There seems to be a whole lot of side stories to this plot. I really wonder what ever happened to the simple Train-turns-dark-and-goes-on-a-killing-spree story that I started out with. It's all gonna tie up together in the end…I swear! What? Don't you trust me?

The Lee Family – Part 2

"Belze, how are negotiations for the private mine?" Sephiria asked, rubbing her temples as she observed the huge stacks of paperwork. Being a Guardian had its perks—especially the nice sparring room and large amounts of insurance money—but paperwork was definitely not one of them.

"Painfully slow. They refuse to show enough trust in us to even give us their family name, fearing that we'd do a background check on them and discover unwanted information."

"They were involved in the Mafia, then?" Sephiria perked up. If they could charge the private owners of the 4th orihalcon mine with mass murder and such, she could make sure that all the riches in the world, except the mine, could not buy them out of prison.

"They are a bit shady, but there's no such confirmation," Number II reported regretfully. "The next anonymous representative will be waiting at the 3rd train station of Rotenburg city."

Number I started. "The isolated city with the mad bomber? Are they crazy?"

"Maybe they want one of our people to 'accidently' be killed. Don't worry though. I'll be going myself, and I'm not taken out so easily."

Sephiria paused thoughtfully. "And getting rid of this killer on the side wouldn't be bad either. Be sure to wring the information out of this one though. I'm counting on you skills, Belze."

"Of course, Commander."

Jiang Zheng shook his head, walking toward the train station. 2 calls in one day! That had to be some kind of record. The second call was delivered from the Sweeper's café, where the old family that had exiled him updated him on some news and announced him as their mediator for a transaction.

My family is dealing with an obscure organization like Chronos with old family inheritance, my son's a part of this organization, and the other one is running around with the Hoshi gang! What has the world come to?

He was old, far too old to understand the minds of youngsters these days. Except for Eve, of course. But she was just strangely more mature than any child, not to mention any adult, of her age. Speaking of whom, had tagged along with him, not wanting to be left alone in the dank building when Kou had gone out to scavenge for food.

Still a kid after all…

Belze leaned against the only wall of the so called 'train station' that was not about to crumble any second from a passing breeze. So this was the famous city of Rotenburg, the center of commerce, trade, and transportation. Pathetic.

And where the hell was this mediator? He scanned the streets, noting every rusty lamppost, every unnatural shadow, and every piece of garbage.

Nothing.

Unnerved, he felt the urge to hide himself from what could be a hidden enemy, and slowly allowed himself to sink into the shadows of the crumbled wall. A dark silhouette suddenly appeared around the block corner. The enemy after all?

His sharp eyes picked out only a grandpa with white streaking through his sleek hair and his granddaughter taking a walk. Innocent and disgustingly cute…just the kind of thing to lower one's guard. Belze narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He could feel no killing intent from these two, but who the hell walks down these streets with a mad bomber running the city? The only people he had seen so far were flickers of shadows within barricaded and deteriorating buildings.

He tensed as the two drew closer, and suddenly disappeared. His speed brought him behind the two in a split second. He watched amusedly as the grandpa moved forward undisturbed, not noticing his presence. His amusement turned into curious interest when the daughter immediately spun around a whirlwind of blond hair and resumed a fighting stance.

So the old man was just a distraction. She's the media---

His thoughts trailed off as his brain registered exactly who the girl was.

Nano machine tool made by Torneo, Eve.

A part of him slapped himself for not recognizing her immediately, or at least realizing her elaborate lace outfit fitted oddly with the threadbare ojiisan.

Eve's surprised face contorted into embarrassment when she realized her hostile reaction to the mere presence of a stranger (Sven's and Train's paranoia was really getting to her) and sheepishly relaxed for a moment. That moment passed very quickly when she observed the shock and hostile aura coming from the stranger, and she immediately reached into her power, inwardly ready to activate the nano machines in the second it battle began. Fighting experience taught her to make no sudden moves and observe the enemy while he was still in shock. She took in his dark coat, his military uniform, his dangerous glaive with a number II carved onto…

Wait…backtrack…this man…the Roman numeral…

"You are a Time Guardian!"

Belze's aristocratic features settled down into one of formal pleasantry. "Yes. I believe we've been introduced Miss Eve; I am Belze, Chronos special organization, Time Guardian II."

As he drawled out the formalities, Belze's mind was flashing faster than Sephiria's sword dance. Why was Eve here of all places? How did she get into the city when it was supposed to be isolated? Where was her guardian, Sven Volfied? And Train…did she know about Train's defection? Was she on the same side as him, and therefore Creed? She would be a dangerous weapon for the Hoshi…

"Ah, you must be our contact," said Lee, finally noticing the tension behind him. His tone took on a cold, businesslike manner, as if he hadn't been chasing down a boy with a shotgun for stealing an apple a week ago. "The credit confirmation, please."

Belze erased all concern for Eve.The business came first, then he could worry about Sephiria's soft spot.As Belze drew out a small, handheld electronic device, proceeding to explain the 6 billion that had just transferred into an anonymous bank, Lee was overcome with a sense of self-disgust. Dealing money transfers with obscure organizations so the traitorous family could sell the mine that had been in their possession for generations was not what he imagined doing when he packed up and moved out of the Lee mansion 20 years ago. Old ties and honor still bound him to his duties as a Lee however.

Family cannot be chosen indeed.

Confirming the transfer, Lee backed away to a formal distance. "We thank you for your generous offer. The transfer will be picked up at midnight global time. Should the money have disappeared, you will find that while we do not like the Hoshi, we will not hesitate in a treaty of neutrality with them with Chronos as a common enemy should you so choose to deceive us," he recited mechanically, word for word, engraved in his memories after numerous dealings like this when he was younger.

"The Lee family would like to now strengthen our tie of friendship. By mentioning our name alone, we show our trust in you. Please be ready with the next transfer at coordinate point 64G1- 92S4-09D8."

Lee made to leave, wanting to flee as soon as possible, but Belze stopped him.

"Wait! Those coordinates are in the middle of the ocean!"

Middle being all three dimensions. Surely they did not expect a transfer using submarines?

"Please be ready with the next transfer at coordinate point 64G1- 92S4-09D8," repeated the man insistently. Belze mentally swore. The man was like an answering machine, and he knew that it would be impossible to coax information out of this one without damaging the 'Lee family friendship'."

Damn it!

Eve, meanwhile, had sat herself on top of the crumbling wall, keeping a distance from trouble, watching the enemy, guarding ojiisan, and keeping her promise to him of staying out of the business at the same time. Sven would be proud.

If only he was here…

Wow…that was a surprisingly long and hard chapter to write. Don't ask me how the hell they're gonna do negotiations in submarines…

Ah…so the Lee family is sorta corrupted. Poor Doctor, Xiao and Jiang all took different paths, but for the same reason; it was just to leave the family to get away from it all…but did they really escape the corruption?