly.

"Al what's going on?"

"We lack the programs to go up there. Something seems to be keeping us here."

Sousuke clicked his tongue as he began looking over things. Nothing seemed to be wrong but the AS was definitely a complicated machine. He was about to ask exactly what seemed wrong when suddenly they received a signal.

"Sir ene..."

Before Al could finish something smashed into them. Anon tumbled down a little bit before regaining balance. Looking up an AS mixed in green, and bluish AS stared down at him. It's head was triangular but wide it had two strange square objects behind it. One regularly looking like a square form his position and the other angles to make a diamond shape.

"Sagara..." A robotic female voice called to him. He took up a defensive position preparing for her next attack. "Who are you?" he knew who she probably worked for but that was all.

"Sagara. That AS. Anon is what you called it. Anon. Come." her words confused Sousuke as to exactly what her goal was. He had little time to wonder when she lunged at him. Dodging her dash he turned to attack her. To his surprise the diamond released, and detached slamming into him. He flew back while maintaining his balance this time.

"Anon!" She turned around and lunged for him. Another diamond released flying towards him. Pulling his knife he brought it up against the offending weapon. His knife was easily deflected and he once again took a hit.

"Sir regular means will not work against such a weapon. We should use the AS's equipped arm blade."

"Understood."

He blocked the next attack. But both diamonds were released. Grabbing his arm the blue-green AS struck him with the other. He moved back recovering from the attack.

"Anon."

"What does she want?" Sousuke asked himself mostly as he prepared another attack. This time he clashed with each of her attacks full slashes coming across each other without any clashing. Bringing its leg up to kick Sousuke blocked it. Taking the chance one of her weapons came around. It crashed against an iridescent light before he kicked the enemy AS away. She easily recovered and stood patiently in the air. "Sagara..."

"Sir we are not yet able to defeat Borghild."

"Borghild. You know its name."

"Roger...somehow."

"How do you know we can't defeat it?"

"A feeling." Al's robotic voice was monotone but hinted worry.

"We have to fight. I do not see another way around this."

"We must escape."

"Anon!" The female voice called interrupting them. He turned toward the enemy AS. He released a wave. It crashed against some strange shield.

"Lambda driver."

"Negative." Al did not agree with what Sousuke's interpretation. Looking at the screen he wondered what his AI meant."

"What?"

"That was not the lambda driver. That machine has special equipment. We are not ready to face her. The enemy is an AI. It cannot use lambda driver. It however is different from me. It seems programmed to complete a mission and lacks free will."

"An AI. That can respond like that." Sousuke stared at the AS on his screen. Things seemed to be getting more complicated.

"We need to escape. Do not worry she will no attack the city."

Sousuke had a lot of questions but now was not the time to ask. Launching forward the Borghild easily dodged him. It turned top attack again but Anon was still flying running away from the opponent. The machine watched it fly away deciding not pursue them. It activated its EIS disappearing into the sky.

Sousuke cursed himself as he piloted the AS away. He trusted AL but did not like the thought of having to run away. What was so wrong that he couldn't defeat his opponent. Their machines seemed on par but Al was apparently certain of their defeat.

"What now sir?" Al asked realizing they had come across quite a problem.

"We can't go up and apparently I cannot defeat an AI."

"It is not your fault."

"Al it is an AI."

"Is there a problem with AI?"

"AI lack the ability to execute a lot of actions. Look at..." Sousuke did not finish his sentence realizing what he was about to say.

"Sir. I am an AI."

"I know Al."He said nothing more realizing he may have just hurt Al's 'feelings'. He sighed uncertain of what to do next. "Al I apologize."

"I understand. You are frustrated." Al's monotone voice did not help Sousuke at all.

"We can go home?" Al suggested.

"Negative."

"Why?"

"We have no time. We have to do..."

"Sir we have no idea what we plan on doing."

Sousuke remained silent at Al's words. He was right but he did not want to go back to his apartment. Not because he felt he would get in trouble or that he was shamed but he was out here and he had something he needed to do. He rested plenty already. Removing his hand form thew controls he ran it through his hand.

"Al is something wrong with me?" He was surprised he was actually asking his AI his opinion. He had come to know Al was definitely not a normal AI but the thought was still strange to him.

"Affirmative. Ever since you defeated Leonard Testarossa and rescued Miss Kaname you have been lacking in effort. Your ability with the lambda driver has diminished and you have been acting differently. That last fight with the captain's brother was the last time you activated the 'omni-sphere' and properly manipulated your AS. You're declining ability brings in to question if you can accomplish this mission."

"Is it because I'm not a whispered?"

"I doubt that. I do not understand it myself however. We had complications before until that time in Hong Kong. Even then we failed to defeat Mr. Testarossa that first time. After that you took over in your mission. We did not meet until sometime later. The process for that is uncertain."

"Uh-well that is definitely a situation to consider. I want to..." Suddenly they picked up another signal, but this time it was not an enemy.

"Sir there is a reaction coming from a point deeper in the city. We should go examine it."

"Roger."

Rising, the AS headed in the direction Al had pin-pointed. Whatever it was it was producing a large amount of energy. It was easy to catch sight of what they were looking for. It was huge and despite the sudden appearance people were going on as best they could. He could still see the police forces surrounding it. By the looks of it no one had figured out what it was yet. Flying closer he realized the energy was coming form inside the large beacon that sat in the middle of Tokyo. This had been what all those AS had come to deliver. There were a number of these around the world apparently. Flying closer he had AL examine it.

"Sir apparently the energy is coming from inside. There seems to be a hatch near the top."

Moving up there seemed to be no way to open it. A sudden thought crossed his mind and Sousuke placed his hand out. A small transfer of energy took place and the hatch opened. Looking at the hand a moment Anon then straightened and flew in. Slowing traveling he looked around as he traveled deeper.

"Sir the energy is coming from deeper inside. Also there is trace amounts of energy moving about."

"Roger. Pinpoi..." He didn't have time to finish as a strong wave of energy passed over him and his AS. He was thrown back until the wave passed over him completely and he hit a wall.

"Al what happened?"

"I apologize. With the large amounts of energy I cannot locate each one. I did not realize the energy was moving about. There are shafts and holes we can hide in when they come by."

"Understood. Inform me when one is near." They continued in. As Al instructed him he dodged into crevices and holes when another large wave of energy passed.

"Sir we can take this tunnel and it will bring us closer to the core with less complications."

"Roger." They moved through the dark tunnel steadily. The screen in the cock-pity showed the area perfectly despite the darkness of the tunnel. Occasionally a flash came by as an energy source passed near-by.

"Sir we are approaching a trace amount of energy. It appears to be coming this way."

"Roger." They traveled deeper. Traveling deeper they came across a strange man-shaped machine. It was a mixture of gray colors. The head was sphere shaped and the body was thin. It looked strange but basic.

"Sir that is an unmanned high maneuverability AS. It name is Leopard. Be careful."

"How do you know that?" As he said this the Leopard came at him. It changed it's shape into something like a four-legged spider and slid along the walls towards him. Leaping off it it missed as Anon dodged to the side and destroyed the machine in two slashes."

"Enemy destroyed. More trace amounts of energy heading this way. We should hurry."

"Right." Grunting Sousuke sped down the shaft. "Sir we are approaching the core." Sousuke looked at the map Al had set as they moved closer. By the look of it this would be difficult. More Leopard appeared attacking immediately. Dashing he dodged one then stabbed his arm-blade into it causing it to explode. The next one leapt at him but was stopped by iridescent light. Instead of the expected destruction it merely fell back. Sousuke grunted wondering how it survived. It could not use a lambda driver and that should have destroyed it.

"Sir these machines are also equipped with technology able to block and fight against the lambda driver."

"..."

He looked down pulling his anti/AS pistol he fired upon the attacking unmanned machine until it was incapacitated. 'I need new weapons. This is not enough.'.He though as he grabbed the next energy that lunged at him. The legs and arms clenched his arm then pushed off throwing him back slightly. He fired at it emptying his clip while only hitting one leg and the body. Dashing forward he sliced into it.

"Enemies destroyed. More approaching."

"Roger." The AS moved farther through the tunnel. Finally they reached their goal. Looking down at the complicated structure he wondered what it was meant for. Staying away from anywhere dangerous he approached the large equipment. Some large machine held the energy inside as it flowed and lived. He could see the energy waves it released. It made small vibrations as traces of the release impacted Anon.

"What is it doing?" Sousuke presses some buttons having ti check it.

"Sir you could just ask me."

"It's not a problem." He said as he waited for the scan to complete. Al spoke when it finished.

"Apparently it is an energy reaction that has started recently. The reason is still uncertain."

Moving closer a Leopard appeared and jumped at him. He caught it then tossed it aside throwing it into one of the more concentrated energy releases. It exploded on contact with eh large power.

"Al can we deactivate it?"

"Unknown."

"Destroy it?"

"That would not be wise. It may cause an explosion powerful enough to destroy the city with some much concentrated energy."

Sousuke frowned and shifted annoyed in his seat.

"Sir enemies approaching."

Sousuke sighed. He went to attack when one slammed into him. He tried to throw it off but another grabbed his arm. Then his leg. Soon they were overwhelming him. He flipped his arm-blade out destroying one then stabbed into another. The resulting explosion was small and gave him no help as he tried to pry the rest off. More and more kept coming as he was held down. Soon the few units in the large structure were all gathered into the room. Some watched as their allies held Anon down.

Sousuke clenched his teeth as he tried to force them off.

"Sir energy reaction has increased. Recommended escape of this room." Just as he said this some of the Leopards were tossed off or burned out as the wave of energy washed dover them. While not as effective the vibrations were felt inside Anon.

He went to leave when suddenly all the hatches to the room closed.

"Anon..."

--