Disclaimer: I don't own Elfen Lied.
The Kaede Inn residents have no idea that the war is still waged on them. However, Kakuzawa is determined to capture Nana, and use her as the new Eve of the diclonius race. That is, after he's done convincing his new superweapon to obey his plan.
A Hesitant Superweapon
Arakawa walked down the long hallway, heading towards number six's experimental chamber. Checking the time, she saw that it was about an hour to midnight. Due to the way things were going, she was becoming increasingly tired and mentally numb. Nevertheless, the high paying salary and her next shower were the only motivations that kept her going. Then her own family crossed her mind.
"Mom and Dad", Arakawa whispered to herself. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"
It has been about a couple of years since she had seen them in person. Her position at the facility kept her relatively busy even around holidays, but that wasn't the reason. Arakawa recalled the day when she failed to get into medical school. It was the day when it all fell apart. It was the day when she had lost every bit of her family's support and approval. She was now alone. Fortunately for her, she managed to get accepted the next year. Unfortunately though, Arakawa was too shaken by her past failure and refused to reestablish contact with her family. Then another thought crossed the Arakawa's mind.
"What about all of these silpelits?" she asked herself. "What about their families? Then again, they don't feel any guilt, do they?"
Arakawa was so busy recollecting her past that she nearly missed number six's room. Then her eye caught an adjacent experimental chamber: Nana's room.
"And what about her?" she thought. "I don't know if what I heard was true, but does she really have a family now, even with Kurama gone?"
Arakawa stopped reminiscing and turned to enter silpelit six's room. The glass view revealed a young silpelit boy that looked around fourteen. It was number six himself, informally named by Arakawa as Roku. Like the other silpelits, he was chained to the wall, naked, and slightly bloodstained. Roku was fast asleep in the corner of his experimental chamber.
"What is the status of the subject?" she asked the supervising scientist.
"Healthy and docile, as usual", the scientist reported. "He's currently asleep right now".
"I'm curious", Arakawa stated. "Do you know the details of how Roku acquired that gender and characteristics?"
"Do you name all the diclonii that you study?" chuckled the scientist. "Or is it just a memory aid?"
"Just answer the question", Arakawa irritably said.
"Well ma'am, the probability that those born with the vector virus will turn out female is about 98 percent. This silpelit happened to land on the other two percent. For some unknown reason, the virus has a "preference" for selecting the X chromosome over the Y. There are other characteristics, like docility, that can genetically occur with a very low probability. This silpelit also has the remarkable ability to track down other silpelits over extremely large distance. Other diclonii can do this, but are limited by short range. To top off the advantages, he possesses a "stealth" ability, enabling him to stay telepathically undetected by other diclonii. Unfortunately, there is a fine print to all this. Aside from sterility, number six has only one vector, and it only has an effective range of 1.5 meters. I wouldn't say that he's of the battle-ready quality. However, take a word of caution. His vector is capable of infecting necrotic cells, to say nothing more of dead bodies. Number six's vector has a "regenerative version" of the virus."
"Does that mean that he can bring the dead back to life?" Arakawa asked.
"A different life", the scientist corrected. "Once reanimated, the corpses are mentally connected to silpelit six. We're not sure yet, but it seems possible that he can command these bodies at will. It's also a possibility that these bodies can be immune to any other vector attack other than his. It could be his advantage in combat against other silpelits."
"So he's a super radar, a stealth diclonius, and the overlord of a zombie army?" Arakawa summarized.
"Yes ma'am", replied the scientist.
"I need access to his chamber", Arakawa requested. "Kakuzawa's orders".
The scientist turned around and took a submachine gun out of a nearby weapons locker.
"Here", he offered. "It's basic safety procedures".
Arakawa shook her head and pushed away the firearm.
"It's not necessary", she said. "I've seen him many times and I have his trust".
"Very well ma'am, just don't forget what happened to poor Saito and her 'trust' in Mariko".
Without further delay, the scientist used the chamber controls to open the door. Arakawa stepped in and approached the resting silpelit. Roku was a light sleeper and immediately stirred upon hearing Arakawa's footsteps.
"Roku?" Arakawa called.
Roku sat up and opened his eyes after a few seconds.
"Oh, Ms. Arakawa", he politely greeted. "Is there something wrong?"
"I need to ask a favor of you".
"What kind of favor?"
Arakawa spent the next few minutes explaining a simplified version of Kakuzawa's overzealous plan. Roku's facial expression gave away his fear and disapproval after hearing the plan.
"Capture?" he innocently asked. "But…but…I can't do that…especially against Nana".
"I don't think you're in the position to make decisions", Kakuzawa stated.
Arakawa spun around and saw her superior standing behind her. A man with a rifle accompanied him.
"Do you know what this is?" Kakuzawa asked.
"No", Roku answered.
"It's a high-powered anti-tank rifle", Kakuzawa added. "If you refuse to comply, you will be terminated".
"It's not that I can't do it", Roku reasoned, "its just that I feel like I shouldn't do that to Nana. Not after all she's gone through".
Immediately, the rifleman fired his weapon at Roku's shoulder. The said silpelit attempted to block the round, but was still grazed.
"AAARGH!" he cried out in pain as he clutched his bleeding shoulder.
Kakuzawa stepped closer to him.
"The choice is yours, number six: stick to your unguided morality and die, or a chance to stay alive", Kakuzawa threatened.
The rifleman cocked his firearm and pointed it at the silpelit's head. Roku stared down the menacing barrel and lowered his head in defeat.
"Yes sir", he obeyed.
"Good".
Arakawa could do nothing but look helplessly at Roku's predicament.
The next afternoon at a local Kamakura bakery…
"Dammit!" Bando yelled as he pounded his fist against the counter. "Don't you have anything else other than this cursed melon bread? I'd rather wipe my ass with a bundle of this crap!"
The frightened storeowner turned pale and backed away before making coming up with a last minute offer.
"We…we…have sata andagi", the storeowner stuttered.
"What's that?"
"Oh, it's an Okinawan donut".
Bando sighed and reached into his wallet.
"Fine, it'll do", he resigned. "How much?"
"100 yen".
Bando soon received a fried donut, fresh from the fryer.
"Oh be careful sir!" the storeowner answered. "It's-"
His warning was too late as Bando took a large mouthful out of the steaming sata andagi.
"-hot", the storeowner paused.
A moment later, Bando clutched his mouth and staggered in pain.
"AAARGH!" he screamed. "Hot, hot, hot! Water! Water, dammit!"
Bando got to a nearby sink and doused his entire mouth with water. After recovering, he turned to face the now terrified storeowner.
"I hope your store spontaneously explodes!" Bando yelled as he stormed out the door.
Meandering along the sidewalk, Bando took another bite out of his donut. Then he looked up in the general direction of the Kaede Inn.
"At least those kids have something to do", he muttered.
On another Kamakuran road…
Lucy drove Mayu and Nana home from another exhausting day at school. She, too, was tired from her day at the university. The studies in themselves were manageable. However, the stress of having to make sure that her horns were hidden and that Nyuu stayed asleep added a new meaning to the word "tired".
"Algebra is so hard", Nana complained. "How is it possible to solve for an x? Even I know that x isn't a number".
"Haha, no Nana", Mayu said. "In this case, you just have to make sure that only x remains on one side of the equation".
"So what's the point of this homework? There aren't even any problems that have an x on both sides of the equation!"
Mayu stifled her chuckles at Nana's cute sense of ignorance. Soon, she caught a glimpse of Lucy's pensive, yet drained look.
"Are you tired Lucy?" Mayu asked.
Lucy glanced at Mayu before turning her attention back to the road.
"Obviously", she muttered. "You?"
"Yeah", Mayu responded. "Nana is cracking me up, right Nana?"
One glance behind her showed that Nana had already dozed off.
"If you're tired Lucy, why not let me have a go at the wheel?" Mayu asked. "It must be fun to drive!"
"No", Lucy answered. "I believe you're too young. Besides, driving isn't as relaxing when it's done under a fake license".
"Nani?"
"Look in my handbag", Lucy said.
Mayu looked into the bag and pulled out the license from Lucy's wallet.
"Kouta went through a lot of trouble just to get me one", Lucy clarified. "Damn horns. Damn photo identification".
"It says here that your name is Kaede", Mayu noted. "Did you choose that name?"
"No", Lucy answered. "There's a story behind that name, but now is not the-"
Suddenly, Lucy's eyes constricted and her breathing quickened.
"Another one!?" she fearfully whispered.
Lucy floored the pedal and sent the car speeding at double the limit.
"What is it!?" Mayu yelled over the screeching tires.
Lucy offered no response and kept speeding before taking cover into an alleyway. She scanned her surroundings before turning off the engine.
"Lucy, what the hell is wrong!?" Mayu asked in a shocked manner.
Lucy turned to face Mayu. Her frenzied look was still present.
"Another silpelit", she answered. "I feel it. No, it's a he…this silpelit has different objective…he's been ordered to capture Nana. But why?"
"But if there are more of your kind out there, why isn't Nana also panicking?" Mayu asked.
The two girls looked behind them. Nana was soundly asleep.
"You're right", Lucy said. "Maybe it's just me".
"Maybe you're just a bit shaken", Mayu assumed. "It's easy to get paranoid after surviving an ordeal like yours. You'll be okay. Can you still drive?"
"Yeah".
Lucy started up the engine and headed for the inn. Something in her gut told her that Mayu's assumption may not be right.
Indeed Lucy's gut feeling is right, but you'll find out how in the next chapter: Reaction.