Chapter 3
"M-21? What I need here is a five-wire cable."
M-21 muttered in response, biting the bar, and rummaging around in one of the crates until he found a suitable cable he could throw to Tao. Beside him, Takeo sipped his bottle absentmindedly; he was still inattentive, and often lost in his own thoughts when he was with them. In the initial days following the revelation of Dr. Aris, his face showed the embittered expression that M-21 knew too well, but it passed with time. Now, he turned more often to M-21, asking him questions about his time as an experiment, or his comrades.
Depending on how good a mood M-21 was in, he replied. If he did not, neither Tao nor Takeo minded, for which M-21 was grateful. In return, the two also told him about their own lives. He listened without comments, but inwardly sympathized with their predicaments.
"Do not you want to eat something Tao?" Takeo asked.
"Already on it," replied the hacker, and just then M-21 saw his black cable wrapping around a packed bar, trying to make a hasty retreat. M-21 could not resist and grabbed the cable before it could disappear from the table.
"Can't you come at the table Tao," complained Takeo, as M-21 continued his hunt, now engaged in an amusing battle of tug with the sentient cable.
"You're both game spoilers," Tao scolded from his corner, as the cable curled like a snake around his hand, groping, first his fingers, then his whole arm. He slouched down the rest of the bar, licking the crumb from the corner of his mouth absently, and watched attentively as Tao's cable advanced to his shoulder, his collar bone, slithering, slimming and pressing.
Shortly before his chest it was too much for M-21, and he pulled the cable back. "I appreciate your attention Tao, but should we not go on a date before?" He spoke to its owner, who was sitting somewhere behind a horde of boxes. The cable was furiously retaliating in M-21's hold, wiggling and snapping his nose. Then Tao rose from his hiding place, and came over to them, thankfully calming the cable down.
"What was that?" Takeo asked Tao with mild amusement, and moved a little to the side to make room for the hacker.
"Uh, I'm not sure." Tao sat on the table and grabbed the bar he had previously tried to steal. "Say M-21, can it be that you have grown?"
"Huh?" M-21 squinted and stretched out his arm, but Takeo's clothes seemed to be sitting well, even if they were a little too big. He noticed that he had gained weight, the bones were less marked under his skin. His skin color was generally healthier too. Takeo and Tao had provided him with nutritious food, even if these undefinable, compressed bars were hard to describe as food. But grown?
"I'm sure you've grown. Of course, not much, at most a few millimeters," Tao nibbled untiringly at his bar, and twisted his face in disgusted. "Urgh, how do you get these things down so fast M-21?"
"By not chewing on them." M-21 replied, clenching his fist thoughtfully. Tao groaned and dropped back on the table. He had a better eye for detail than M-21 would probably ever have, which was why he was the tactician of the DA5 despite his low combat power. If he believed that M-21 had grown, there was no doubt about it. An uneasy feeling spread in his chest.
"M-21?" Takeo leaned closer to him. "Is something wrong?"
M-21 looked up, but hesitated with the answer. He had already told the two of them about his time as an experimental material, but not everything. At the moment however, they were dependent on each other. Moments like these, when they sat relaxed, talking about unconcerned things, and trying to eat this disgusting stuff were rare because of the consistent presence of Krantz or other DA-5 members.
This could be the only opportunity to talk to the two about it, and yet there was something reluctant in him. He had been on his own for so long that he had almost forgotten how to talk to someone without letting his guard up. However, Tao and Takeo had been protecting him from the other members of the DA-5 as well as they could. Something only his comrades had done for him, something they were not obliged to do. He was grateful for that, and if he was to conceal this one thing now, it could put them all in danger.
M-21 lifted his hand, and held it against the dim light of the neon lamps, his fingers itched as the nails sharpened and lenghtened in a smooth zap. Next to him, Tao yelped in surprise and fell down from the table, Takeo was probably too surprised to catch the hacker in time. From the ground, Tao stared at him, mouth closing and opening like a fish gasping for air.
"Close your mouth Tao." snapped M-21 as he stared fixated at his own transformation. Tao made a strangled noise, which sounded between a laughter and an outraged cry and rose again. Beside him, Takeo sighed after having been holding his breath due to sheer surprise.
"Say M," Tao sat down slowly again in his place, his fascinated look directed at M-21's hand, "Is there anything else we should know?"
M-21 lowered his hand, his face a single an expressionless mask, though his insides were twisting in unease. He resisted the urge to hide his hand, after all, he had decided to show it to the two.
"I never thought that a lower agent of the Union could have transformation abilities," murmured the Sniper thoughtfully. "Please do not misunderstand …" He hastened to clarify.
"I should not," replied M-21, his lips mocking, "The Union knows nothing about it. Only you and I," and M-24 knew about it before he died, but he kept that to himself.
"Oh," Tao ran a hand through his short hair and stood up again, although he had just sat down. "Ah damn …" Takeo and M-21 were silent as they watched Tao walk round and around the room. "How long already, M-21?"
"After the experiments ended, I use to swallow pills made to keep my body from breaking apart," he let go of his transformation, and felt the nails pull back in, "But I no longer require them."
"This is good news, it means that your body has stabilized." Takeo smirked, "I am also aware that it is a problem for you if the Union ever finds out that a bait is developing independently …"
"You'd be grabbed and put into a lab again," Tao finished the sentence and looked at his partner meaningfully, "That's why you responded strangely when I said you've grown. You can conceal your transformation skills."
"But this is the end when I'll change even more." M-21 leaned forward and nervously kneaded his fingers, "And it has already happened."
"It was only a few millimeters, no one else will notice M-21."
"That's not it," M-21 clenched his hands as fear spread through him, "My transformation has been changing," he whispered, staring down at his fingers.
"Are you sure?"
M-21 did not bother answering. He was sure, although he had not used his transformation for half an eternity, he was absolutely certain. A quiet beep interrupted the tense silence. Tao reached for his mini computer and opened it.
"Krantz wants to see us," muttered the hacker and shut his computer back. The two were standing up, "Don't worry M-21, we'll find a way to hide it." Tao showed him a thumbs up before leaving Takeo's room and closing the door behind him.
M-21 crunched his teeth, and held his head between his hands after the two had disappeared. The problem was not the hiding, he had managed to hide his transformation for years, and he could continue with a little bit luck. The problem was that his body was mutating further.
M-21 clasped his hand and let his nails grow again to be sure, but the result did not change. They were still black but shorter than what he had in mind and that was what scared him most. He could already feel the strange tingling in rest of his hand as if something was yearning to grow there too. He had no way to figure out what the hell these bastards of the Union had done with him, and he had no way to stop it.
-.-.-.-
It took a long time for Tao and Takeo to return. M-21 recognized them by their steps before they opened the door. He dragged his eyelids up and turned his head, still slightly sleepy from the little nap he had allowed himself on Takeo's bed after having tried his transformation to exhaustion, and barely able to stand. But no matter how often he tried, his nails kept their new look, and M-21 had the unsettling feeling that these transformations had only accelerated the change process.
In the end, he had just given up, M21 bitterly recollected and watched as Tao and Takeo entered with a loaded crate. Takeo closed the door with a kick, somewhat stronger than required. M-21 lifted an eyebrow as he met the long-haired man's gaze, then let his eyes sweep over Tao too who was unloading his crate. The hacker had the same grim-determined look as his comrade.
"Normally I always look like this," M-21 opened the conversation without hesitation, and sat up. His muscles trembled though, so he remained sitting in the bed rather than clear the way. The two other men did not answer until they had drawn two chairs near the bed, and made themselves comfortable.
"How are you?" Tao wanted to know first. Of course, he did not miss that M-21 didn't make any move to get up from the bed, and it was unusual for the gray-haired to lie down at a time like this anyway, M-21 knew and snorted.
"I'm a bit tired," on Tao's drilling look, he added, "Because of the transformation"
"Ah?"
"Where were you?" M-21 quickly opted to divert attention from himself. He was in no mood to answer any question about his transformation. To be honest, he really did not even want to think about it.
"We had a meeting with the Union Elders," Tao replied, "They're going to throw the whole shop." He crossed his arms in front of his chest.
The Elders? M-21 blinked. He knew that DA-5 was one of better ranked teams, but to be able to meet the revered Elders in person?… M-21 was reminded again that Tao and Takeo were an unusual duo to be treating a bait like him as an equal.
"…And what did they want from the DA-5?" M-21 asked, half-curious and half to attempt to push the sudden feeling of inadequacy down.
"Actually, they just wanted something from Tao, he enjoys an excellent reputation within the Union," Takeo smiled cynically. "This opens all doors for him, because apparently the Union can afford a bunch of scientists to create living weapons, but not a few good IT experts."
M-21 looked on expressionlessly, but his insides were giving him an alert signal. Somehow the two were behaving different than usual, the expression in their eyes did not please him. He himself knew this expression from every time he looked in a mirror. It was his.
"The DA-5 has received the order to set up a server center here."
"A server center," repeated M-21 thoughtfully, "This explains the effort of the last few weeks," he grunted and looked around the room, which was completely wired and secured by the three, "What for?"
"Ah!" Tao hopped up and down his chair. "This is an interesting question!" he put his fingertips together infront of his face, and leaned his elbows on the table for the dramatic announcement, "The Union aims to connect all the facilities and labs through a network, one server center where the entire communication and data obtained will run to each other!".
"…"
"Come on, M! Are not you aware of what that means? If a server center is built here, then all the data of the Union will be here! Locations, plans, organization, experiments, all the information will be running together!" Tao had to stop and take a deep breath.
M-21 shook his head, "Why now? After all, the Union has been around for years and they never set up a server center before? What is the catch?" He looked at the hacker seriously.
"I'm not sure, but from what I've noticed, the Noblesse have caused a lot of problems lately. The Union seemingly lost at some points, so they are now trying to secure their data better."
Tao began to roll around his chair in excitement as he continued, "The catch is that Elders can not tolerate each other. This is probably the reason why they do not have a single server center. Although they are some kind of government, they are totally suspicious of each other, you just had to be there at the meeting to see!" He had started biting his nails too, totally in his own zone, thoughts spinning at the speed of chair in his brain, "Dae wer thootly feerful dat da otherss wud stheel smethin!" He managed through the fingers in his mouth.
"But why give the order to the DA-5 then?
"Magorthi dcdon oph da Elthders…" Tao had zoomed out completely by the end of the sentence, his thoughts farther than what M-21 could ever hope to go, and the Sniper mercifully took over the rest of the explanation, "But in the end, this only means that Tao would build a server center. It does not mean that all the Elders will have access to it. So far he has the data of only four of the Union Elders."
No one said anything after that, they all hung to their own thoughts. Now M-21 understood why Tao and Takeo behaved like this. And he was no fool, he also knew why they had divulged this highly confidential information to him.
This was a unique opportunity, and a dangerous one. The Union would take a huge blow even if only a fraction of the four Elder's data was damaged or let out in any way. And just to imagine what they could do if they had access to any plan, any experiment, any kind of information?
M-21 trembled with excitement, under such circumstances, it was not be inconceivable to access Dr. Crombel's data. He could find out what this miserable bastard did with him. He could get the names of his comrades, and his own!
However, it would also mean his death. M-21 could not imagine to be able to keep such an obvious secret if everyone was clear where the information had to come from. What this again meant was that even Tao and Takeo would die if they really intended to participate in his plans. Presumably the entire DA-5 would be punished whether they had something to do with a possible betrayal or not.
"You do not have to do that for me." murmured M-21 unwillingly. He wanted to kick the Union as hard as possible in the ass, but that would bring harm to the two who had covered him?
"What about you?" Takeo crossed his arms, there was a hint of cynicism in his voice. "Are you the only one allowed to stand in the way of the Union?"
M-21 closed his eyes briefly, "I wouldn't lose, I have nothing to lose, but you? Even if I go through it alone you guys …" He wanted to say more, but even as he struggled, nothing came to his lips.
Who was he to prescribe these two how they need to deal with this?
He knew about Takeo's bitterness, who had only obeyed the often cruel commands of the Union because he thought he had to protect a sister. A sister who was never real.
Tao obeyed because he knew there was nothing else he could do, he knew he would be killed or at the very least deprived of his memory if he did not. What kind of person would he be afterwards? Same as before? Or someone like Shark who loved killing? Tao chose his current way to get the chance to do something. A chance that was now offered to him on a silver platter.
"But we will." Takeo spoke his thoughts out loud "It's finally like you said, right? The worst thing that could happen is that we will die."
"…"
M-21 took a deep breath and looked the two in the eyes, "Where do we start?"
"I'd say we start to build the first server, look at the data unobtrusively, and think about what to do with it accordingly." Tao had stood up, stretched his shoulders, and started to clear the first crate. "Except M-21, you'll lie and eat something else. You look like you might need it."
"I'm ok," M-21 said, and shrugged in surprise as Takeo pressed him into the pillow.
"You're lying, no excuse," the sharp blue eyes judged him earnestly. "Seriously M-21, you do not look so good."
"You don't say," mocked M-21, unable to react differently to the unfamiliar ministration. He'd like to help, even if only to divert himself from his inner unrest and the traitorous pull in his heart.
"You also belong practically to me from today," Tao suddenly quipped up.
"Huh?"
Tao laughed and scratched his cheek nervously, "You know when we talked to Elders about the planning? I came with an idea and casually mentioned how useful of an aid you've been."
"How charming" M-21 gibed and looked tense at the hacker, "And?"
" agreed and…"
"H…Hey Tao," Takeo moved to interrupt his babbling comrade.
"You're my property now M!" Tao finished, quiet proud of himself.
"…"
"…"
"Did I say something wrong?"
As Takeo moved to lecture his oblivious comrade, M-21 closed his eyes with a sigh. He didn't particularly mind Tao's words, he was use to being treated as a thing, not that Tao meant anything condescending by it. He also recognized instantly why Tao had asked for his transfer. Now that he was Tao's, no one else could use him without his permission, not even the scientists, for the time being atleast. One less worry.
But he was still lightheaded, and everything Tao and Takeo had told him circled furiously round his head before he fell asleep. How could they force the Union to link the remaining Elders data to inflict maximum damage, and speed up things before anyone else got involved in the project?
Just before he fell asleep, he had an idea how he could achieve this. A rather crazy idea.
-.-.-.-
Had he not thought a few hours ago that this was a crazy idea? Shit, he was absolutely insane! There was no guarantee that this bizarre plan would work. He was going only by one clue, nothing else. Not to mention, he had crept out of the camp without anyone noticing. He was expecting a violent beating, at the minimum, when he came back … if he came back.
M-21 had dark expressions as he paved his way through the undergrowth. An untamed part of him enjoyed breathing the fresh air and feeling the springy forest floor again after so long. Were his taste and smell always this good? He suppressed an excited shudder and accelerated his pace. Soon the forest became lighter and the trees grew smaller until he could only see the scrubs that covered the ruined buildings, and the clefts and caves filled with water. His destination was close, and finally he stepped out onto the open space where he had been a few weeks ago.
The bodies of the two hunters were gone, probably already in the Union incinerator. The only sign of any violent struggle in the area was the solid blade that he himself had inserted in to the ground. M-21 bent and freed the blade. The steel was dirty, but showed no signs of rust or wear. He looked on for a few seconds, then dropped it carelessly back and started scouting around the area. But there was no trace of anything remotely useful anymore.
The building he had used as a hiding-place for the children was now completely collapsed, except for a retaining wall and a part of the roof. He entered it, evading the steel door that was on the floor, and again failed to find something worthwhile. Tired, he leaned against the wall with a sigh. What now? It was clear that after this building, there were no more places to look here. Of course, he could still go on, cross the invisible border to search for the Noblesse across the world, but that promised to be even more unsuccessful than his current endeavor.
As soon as he would be far enough, the Union would handle him as a traitor, and they only needed to push a button to eliminate him. He did not know exactly how, but had already seen it with some infected … In addition, it was more than likely that the Noblesse would kill him before he could even speak. What was he going to tell them? "Ah, nice day, isn't it? Could you please attack the Union here, and there so they are scared enough for us to carry out our plans? Yes? Thank you!" That would surely strike like a bomb…
M-21 sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Not that the real plan for which he came here was any better. The chance to meet those children was never great anyway. Still after all his efforts, he could not even find a single clue… In retrospect, he should have thought about this more thoroughly.
As he opened his eyes and mentally readied himself for the disastrous Plan B, he heard a soft sound close by, and a cool voice spoke behind him. "I've been waiting for you."
Note: Team is up! We used to have M-21 as: "I-make-you-headbangs", than there is Tao as: "Totally-unsensible-but-intelligent" and the last on Takeo as: I-am-so-fluffy-like-a-pillow" xD No promise when the next chapter will come but it will not take so much time since my exam are over.
Thanks you like always pandora-twists! And yes I will say this in each new chapter because you are so a creat help!
PS: Tao's funny behavior and much more came from her!