Notes: I don't know if I should mention this...but there's some imagery in this chapter in regard to how some humans might choose to modify the SOLtiS for their own personal sexual gratifiction that may make some people feel queesy. I'm really not a good judge of this sort of thing, so maybe you'll read it and think, 'what are you talking about, that was pretty tame,' but I dunno...

'Huh.' With a scoff, Kitamura, the disgraced ex-employee of Sol Technologies and once upon a time, former boss of Akira Zaizen, stalks forward.

Yusaku has never met the man personally. But as he sees Ryoken level a cool look at him, one that speaks of quiet contempt, he realises that perhaps that may not be true for any of the other people in the room.

'If you want Queen vulnerable, take away others she may have turned to,' Ryoken had said quietly, not half an hour before. 'A woman like that, who attained CEO through networking, would have kept notes on anyone who may have felt abandoned and mistreated by the company that let her go.' His lips had thinned. 'And Kitamura certainly fits the bill.'

And this man, thin as a rake, his scarlet tie sticking out within this dingy little warehouse like an eyesore, certainly irritates Yusaku within the first few minutes of them meeting. Perhaps it's the way his eyes take in every inch of Ai's programmed features, lingering on his lips and the finely rendered lines of his eyelashes. Or maybe it's the way his sweaty hand strokes his chin as though in deep thought, when really, the only thing that gleams in his eyes above is sheer greed.

'Well,' he says, 'your machine's certainly a pretty one, that's for sure. He'd pull in all the girls and lonely housewives. Maybe a few men too.' Amused by this line, Kitamura sniggers.

And Yusaku cannot believe he has sat in a car for thirty-five minutes for this. He watches, pity stirring within him, as a grimace crosses Ai's face. And now another, much more negative emotion flares up inside him as he watches Kitamura grab hold of Ai's chin and force his head from side to side, harshly, with no thought for the joints and motors he's mishandling, as though inspecting him.

But then again, in this place, Ai is nothing more than a commodity.

Dozens of SOLtiS line the walls of this tacky warehouse, vacant looks in their eyes. Some wear fluorescently bright lingerie, some wear nothing at all. Others have malformed limbs, a few are even missing ones, hunks of torn metal waving feebly, almost detached at the places where their shoulders and hips should be. And while Yusaku hasn't intentionally looked at the naked ones, he can see, in the creases between their legs that certain modifications have been made. Slits cut into the body in parody of human genitalia, flaps of makeshift skin sewn into place, and what looks to be a giant flesh-coloured dildos glued on some of the male forms...

If SOL Technologies won't produce a sex-bot, well then. There are seedier establishments who will be more than willing to take up the challenge in their place, using the SOLtiS they have produced so kindly as a template.

All of it makes Yusaku hate this place. Hate this plan. And he hates what Ai must feel, glancing out into this torture chamber and seeing what some of humanity wants to make of the body he is in. Yusaku glances at Ai. And feels a little sick at the smile his partner wears, at the way his eyelashes droop, almost provocatively.

'I'm glad to meet your approval,' he demurs, voice as smooth as honey; and Yusaku feels even sicker. Only he can read the anger buried there, can hear the way the vowels are bitten out like chunks of stale bread. To anyone else Ai might sound sensual, like a slow-moving river. Not to him.

As though to complete the effect, Ai titters out a laugh. 'Though I'm afraid I'm not quite on the market yet,' he adds with a wink.

'As you can see,' Ryoken cuts in, his face completely unreadable. 'We're willing to throw in a downloadable personality. I'm sure plenty of your clients would enjoy having a SOLtiS that can actively engage in the conversation.'

Kitamura's eyes narrow. He bends Ai's head back as though to test it, watching the way the tendons are projected, the way they strain beneath fake skin, despite not really being there. More importantly he watches Ai's face, alert for any sight of rebellion.

'Ahhh,' Ai sighs, clear strain in his voice. 'Please stop...you're hurting me...' he practically whimpers it out and it's not all an act, so Yusaku steps closer, nearer, fighting the urge to shove this guy away. And for one furious moment, he wants to shove away Ryoken too.

Ryoken gives him a quelling look, a damn near glare, and Faust's hand reaches out, to grab him by the shoulder and that makes Yusaku see red. It makes his own hands shoot out in pure reflex, slapping Faust's away – he doesn't want this man touching him. Not when he sat down behind one of Kogami's keyboard, day after day and watched him and five other children suffer again and again.

Kitamura glances up at the sharp sound of skin meeting skin and Ai takes that moment to quickly tug himself away, and step back behind Revolver. 'Easy there!' he laughs, hands running over Ryoken's shoulders and clamping down carefully, as though to hold him out in front of him like a shield. Yusaku watches Ryoken tense at the gesture and feels a stray flicker of satisfaction well up inside him at the sight.

'We all just want to make sure a fair price is struck up for me, that's all,' Ai continues blithely. He removes a hand from one tense shoulder, practically cooing at the man behind Ryoken, eyelashes fluttering. 'My master here, has some matters he wants to discuss with you. And then maaaybe I'll be all yours...'

Ai lets the word trails off flirtatiously and attempts to hook his chin over Ryoken's shoulder at the exact moment Ryoken steps forward out of his reach. Ai stumbles, but then quickly rears up and cups his chin with his hand in a pose of deep thought as though he had always meant to do so in the first place.

Kitamura can't help but watch this performance, a look of startled amusement on his face. 'That's...quite the personality you've put on that thing. It acts damn near human.'

Ai pouts. 'Near?' he questions, stuffing as much grouchy offence as he possibly can within one word.

Kitamura's eyes narrow, unease entering his expression; and no wonder. No other SOLtiS here is capable of expressing what Ai does so freely. So Ryoken takes this moment to firmly step directly into the man's line of sight, as though to block out Ai's body from his eyes. Or at least distract him from it.

'Yes. We worked very hard on it, to make it as realistic as possible. Which is why we want to get a fair price for our hard work.' His lips quirk. 'Which means it's not money that interests us.'

Kitamura frowns. 'Oh? Well, that certainly would make you an unusual seller...'

'We want information,' Ryoken continues brusquely. 'About a certain client of yours; a woman who would have almost certainly paid for your services, upfront, in cash.'

Grimly, Faust steps forward, sliding out a photograph from inside his jacket pocket. He holds it up to the light, bright enough to unveil the vibrant green colour of Queen's hair as she glares down at Kitamura furiously, her shape almost, but not quite lost behind the blur of the people around them.

'Check out the timestamp!' Ai pipes up cheerfully, sliding down beneath Faust's outstretched arm to point at the small white numbers logged into the corner of the frame. 'We nabbed this baby from the footage taken from one of the storefront cameras positioned on an avenue less than a block away.' He smiles. 'Nice gig you've got here; selling the rejected SOLtiS, or at least the ones scrubbed clean of the serial numbers and trackers Sol Technologies likes to stick inside them, the perverts!' He takes another glance at the room around him and then purses his lips upon landing on a SOLtiS whose breasts have been practically unveiled from behind a corset of black netting. 'Well. Okay. Maybe you've left them in the dust in that department.'

'Either way,' Yusaku says grimly. 'It's clear this woman was in the area three months ago. Right around the time she would have been looking to purchase a SOLtiS to help her kidnap a teenage girl.'

The man's face goes deathly pale.

'I am sure,' Ryoken says quietly, 'that you had no way of knowing that she would use the SOLtiS she purchased from you in such a way. Still. I imagine the police would be interested in any information we could give them regarding this.'

The man swallows.

'How many SOLtiS did she purchase from you in total?' Faust rumbles. 'Be honest now.'

'W-wait!' Kitamura practically screams, sweat beading on his brow. He thrusts his arms out as though the gesture can throw their words away, make them disappear. 'You've got it all wrong!'

'What models?'

'I-HEY!' The man's shouts cuts out across the warehouse like a gun-shot. 'Get away from the rest of the merchandise!' he gestures furiously at Ai, who is busy running a careful hand over the finely chiselled features of a young male SOLtiS, eyes glowing faintly.

'Relax, it's not like I'm feeling them up,' Ai murmurs. 'Though I'm sure you have clients who would pay to see that sort of thing.' He steps back, looking pleased when the SOLtiS' eyes follow him. He grins. 'Still. If you're not going to cooperate with us, then what's the point of us playing nice?' He slings a friendly arm round the male SOLtiS, smiling as it relaxes under his touch. 'It's not like we were going to clean you out entirely.' His eyes rest back on Kitamura, a hard glower now present in them. 'But if you're not willing to tell us what sort of security Queen likes to run in her latest hidey-hole, we'll leave all that cleaning out to the police.'

As pale as the man already is, at Ai's words his skin reaches a thoroughly bleached hue.

'What! No!'

Faust drops the photo, stepping forward. Then, with no warning, his hand falls down in a neat chop, heavy and swift towards Kitamura's shoulder.

And that should have been that. It should have been over. But no. For just as his hand grazes the upturned lapel of Kitamura's collar, there is a sudden rush of light and electricity rapidly races its way over the stockier man's form, each crackling spark highlighting the savage grin on Kitamura's face below.

'Ah,' Ai mutters by Yusaku's side. 'Wasn't expecting that.'

Sweat clouding his brow, Kitamura steps to the side as Faust slumps to the floor, the loud smack causing a wet gasp to rattle out from between the scientist's teeth.

And Yusaku stares in surprise at the strange golden glow emitting from the fabric of the suit jacket Kitamura wears as the skinny man smirks. 'Like it?' he asks with a preen. 'It's a prototype your Roboppi friend designed for me.' He taps a finger against the red knot in his tie. 'The motion camera's here, so it can register an oncoming threat.'

Ai grimaces, shooting the fallen Faust a disgruntle look as he seizes Yusaku's wrist and attempts to draw him behind him. Shocked, Yusaku quickly obeys the sharp jerk on his arm with stunned thoughtlessness, eyes widening as six armoured and blank-faced SOLtiS suddenly run in. And every single one of have their metal hands wrapped around the unwelcome sight of a gun.

'This,' Ai says lowly, 'Yusaku-chan, is why I wanted you to wait in the car.'

Kitamura glares at them, as he stamps down hard on Faust's shoulder for good measure. 'She warned me you'd come,' he hisses. He looks wild now, eyes blazing. 'Do you take me for an idiot?'

Ai looks like he's clearly biting back a few choice words that would answer a resounding 'yes' to that question.

Kitamura laughs. 'I think I'll be taking that attractive SOLtiS and the program you've designed for it, all the same though! So sorry we couldn't come to a fair price...'

'He's not just a clever program inhabiting the SOLtiS.' Ryoken's voice cuts through the tense atmosphere and Yusaku glances at him; the other boy's fists are clenched, his face is arranged into practically a snarl, but his voice stays level – or at least as level as it can get, with all the anger flowing through it. 'It seems Queen has kept you out of the loop.'

Kitamura laughs. 'Oh please, you'd say anything to save yourself!'

It's as though he's jinxed himself with those very words; for without warning two small glints twinkle through the darkness. And the next second, they land on the back of Kitamura's neck like tiny silver buttons. Kitamura blinks, hands scrambling round the back of his neck to find the new items perched on his skin; but before his fingers make contact, there's a sharp crack of noise. And now it's Kitamura's turn to experiance an electric shock as it thrusts itself through his body like an arrow and he screams and screams, falling to writhe to the ground.

Smoothly, and with far too much grace, Spectre steps out of the darkness, wearing a look of clear, sharp anger, as he gazes down at the screaming Kitamura with disgust, his hand still locked round the long-range electroshock weapon.

'How dare you besmirch Revolver!' he mutters. 'That cowardly behaviour you describe is what I remember from you, back when you begged me not to turn you into data for the Tower of Hanoi!' His look turns sly. 'How sad! Have you truly forgotten that pleasant event? Here! Perhaps another electrical shock will jog your memory!'

A steady hand lands on Spectre's before he can do much more than raise his weapon again. 'That's enough,' Ryoken says. They stare at each other a moment, before Spectre's grip turns lax, slipping away and out of Ryoken's hold.

Ai takes this oportunity to let go of Yusaku's wrist. And the next second he's kneeling beside Kitamura, cape spread out against the floor as he watches the electricity dance away into nothingness. Ignoring the man's whimpers, he steadily presses his fingers against the sweaty forehead below, his eyes glowing faintly.

'What are you doing?' Ryoken asks sharply.

'Checking for the master password that will allow those SOLtiS to recognise someone else as their master,' Ai murmurs. With his free hand, he snaps his fingers and the armoured SOLtiS, instantly flop to the ground, like puppets with their strings cut, guns spilling out of their hands to clatter against the floor.

Yusaku swallows and tries not to remember another sight, familiar to this one months back, in another warehouse, with yet more SOLtiS scattered across the floor.

Ai lifts his fingers away, rising back to his feet with a grin. 'I do so love wireless transmissions.' Then he pouts at the wary look Ryoken is giving him. 'Oh, come on! I guess I could have hacked them and left Kitamura's mind alone, but that would have taken more time. And I'd rather get those guns pointed at something other than our faces much sooner, thank you!' He shudders. 'Next time you can be the one to flirt with the greasy loser.' He shrugs. 'At any rate I have his passwords now; so we can look at his records and see exactly how many SOLtiS the Queen has guarding her throne.'

He stands up, spins, then abruptly pauses upon realising that Ryoken hasn't stop glaring at him. 'Why, what was gonna happen if you couldn't scare him into talking? Shock him some more? Just be glad I downloaded the building layout and gave it to Spectre before we busted in here!'

Ryoken closes his eyes. He stands up. He passes an assessing gaze round the warehouse, round the SOLtiS and their tattered, or otherwise inconvenient clothing. His gaze even takes in the ones without any sort of fabric covering them at all.

'Don't worry,' he says finally. 'I won't ask you to be bait again.'

More roads to travel down. But not before Ryoken puts a call through to the police, to direct them to the warehouse where they've left Kitamura snoozing within the steady arms of one of the SOLtiS. Ai watches him do it, gaze steely, as Ryoken ignores him entirely, choosing to run careful hands over Faust's back as both he and Spectre helped the man to his feet.

Not Yusaku. He keeps his eyes on Ai, watching the strange, assessing expression cross his face, as he glances round the warehouse one last time.

'What do the police usually do with SOLtiS like these?' Ai asks after a moment. 'Send them back to Sol Technologies?' His gaze lands on one of the ones missing their limbs. 'Or do they get thrown on the junk heap?'

It is this that makes Ryoken meet his eyes. 'Oh?' he asks, gaze narrowing, with steel in his own eyes as he watches Ai as though he were an animal, ready to bolt out of the room. 'Do you care for their fate, Dark Ignis? Does that mean you see them as an equal to yourself? Or to humans?'

Ai makes a face at that, his brow twisting like a coiled snake. 'No. Most of these ones are empty hardware, waiting to filled with software. And some of them...' he passes an uneasy eye over the SOLtiS he had passed his arm round earlier, the one who had relaxed at his touch. 'Well. They're more like animals, waiting for praise. Nothing really human about them.' He purses his mouth, like he wants to say more. Then, with a shake of his head, and a casual wave of his hand, he spins on his heel and stalks his way outside.

Yusaku hurries after him. 'Ai-'

'Zaizen Aoi needs to be found,' Ai cuts in harshly, not so much as looking his way. 'She lives and exists in a way those SOLtiS don't. They only have the potential to be people. And I can't even tell if they have that much of it; there's not enough time to check and see if they've been exposed to my old data, the one that's given some of the others free will.' And with that, he practically tumbles into the car Faust had driven them down in, folding his arms and crossing one leg over the other as he stares out the window in a huff.

There's a click as another car door opens, and Ryoken slides into the front seat in front of him. 'I won't apologise,' he says firmly. 'Not for what happens to them.' His eyes slide over to the driver's mirror, so he can meet Ai's glare reflected inside it. 'But I will apologise for the way Kitamura handled you.' He grimaces. 'I am sorry that he caused you discomfort. Even if it was necessary.'

Spectre, who is halfway into the car at this point, stops to stare at Ryoken in disbelief.

Ai's glares worsens for a single second more and then it fades. 'I don't want your apology,' he spits. 'Not for that!'

He turns away again, and Yusaku, who has made sure to slip into the car before Spectre started to insert himself, reaches over and runs a thumb over Ai's wrist, fingers jostling against the barrier of Ai's crossed arms.

Ai does not uncross them. But his head does slump away the window, and he does attempt to offer Yusaku a tired smile. So that's something.

After that, it's just a matter of following the signal emitted from the tracker Ai placed within the card he gave Aoi. One which leads them to a disused hotel. Cheap and run-down, with its name hanging off a half-torn down sign, Yusaku can't help but stare up at it, this small building with wild flowers growing through the cracks in its stone steps and compare it to the cold, white clinic where the Lost Incident took place inside. This prison – for that is what it is, a prison – feels wilder in comparison.

They could call the police. And perhaps, if it weren't for Roboppi's existence, and for the SOLtiS that presumably litter the insides of this place, they would. For what band of policemen would be prepared to cope with the reality of an AI with free will, who can escape to the nearest network, if things go well – and if they don't perhaps render them comatose?

Sol Technologies and their anti-SOLtiS weapons could do better perhaps. But...

Yusaku glances at Ai. Who is now peering at the doors with a look of intense focus.

No. He doesn't want them involved. Not when they might hold Ai responsible.

'Alright then,' he says. He looks at Ai, who meets his eyes with an unwelcome smirk 'Be careful,' he tells him and feels the very opposite of reassured when Ai's smirk only grows wider in response.

'Heh. What a nice thing to say.' There's a quick whirlwind of black, a combination of Ai's hair and cape flaring and spilling out from his motions as he dives forward to squeeze Yusaku against his chest. It feels more like an attack than an actual hug, and yet for all that, Yusaku doesn't hate it.

'How do you do that?' Ai's voice tickles his ear in a whisper, one low enough for the other humans in the car not to hear, and oh, of course. Of course this hug isn't one of simple affection, of course it's a cover, a shield for Ai to pass along a warning or message- 'I'm bursting with happiness! And all from a few words!' Then his words turn softer, sadder. 'I'm sorry I don't know you better. That I don't remember you the way you deserve to be.'

Those words make a lump rise in Yusaku's throat. They make him form a ring with his arms around Ai's back, make him squeeze back, eyes shut, nose buried in Ai's cloak, a tendril of his partner's hair brushing against his lip. Because oh.

'You know me well enough,' he says right back into the shell of Ai's ear. 'Don't push yourself.'

Ai chuckles. Then Yusaku feels a soft brush of lips against his ear. And then Ai lets him go, pulling back from the press of his arms, so that Yusaku has to let him go in return, has to let him clamber out of the car and stride up that weed-stricken path and-

Wave. At a nearby security camera. And suddenly it is exasperation that fills Yusaku, rather than the strange, strong, watery pull of love from seconds before.

'This isn't a good idea,' Faust says quietly. His hands grip his knees, and he peers back at Yusaku from the corner of his eye. Yusaku ignores him; his eyes are on Ai, watching as he disappears inside, his cape vanishing round behind the reception desk with a quick tug of motion.

'It doesn't matter,' Ryoken says. 'The reality is, that Ai can deliver the shut-down command to the SOLtiS in a way no human can. We have a much better chance of sending him in to disable them all manually. None of us can stand up to an army of SOLtiS without suffering serious injury or worse.'

He has barely finished speaking when there's smash of sound and glass scatters over the tangled lawn like rainfall. And out through the pane of a broken window falls Ai, limbs tangled with another SOLtiS. They land with a thud, a creak of joints that turns mad and frenzied as they scramble against each other across the diamond-like gleam of cracked glass and the now quickly-flattened blades of grass.

'Neither can the Dark Ignis, apparently,' states Spectre, looking strangely amused. 'Not even against a single one.'

Yusaku has already tuned him out: it is instinct and maybe something else that has him wrenching the car door open and stumbling out, half in a run towards the fight. It's stupid and reckless, and he's basically doing exactly what he was so angry at Ai for earlier, when his partner had attempted to shield him from the final blow of the Duel with Roboppi. But he does not stop. He can't. Not even for the sound of Ryoken's voice yelling behind him.

Ai gives a mighty growl, thumps against the other SOLtiS' chest and then Yusaku is there, jamming his foot into the small of the enemy SOLtiS' back, hands tight around the bend of the neck, fingers clamped over the dewdrop of green that announces the LED diamond. He pulls with all his might, causing the SOLtiS to rear up, distracted by the new sensory data flooding its systems.

But it is only for a single second, a second Yusaku is losing against, before the SOLtiS starts to push their head down again. Yusaku strains and strains, despite the rebelling shake of his fingers, and the ache in his arms, despite the leverage of his foot...but it is not enough.

But it is perhaps enough for Ai. For with a snarl, Ai slams his fingers against the SOLtiS' brow, delivering the shut-down command physically, and the next second it slumps over, sending Yusaku to rattle down with it, arms still locked round its throat. He pants, dazed, and Ai glares up at him, trapped beneath both his weight and the now empty shell of the SOLtiS.

'Stupid! So stupid! Why'd you do that!'

Yusaku glares back but still rolls off him, watching as Ai thrusts the limp SOLtiS away with ease. 'For the same reason you interfered with my last Duel,' he says cuttingly, watching as Ai winces at the memory. 'Not many people can sit back and watch someone they care for getting beaten up.'

Ai puffs out his cheeks. 'It took me by surprise! I'd like to see how well you'd do if someone suddenly grabbed you round the waist from out of nowhere!'

'You waved at the camera!' Yusaku hisses. 'Of course they knew you were here!'

Ai rolls his eyes. 'I couldn't cut the connection to the camera from outside wirelessly. And breaking in would have alerted them even quicker!'

And then his eyes widen, staring straight up into the hole he and the SOLtiS created when they fell out of the hotel. With a feeling of dread, Yusaku follows his gaze and sees the tell-tell twinkle of orange and green lights that mark out the LED displays on the bodies of other SOLtiS, their shapes now clustered round the window. They're already moving out of the room and Yusaku and Ai scramble upright; but there's no time to run, not when the automatic doors nearby are already whooshing open.

And then out they come, the steady thump of their feet falling in unison against the path, the grass, as they trample their way outside. Weeds crumple beneath their weight and Yusaku stares at them, at the steady way they move as they approach.

Ryoken has clambered halfway out the car, gaze stricken, frozen; he's not in the Vrains, there's a limit to what he can do in the real world to help them. Faust stares out grimly from behind the car window, hands clenched on the steering wheel, and Yusaku can't see what Spectre's doing; his face is already lost behind both the blur of the glass and the driver's seat.

'I knew it,' Ai says softly. And then bizarrely, he launches into a loud round of applause, clapping his hands together viciously. 'Well done, oh, very well done! I bet it was hard, being a bunch of brainless idiots and tracking us outside!'

The SOLtiS take a step forward in unison, like soldiers in a march. Then another.

Ai tuts. 'What? You won't even offer us the chance of a last request?' He sniffs. 'How lame.'

'You're the one who's lame, Aniki!'

Like water, the SOLtiS scatter, parting for a slightly shorter one of their kind, the familar teal hair swaying to a stop as they turn on their heel. And Yusaku is discomfited to see how they hold themselves now, legs parted but firm, arms crossed and gaze steady; it reminds him of Aoi when she's in her Blue Maiden persona.

Roboppi narrows their eyes. 'This isn't a movie, Aniki! No one's swooping into the rescue!' They jam a thumb against their chest. 'Except me! I'll save you!'

Ai narrows his eyes. 'And the humans I'm with?'

Roboppi grits their teeth. 'No! They don't deserve it!'

Ai closes his eyes. 'Thought so.' He opens his eyes, and the gold within them blazes like an actual torch. 'Which is why I arranged my own rescue.'

There's a screech of breaks, tires squeal, and then three vans pull up, boxing off Faust's car.

Ai smiles thinly. 'Timed that perfectly, didn't I? But then, I have been monitoring the traffic cams around the area for the last fifteen minutes.'

Sol Tech employees spill out into the streets, their familiar grey uniforms causing Yusaku's stomach to curdle. It curdles even more when he sees the familiar Anti-SOLtiS weapons in their hand.

Roboppi shrieks and stamps their foot. 'NO! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS, WHY WOULD YOU INVITE THE MURDERERS WHO KILLED EARTH AND MADE YOU SAD!'

Ai's face twists. It stays that way, as the Sol Tech employees shout, race onto the lawn, vault the gate, jam their weapons into any SOLtiS they can find. Except Ai. They circle him warily, him and Yusaku both, but make no move to take him down. And Ai raises his fingers, curls the bottom three into a makeshift fist so that one remains sticking out, like the nozzle of a gun, straight at Roboppi.

'Gotcha.' Then he smiles, his mouth drawing up into a sly and gleeful crescent. 'Oh, and there won't be any running away into the network either; I delivered a virus to shut it off at the laptop one of you left at the reception.'

Roboppi stares at him, bewildered. And then without warning, they launch themselves at Ai, throwing one Sol Tech employee aside as though they're paper. Ai starts at the horrible crack of noise their body makes as it crumbles against the side of the building, but there's no time to do much more than that, for with their face lost in a mask of rage, blistering ugly, the way it was back when they lost themselves to the Ignis programming months ago, Roboppi seizes Ai's head.

'Here, Aniki,' they hiss. 'A present for you!'

Ai lets out a cry as Roboppi's fingers claw into his hair, and a jolt of something passes between them, some burst of data between those invading hands and his head. Yusaku can tell because Ai falls still for moment, rigid with the shock of it.

'Happy birthday!' Roboppi sings out, the rage now wiped away with beaming smile. Then they pause. 'Wait, when is your birthday, anyway? Do AI like us even get them?'

Ai never gets the chance to reply, for an anti SOLtiS taser promptly thrusts itself into Roboppi's side. It's wielded by a purple-haired man, his face hidden by both sunglasses and the tangled knot of a thick green scarf, and with a grunt of effort, his fingers land on the button, driving the shut-down program into Roboppi, who flinches, then slumps over.

'That,' says the man tightly, the sound of his angry voice a direct match for Blood Shephard's own, 'was for what you did to me and my sister.'

He shifts, lifts the weapon away and then turns his head, so the black glare of his sunglasses is directed at them both. Yusaku has no idea what his expression truly is, hidden away behind both sunglasses and scarf, but given the way his fingers tighten on the taser, squeezing tightly enough for it to creak, perhaps he doesn't need to.

The man steps forward. 'Your turn,' he says with a growl, the rage in his voice a sheer blister of heat, and Yusaku doesn't even have time to raise a protest, to step in front of Ai, to divide him from this man and his hate-

'STOP!'

The volume of it, the shout, stops everyone. And then Zaizen Akira steps out of the van. His eyes are bloodshot but he strides out, determined, towards them, coming to a stop directly in front of Ai. A few wisps of hair escape from his coiled-back fringe, fluttering over his forehead, one that's plastered with sweat. He looks like he hasn't slept for days.

Yusaku's mouth is dry. He wants to say something, anything to stop whatever is happening here.

But then Akira speaks. 'Is she in there?' he asks Ai softly.

'She should be,' Ai replies, his face a careful mask of blankness. 'The tracker I gave her hasn't moved. And they wouldn't separate her from her deck; they need her to keep it.'

Akira's fists clench at the implication. Then he nods.

And Yusaku stares at Ai, remembering the shift of colour of in Ai's eyes earlier in the car, as it flittered, as it calculated. Presumably, for this.

'Ai-' he chokes out. 'Ai, you didn't! You gave them-'

'I gave them access to my tracker, yes,' Ai says clearly, not a trace of apology in his tone. 'When it become clear that our plan was doomed to failure, oh, round about twenty minutes ago. I also sent Mr Zaizen here a nice little encrypted note with it, detailing who was responsible and what we were thinking of doing about it.' His eyes flicker to Yusaku's, then away. 'I alone, was never going to be enough for this, not against a little army of SOLtiS encrypted by Roboppi. And you would have gotten yourself hurt or worse, playing hero again.'

Yusaku is angry. So angry. He reaches out to Ai and grabs his wrists, forcing him to turn, to see him and his anger both.

'You,' he settles on, he seethes, fingers digging into black sleeves. 'You shouldn't have! I'm just trying to keep you safe!'

Why won't you let me, he wants to ask, to howl, even though he already knows the answer. Even without his memories, Ai has grown too attached, too quickly; Yusaku knows this about him, has worried that maybe it would not happen again, in quite the same way, but oh. Of course it has. Ai is Ai, his core programming unchanged.

So angry is he, staring at Ai, who stares back, unapologetic, that he misses most of the event in front of him, of the way Aoi spills out of the hotel, surrounded by guards, directly into her brother's arms. Her hair pushes against his chest in an angry brown bush like the curl of a wounded hedgehog, and her arms, thin and pale, shake around the contours of her brother's suit. And he clutches her tightly, like she's treasure, pure gold, ready to melt away beneath his fingertips.

'I never gave up,' she says fiercely. 'And I knew you wouldn't either!'

Yusaku misses these words; his own hands are full with Ai's wrists as he glares at anyone who comes close. His mind is racing, but he can't think, can't challenge the people here to a Duel, can't do anything but be another helpless human. So he watches numbly as a yellow shock blanket is draped over Aoi's thin shoulders, as she trembles beneath it, her brother watching her breathing out one unsteady breath at a time. And then Zaizen Akira lets out one of his own, as though in sympathy, in a plume of air that does nothing to deflate him as she enters the ambulance.

He is frozen only for a moment, a poignant statue against the scene, and then he pulls himself together to stride over to him and Ai.

'Fujiki,' Akira pushes out to him, lavender eyes earnest and bright, an excited fever to them; they're so alive now that his sister is here. 'Thank you.' He pauses, taking note of the way Yusaku's hands are clenched, tight and white against the contours of Ai's wrists. He blinks, looks round again, and suddenly seems to realise both of them are stuck inside a circle of his own employees, each holding a sparking weapon. He holds up a hand with a firm glare, and they lower them.

'I promise you,' he continues more carefully. 'We won't hurt Ai. Not after he helped us find Aoi. We won't take him away. But Queen and maybe others will try; so really, I think you would be safer if you came with us for the moment.'

Yusaku has feared this moment, has feared it because as honourable as Akira is, he doesn't know if he could forgive Ai's threat on his life back when Ai attacked Queen. But from the corner of his eye he sees a slight smirk develop on Ai's face, one that speaks of satisfaction and Yusaku wonders, dimly, if Ai counted on this, on Akira's gratefulness, if he gambled in a way an AI shouldn't; if he chose to base his calculations on something as illogical as human emotion.

He squeezes Ai's wrists again. And then, after a moment, lets go.

Akira nods. 'Thank you.'

There's a series of gasps and Akira twirls round, eyes alert. Someone lets out a slight scream, hands fluttering over their mouth and nearby Hayami mirrors the gesture, horror in her gaze.

Two of the ambulance workers come out, eyes grim, a stretcher forming a bridge between them. A white towel lies over the face of the person on board, something which signifies that the person, perfectly manicured hands lying still and heavy at their sides, is in fact no longer a person at all, but a corpse.

Yusaku swallows, noting the blue-green trickle of the hair as it escape past the towel.

'That's Queen,' he says softly, and stares down at Roboppi's silent form, where they lie crumpled, crushing the grass.

Oh Roboppi, he thinks. Just what have you done?

Picture this: Sol Technologies, a mighty fortress of concrete and shadow-stained glass, a tower that stretches to the sky. And inside, within a small room, a cell of white, sits Ai, legs spread against the cushioned floor, with Yusaku's head lodged on his lap, once again. His poor partner is exhausted, dead to the world. He hadn't wanted to be, but no human can fight off their brain's need for unconsciousness, not forever.

Even then he had refused Zaizen Akira's offer of a hotel room, of an actual bed.

'If you lock him up, then lock me up too.'

But there had been fear in his eyes, a slight widening to their shape as he looked round the walls, these empty walls of white, and saw an echo of the room he was trapped inside when he had been a child of six.

'Go,' Ai had told him. 'I can easily escape if I need to~'

But all that had won from him was a glare and a stiff, sharp downward turn of Yusaku's mouth.

This memory is enough to make Ai smile to himself, to make him continue carding his fingers through his partner's hair. 'Sweet dreams, Yusaku-chan,' he whispers.

And then with an impish grin he tilts Yusaku's head off his thigh. Lowers it gently to the floor. Then he stands. Directs his face to the camera he knows is there, the same way a human can sense eyes on their back, with just the slight stir of hair, and a stray prickle of ice on the back of their neck.

'I'm asking your permission first, just to be nice,' Ai says clearly, a dangerous grin on his face. 'But if I don't get it, I'll break out of here, anyway.' He narrows his eyes. 'I want you to take me to the place where you murdered the Earth Ignis.'

And then the grin drops from his face entirely.

Notes: Ai may not listen to everything Roboppi says, but if Roboppi happens to mention that one of his own kind was murdered by the company he's now inside...weeeelll. Of course Ai's going to be nosy, right?