Deep within the laboratories of the diclonius research facility Chief of Research Arakawa was watching intently as the computer monitors of her assistants displayed their work. Ever since that first batch of diclonius had so many miscarriages over six years ago she had become obsessed with finding out a reason. Director Kakuzawa had told her to drop the issue; diclonius too weak to survive to term were not his concern. But Arakawa could not let this puzzle go unsolved. Within the last few months the research facility had made wondrous advances in artificial wombs that would finally allow her to study these faulty embryos that seemed to die off so rapidly when they were fertilized by a father who had not been exposed to Pandora's Box.
Arakawa currently had two of these little projects running. The other was having a few of her assistants doing the rather tedious job of sorting out sperm from an infected donor. No male diclonius had been produced yet and Director Kakuzawa was growing very impatient. He was insistent that they sort all of the Y-chromosome sperm from the X- chromosome sperm from at least three donors in order to get a percentage of just how many kings a man infected by Pandora's Box should be able to produce. The results had come back less than a week ago, but Arakawa needed to know what was causing the miscarriages before she presented her findings to the Director. She knew that the two problems of miscarriage and no males being produced had to be linked somehow.
"Chief Arakawa, I think you need to take a look at this!" one of the lab techs called across the room.
Arakawa strolled across the lab and looked over the tech's shoulder. "What have you found?"
"We were starting to notice some anomalies in the fetuses that were produced from confirmed Y-chromo sperm. As you are probably already aware, all vertebrate embryos start out gender neutral. With humans we begin to develop into either male or female at around four months of age in the womb."
"Yes, most people are aware of this fact," said Arakawa coolly. "But please, what is it you needed to me to see?"
The lab tech brought up a video recording of a developing fetus. "We have been monitoring changes that occur as the Y chromosome begins to shape the fetus internally. One of the things we watch is white blood cell count. Look at this."
Arakawa watched as the white blood cells in a sample taken from the fetus began attacking healthy red blood cells as well as the surrounding tissue. "Are all the fetuses like this?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"No ma'am, only the developing males are showing this kind of problem."
"Then my worst fears have been confirmed," said Arakawa, suddenly turning very white. "Burn a copy of this onto a hard disk. The director has to see this now!"
Arakawa waited several tense minutes as the video results were transferred to a compact disk. Once she had the hard copy in her hand Arakawa took off at a full run to Director Kakuzawa's office.
…
Director Kakuzawa was reading an annual report from one of his overseas agents. When the next batch of diclonius queens had been produced he had immediately begun distributing them worldwide to parents willing to adopt 'special needs children'. However, he kept a very close eye on his queens and demanded monthly reports on their general health as well as their social skills and development of their vectors. The first batch was approaching six years old and a few had already begun to display their vectors. Soon these queens that were seeded around the world would take command of the hive mind and lead the massive armies of silpelits to rise against their inferior human predecessors.
Kakuzawa looked up from his report in annoyance as Arakawa burst into his office and rushed to his desk carrying a disk. She was breathing rapidly and looked to be in a state of distress. "Director," she puffed, "we have…a serious…problem!"
Normally Director Kakuzawa would have had Arakawa removed to her chambers, but there was a level of panic in her eyes that surpassed her shock and horror when he had shot her so many years ago. "What is it, Arakawa?"
"Diclonism kills human males!" Arakawa burst out. She dropped the disk onto Kakuzawa's desk and leaned over, rubbing the stitch that had developed in her side.
Director Kakuzawa inserted the disk into his computers CD drive and brought up the files that Arakawa had deemed so important. He watched in fascination as a fetus's developing immune system turned on itself; and suddenly felt his temper rise as he read the results of the sperm separation that had confirmed that the fathers carrying Pandora's Box were no longer able to produce male offspring.
"How is this possible?" he growled. "It makes no sense from either an evolutionary standpoint or a historical standpoint! The genes of evolving beings do not deny them the ability to reproduce their own kind! It is against all the laws of nature! My ancient and glorious ancestors produced males, why can't our modern queens do the same?!"
"I don't know sir," Arakawa squeaked. "But perhaps the problem lies with…"
"I don't want your excuses, Arakawa!" shrieked Kakuzawa. "What I want is for you to fix this problem, and fix it now! Now get the hell out of my office and do not show your face in here again until you have some means of producing a male diclonius!"
Arakawa tripped over her own feet in her haste to get out of Director Kakuzawa's office. She had never seen him so angry. As she burst out of his office Kakuzawa began pacing back and forth like a caged animal. "Her findings are flawed," he muttered to himself. "There is no way this is correct. She must be deliberately contaminating her samples in order to get me to believe that my project is doomed to fail!" That thought made Kakuzawa stop in his tracks and he could not get that idea out of his head. "They're all against me! Kurama tried to defy my orders and halt my ascension to divinity and my own son tried to set himself up in my place. None of them want to see the world become as it was meant to! Well I'll show them. I'll show them all that this world was meant to be ruled by the diclonius and they were meant to be ruled by me!"
Kakuzawa left his office and made his way to the storage chambers where his diclonius test subjects were kept in isolation.
…
Persephone hung serenely from the restraint frame in the dark dungeon near the heart of the research facility. She had lost track of how long she had been kept there; the only human interaction she received were the doctors who poked and prodded and humiliated her.
Observation of Persephone had not revealed any odd changes in her. She looked quiet and almost non-threatening; hanging there so still with her helmet blocking her features. But Persephone had been given a lot of time to think about her situation and the people she had grown to hate, and something had festered in the back of her mind. More than eight years of being kept in this dark cell with little to no human contact for months on end, other than the staff that fed her and removed her wastes, had taken its toll on the mind of the queen.
She looked up as a familiar figure entered the cell. She was not surprised to see Director Kakuzawa. The man often came to visit her and tell her of his plans. She hated him though. He was the cause of her imprisonment and Persephone longed for the pleasure of killing him personally. "What do you want?" She rasped; her voice hoarse from years of not being used.
"What are you, Persephone," asked Kakuzawa. His hands were trembling and he had a crazed look to his eyes. "What makes you different from my ancestors? Why do your genes kill males when the genes of my ancestors produced men with no difficulty?"
"Why are you asking me?" hissed Persephone. "You're the scientist, you should have an answer."
"But I don't," growled Kakuzawa. He pulled his wig off to reveal his two stubby vestigial horns. Persephone could have laughed out loud. Here was a fallen God reduced to the level of one of the apes whose torment would be brought to an end. Persephone knew that he could be a useful tool in releasing her though, especially in his disturbed emotional state.
"Perhaps you hold the key to producing a male of our kind," whispered Persephone. "Release me from my bonds, and we will produce such an heir together." Persephone worked very hard to keep her voice as flat and business like as possible. She held her breath, waiting for Kakuzawa's response.
"Yes, why did I not see it before? The key was within me all along!" Kakuzawa regarded Persephone coldly. "I have your assurance of cooperation once I release you?"
Persephone bowed her head. "My king…my concern is only for the continued survival of our kind. What would I gain if I allowed our only hope to be destroyed?"
Kakuzawa merely gave a tight one sided smile and turned to leave. Persephone grinned like a Cheshire cat underneath her helmet. The humans were such gullible fools. She waited for the restraint helmet to be deactivated.
…
In the control room that monitored Persephone's cell, Kakuzawa dismissed the guards on duty and began entering the codes for her neural restraints. The same code would work for all the silpelit chambers as well. It was time to purge his current faithless and disloyal staff.
Persephone became aware of the restraints being removed almost immediately. There was a doctor nearby preparing to take a blood test to make sure Persephone did not have any illness that could be transmitted to the Director. Persephone knew the doctor had to be punished for even thinking of doing such a thing to her. She lashed out with one of her vectors and cleanly sliced the man's head off.
The guard who was supposed to be watching Persephone at all times while doctors and lab technicians were present saw the crimson spray and the headless body slump to the ground. He pulled his weapon and backed away nervously. He had been employed at the facility for many years and had become so complacent around this captive that the possibility of her actually breaking free of her restraints had all but left his mind. He watched in horror as she sliced open her straight jacket and slid to the floor. She stood there facing him, unconcerned about her resulting nudity and still looking almost non-threatening with her face hidden by that helmet.
With a sudden cracking sound the helmet seemed to just explode as Persephone pulverized it with her vectors and sent shrapnel flying in all directions. One jagged chunk of the helmet caught the hapless guard in the throat. He clutched at the wound and fell to the ground. Persephone watched with mild curiosity as the guard bled to death on the floor. Once she could be sure the man was dead Persephone reached up to touch her own face. She had not had that restraint helmet removed since it was put on, except under sedation when they took samples of her brain tissue and she relished the ability to touch her own face again.
Persephone stepped over to the beheaded doctor and touched the blood that was now spreading across the floor. It felt slick and warm between her fingers and she could tell that this man must have very powerful blood to be able to torment a captive God such as herself. She pressed her palms flat into the puddle and wiped the man's blood across her forearms, gaining his power that he had over her in the process. She rose to her feet and for the first time in years she could feel her children's presence. She touched those captive minds within the facility that had descended from her and gave them their first order. Kill them all!
-:-:-
Across the Pacific Ocean, in the city of Los Angeles, Lucy was helping the rest of her family to unpack their belongings. Yuka's family had been kind enough to put them up in a house that belonged to a business contact, and it felt good to Lucy to be living under the same roof with Kohta and Yuka again. The last three months had been bliss.
In one of her boxes Lucy spied the small wooden music box that Kohta had left behind when he and Yuka had moved out. She had been meaning to return it, but had found herself becoming quite attached to it. She set it on the dresser that had been placed in her room and opened it, longing to hear the solemn tune it played. She was feeling homesick and it reminded her of happier times.
"Oh, I was wondering what had happened to that music box," said Kohta as he passed Lucy's room carrying a box. He looked around at the clear windows, the swinging door, and the bed that sat on legs and a box spring instead of securely on the floor. "It's a lot different here than it is back home, isn't it?"
"The living conditions aren't so bad," said Lucy as she began loading her books into her bookshelf. "It's the food that I'm having trouble adjusting to. Honestly, are Americans even capable of eating anything that hasn't been soaking in its own grease all day?"
Kohta grinned and returned to carrying boxes to the different room. Lucy continued to unpack until she heard the front door open and close. "Mayu, Nana, how was your first day at work?" Kohta called out. Nana and Mayu quickly made their way to their room to change out of their Gold's Gym employee uniforms.
"Terrible," Mayu shouted, just loud enough to be heard through the walls. "The people here have no sense of manners or decency. I think that if I had one more overweight, excessively hairy, smelly gorilla make a pass at me I would have run out screaming!"
"It wasn't that bad," said Nana. "The people in this country seem friendly enough. I got a few weird looks though."
Lucy shook her head and sighed. She missed the Inn and she missed Japan. The people back home were, for the most part, very polite and had a good sense of self restraint. Here, people just seamed to speak whatever was on their mind.
As Lucy continued to unpack her books a presence, stronger than anything she had ever felt before, flared up in the hive mind. Control of the world's silpelit population was immediately wrenched from her. That presence; that willful, deranged, and deeply disturbed presence reached out and touched her with an almost lover-like caress. Lucy dropped to her knees and tried to force that entity's touch out of her mind. After a few moments she became aware of two things; first that Kohta was gently shaking her, calling her name over and over, and second that Nana was screaming in the other room. Lucy quickly reached out to Nana and pulled her into a mental embrace, shielding her from the outside assault on her mind. Nana was, after all, in a strange way, Lucy's child.
Lucy got up and made her way into Nana and Mayu's bedroom, Kohta following close behind, asking her what was happening. Nana was laying on the floor sobbing as Mayu tried to comfort her. "She killed them!" Nana cried through her tears. "My sisters who were left at the facility, your daughters Lucy, she had them all killed!"
Lucy could feel it too, now. Those silpelits that she had produced, the few that were still under restraint at that facility, they had for a moment cried out in pain and terror before their voices were silenced.
"Their true queen is awake," said Lucy. "She has control of her children now." A sudden thought struck Lucy. She grabbed Kohta's shirt and began shaking him. "Where are Yuka, Kanae and Nyu?!" she shouted. "Where did they go?!"
"They went grocery shopping. Why? What's the matter Lucy?"
Lucy pushed Kohta aside and rushed to get her shoes and sweater. "Kohta, you and Nana need to come with me right now! Yuka and Kanae are in danger! Nyu may be ordered to kill them at any moment!"
Kohta's face went as pale as the walls of a hospital room as understanding hit him. He too rushed to get himself ready. "Mayu, stay here and lock the doors after we leave! If Nyu returns home without any of us, don't let her in!"
Silently praying they would not be too late, Kohta, Lucy, and Nana rushed out of their house and ran off in the direction of the supermarket where Yuka was shopping with her daughters.
-:-:-
Persephone went from chamber to chamber within the research facility. She encountered guards everywhere, but their efforts at survival were useless. She blocked their bullets as easily as she could swat away flies, and she killed the guards with as little thought as the said insects. It was the doctors and scientists she was most interested in finding and her faithful silpelits dutifully brought them to her alive and kicking. They had been the ones who had tormented her, they had been the ones to restrain the God and they were the ones whose powers and strength she would gain by killing them personally. They were the ones who would die slowly. She smiled malevolently as her daughters brought her the next victim.
Director Kakuzawa fought hard against the grip of the silpelits. The anger on his face was something that Persephone knew she would treasure forever. "You lied to me!" he thundered. The look of indignation on his face was nicely offset by the two stubby horns protruding from his bald head. Persephone made no sound, and her expression did not change. She merely extended her vectors out to the very upset Director…
…
Arakawa huddled behind a computer consol as the screams came closer. She could easily guess that Director Kakuzawa had finally snapped. All diclonius seemed to reach a breaking point after a specific event triggered a major emotional response. Apparently, the Director was no different.
Arakawa knew she had to try to find someplace to escape to, but she could not think of anywhere to run. She was certain that the same mass murder would be going on outside the facility that was occurring within it. No place on earth would be safe from these murderous freaks now. Soft footsteps came into the lab where she was hidden. Arakawa tried to make herself seem as small as possible in the hopes that the diclonius would not find her. They did.
Two silpelits, both completely nude as they were when they had been released, spied her as they searched the room. Without saying a word they used their vectors to drag Arakawa from her hiding place and frog-marched her to the lower levels where the diclonius samples were kept in isolation. As she was dragged into one chamber, Arakawa was greeted with the most horrifying sight that she had ever seen.
Persephone was kneeling next to the body of Director Kakuzawa. She was covered from head to foot in blood that she had smeared over herself, and she had the Director's still quivering heart pressed to her lips, deeply drinking his blood as if it were a fine wine. Arakawa gagged at the sight of Persephone's throat pulsating as she swallowed and the dark blood poured from the corners of her lips. It was all Arakawa could do to keep from vomiting.
When she was finished, Persephone dropped the heart next to Kakuzawa's cooling body and rose to her feet. She sharply sucked in a breath of air through her teeth and threw her head back in ecstasy. "I can feel his power coursing through me," she hissed. "At last, my immortality has been assured." She turned to regard Arakawa and a broad, unpleasant smile spread across her face. "You're the one who made Pandora's Box," said Persephone. "You were the one who told me of my sister, Lucy. You were also the one who spoke kind words to me. Thank you."
Arakawa stood rooted to the spot, shaking violently and unable to move. "Y-you're welcome!" she stammered, unsure of what else to say. "But you have to stop this! You have to read the reports on the Director's desk. The diclonius have no way of reproducing their own kind. If you destroy the humans all over the world, you will follow soon after us."
Persephone threw back her head and cackled. "I am Persephone, the Goddess of the Underworld and the Messiah of Death! The survival of our races is mine to dictate as I please!" She regarded Kakuzawa's body and chuckled coldly. "Prometheus here gave my stolen fire to mankind. He would have made that decision in my place. Unfortunately for him, his organs will not grow back tonight."
Arakawa shook he head in disbelief. She knew that the diclonius typically developed emotional problems, and that some did experience full blown psychopathic tendencies, but she didn't have any idea that a diclonius's mind could be reduced to this! The combination of existing emotional instability coupled with years of near-sensory deprivation and unnecessary brain surgery had turned Persephone's mind into something no longer human. "Listen to yourself!" cried Arakawa. "You're unwell, you need help! I can get it for you!"
Persephone simply smiled and stepped closer to Arakawa, pulling her into a soft embrace. "You have served me well, even if you did not realize it. I am a kind God, and am willing to reward all those who serve me." Persephone gently kissed Arakawa's lips and Arakawa trembled at that unclean touch. "You will have the privilege of nourishing my children for the conflict to come." Persephone turned and began walking out of the chamber. Before she left she gave one telepathic order to her dozen or so silpelit daughters that now surrounded Arakawa. Eat her. Her life force will make you powerful. Arakawa screamed as the silpelits fell upon her like a swarm of ravenous rats.
…
As Persephone entered Director Kakuzawa's luxurious private office she had to block her eyes from the glare of the bright sun shining through the enormous windows. She had not seen the sun in eight years. Existing in that dark cell for the better part of a decade had taken its toll on her eyesight and Persephone felt physically pained by the assault of light on her eyes. She staggered out of the room quickly. Persephone knew she would have to get her children to paint the windows black for her. Otherwise it would make an excellent throne room.
Persephone had decided that it was time to begin the end as soon as she had been released. Before her daughters killed every last human being on earth, there was one person she desired to see face to face. Find my half-sister, Lucy. Bring her home to me, she commanded the hive. The humans are irrelevant, the humans are a disease. Bring about their total extinction! Kill every damned last one of them!
-:-:-
Yuka could not help but notice that her daughter Nyu was acting a bit strangely. She had become even quieter than usual and seemed to be staring off into space. But then, Nyu's behavior had always been a little odd. As Yuka left the supermarket with Nyu and Kanae, she heard a familiar voice cry out to her from the parking lot.
"Yuka, Kanae! Get away from Nyu before it is too late!" Kohta came rushing to the store front with Lucy and Nana close behind.
"Kohta, what are you doing here?" asked Yuka. "What is going on?"
Across the street people began screaming. Nearly every person in the shopping area had a diclonius daughter, and their children were now slicing them to pieces left and right.
Yuka bent down and grasped Nyu's shoulders. "Nyu! You mustn't listen to them! Look at me, I am your mother! Nyu, I love y...!" Yuka could not finish her sentence. With one swift motion her head was twisted off and bright arterial blood sprayed over Nyu and Kanae.
Kanae just stared in shock as Nyu turned to face her. Nyu's eyes were as blank and impassive as a sheet of paper. Before Nyu could strike, Lucy rushed forward and used her vectors to lift Nyu off her feet and throw her as far as she could. Nyu used her vectors to brace herself and landed softly in the middle of a group of horrified onlookers that she immediately cut to pieces. Without a backwards glance she walked up the street and was gone, killing as she went.
Kohta rushed to the body of his wife. He took her lifeless form into his arms and howled in grief. Kanae just stood there trembling as her mother's blood dripped from her face and clothes. Lucy rushed over to the pair as Nana just watched in horror as her fellow silpelits killed any human who came within reach. Lucy immediately checked Kanae over.
"Kanae, are you hurt, are you alright?" Kanae just stood there, her mouth moving silently as tears began tracing rivers through the red stains on her cheeks. Seeing that Kanae was unhurt, Lucy turned her attention to Kohta. "Kohta, there will be a time for grief later!" said Lucy as she placed on hand on his shoulder. "But right now we need to get away from the cities. The diclonius population is going to kill everyone and will not hesitate to kill you, your daughter, and Mayu!"
"You don't care about that, Lucy," sobbed Kohta. "I'm sure you would be happier if all humans were…"
Lucy forcefully dragged Kohta to his feet with her vectors and backhanded him hard across the face. "Get a grip Kohta!" she shouted into his face. "Letting your daughter get killed is going to be a rather pathetic way of honoring your wife's memory!" Both she and Kohta turned as a rumbling sound filled the air. In the line of skyscrapers that filled the Los Angeles horizon one building suddenly listed to its side and collapsed into another building near it. Explosions cold be heard much closer and a few cars flew over the roofs of nearby buildings. "Kohta, its time to go, now!"
…
They quickly returned to the house to gather Mayu and a few supplies that would come in handy. Lucy was completely silent as she hurried to stuff a few items into a backpack. She hesitated for a moment over the music box, and decided to take it. As she stuffed it into her bag Nana burst into her room. "Lucy, what are you going to do? The queen is having her daughters look for…"
"I know, Nana!" Lucy snapped. She had felt it too, and it surprised her when Nyu had ignored her. They were looking for her specifically, and Lucy was in no hurry to find out why.
Kohta and Mayu poked their heads into the room. "We're ready to go when you are, Lucy." Lucy felt relieved that Kohta was focused on survival. There would be time to grieve for Yuka and Nyu later.
Before Lucy could reply a horrible crashing sound reverberated through the house and a car fell through the roof into the living room. The mangled remains of the occupants began dripping onto the floor. "They must have figured out that cars make handy projectiles," Lucy muttered to herself. "It's time to go."
They quickly made their way onto the streets and Lucy took a minute to get her bearings. "I figured it would be a good idea to head northeast if something like this ever happened," said Lucy. "We need to get to the Interstate 15 and follow it from there. Who knows what is going to be encountered after that. There is no real guarantee of survival at this point."
…
It was several hours before they reached the inner city where they could easily get to the I-15 junction. All the while they had to dodge hoards of silpelits who were killing anyone who came within reach. The silpelits were tearing down office buildings and skyscrapers by acting together and using their vectors to rip out as much of the supporting structure as possible. Kohta watched, fascinated as a group of more than three dozen silpelits began swarming up the side of one building, so insect-like in their grouping and coordination. They used their vectors to tear away one side of the building with an efficiency that rivaled ants dismembering a grasshopper, and leapt away as the building collapsed to that side. They were also using any heavy object within reach; cars, masonry, pieces of broken glass and rebar, as deadly projectiles that they hurled in all directions.
Lucy raised her hand to halt the others. The sounds of several airplanes could be heard over the exploding automobiles and buildings crumbling under the onslaught. From the north several F-22 Raptors screamed over the horizon. "Huh, it looks like the military is intervening," said Kohta. He looked up and shielded his eyes so he could watch the jets.
Nana, on the other hand, could sense the pilots and that made her panic. "Those are diclonius piloting those fighters," she gasped. "We have to get out of here!"
Lucy shook her head in disbelief. Where the hell did the silpelits get fighter jets from, and how did they know how to fly them? Lucy watched in horror as the leader of this wing of fighters tried to fly through the buildings, and messed up her trajectory. The fighter's starboard wing clipped a building and spun the jet out of control. Lucy watched in horror as the jet crashed into a building they were standing under and it's entire payload exploded. Mayu, Kanae, and Nana had managed to get away, but Kohta was not so lucky. Huge chunks of the building came crashing down on top of him.
"Kohta!" Lucy screamed. She immediately rushed to the pile of rubble and began flinging pieces of debris aside. Nana quickly rushed to join her. Together they managed to get Kohta mostly uncovered within moments.
Kohta was hurt pretty bad. His left eye had a deep cut over it and Lucy could easily guess he had lost that eye. His left leg was pinned under a huge chunk of concrete close to the size of a city bus. Neither Lucy or Nana working together could budge it.
Nana sat down next to the groaning Kohta and began to cry. "What are we going to do?" she sobbed. "How are we going to get Kohta loose?"
Lucy knew they had no time to come up with a plan. She could hear explosions off in the direction of the highway and more F-22s flew overhead, firing their missiles into the surrounding buildings. She quickly used her vectors to slice Kohta's left leg off above the knee as cleanly as possible and began dragging him away from the debris. Nana and Mayu quickly rushed in to help carry him away.
"We need to get underground," said Lucy. "We passed a subway station about ten minutes ago. Lets get Kohta there, hurry." Working together they managed to get Kohta to the station and down the stairs. Lucy quickly dragged him into a restroom to keep him hidden. Once they were settled she began checking his wounds over. His eye seemed to be the worst. Luckily she had managed to cut his leg off cleanly enough that it was not bleeding.
"What are we going to do for Kohta?" asked Mayu. She was getting rather pale and shaky and Lucy could tell that she was beginning to loose it.
"Mayu, take Kanae and go find me two things; a flat piece of steel and some long strips of cloth," said Lucy without looking up from Kohta's leg. "Stay in the station and out of sight. Nana, we passed a liquor store up top. Go bring me back as many bottles of vodka as you can carry. It will be the clear liquid with white labels. Try to keep your mind closed."
Once they were gone Lucy gently stroked Kohta's brow. "How are you feeling, Kohta?"
"My eye hurts," moaned Kohta. "And my left foot feels kinda tingly, though it doesn't make sense, considering I don't have a left foot any more, do I?"
"I'm sorry about that, Kohta," said Lucy. "We didn't really have many more options though."
"You did what you had to, Lucy. That's what makes you a survivor."
Lucy smiled and brushed Kohta's hair from his brow. "Lay still. I have to go find a few things. I'll be back shortly."
Lucy quickly made her way through the subway station and found what she was looking for; a cigarette lighter, a purse strap, and an oxygen tank next to the body of a dead senior citizen. She returned to the bathroom and set her things outside the door. Lucy was able to get Kohta to hobble out just as Nana, Mayu, and Kanae returned with the things they were sent to fetch.
Lucy immediately began putting bandages over Kohta's bleeding eye. "Nana, go into the bathroom and pull the stall doors off their hinges. Bring them out here. And bring me some paper towels." Lucy folded the purse strap in half and cut it so the piece was only about three inches long. She used a loose string from her shirt to tightly bind the two halves together.
"What are you doing, Lucy?" Kohta asked.
"That stump is going to get infected if we leave it open," said Lucy. Since we have no way no make a skin graft, searing it is going to have to do." She set a couple of vodka bottles near Kohta's stump. "Some of this is going to have to be used to clean the wound. It's going to hurt like hell, but luckily I had Nana bring some anesthetic." Lucy set the remaining bottles near Kohta's elbow. "Start drinking."
It took fifteen minutes for Lucy to build a fire out of the bathroom stall doors and get it hot enough to sufficiently heat the steel. Luckily the oxygen tank helped with that. Lucy prayed the thing would not explode. A small tinkling sound behind her got her attention. The second vodka bottle Kohta had gone through clinked to the floor, spilling it's contents. Kohta tried to pick it up, and burst into a fit of giggles when he could not.
"Are your leg and eye still hurting Kohta? Can you feel anything at all?"
Kohta snorted through his nose and began giggling. "No, I'm sho drunk I can't even tink Lushey," he slurred.
"Good," said Lucy. "Nana, Mayu, I need you to sit on Kohta while I clean this." Lucy began pouring the vodka over his wound, using paper towels to mop up the blood and grease that had accumulated there.
"Ouch, that lit's a hurttle, Lushey" Kohta groaned.
Lucy held the piece of steel that Mayu had dragged over in the hottest part of the fire with her vectors. "Then this is going to hurt even more." Lucy handed the purse strap to Mayu. "Put this between his teeth and please, don't let him thrash about." Once the steel plate was glowing white hot, Lucy carefully placed it against the stump of Kohta's left leg.
"Nnnnnrrrrrrr!" Kohta cried out in pain as the hot steel seared his wound. He thrashed for only a moment before his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out. Lucy tossed the plate to one side and began wrapping the stump in bandages. "Nana, I need to talk to you in private for a moment."
Once she was finished with Kohta's bandages, Nana obediently followed Lucy into the bathroom. "Nana, you know why the silpelits struck so hard here, don't you?"
"Because they know you are here," replied Nana. "They are trying to flush you out." An explosion, much closer than the little pops that had been going on for the last half hour, made the floor shake and caused some dust to fall from the ceiling.
"They will find me, sooner or later," said Lucy. "And when they do, you, Kohta, Mayu, and Kanae are as good as dead. That's why I have to leave Nana. They are going to take me to their queen, and maybe I can stop her. If I can kill her, I can regain control of the hive mind."
Nana sniffed once and nodded. "I always knew you would change your mind about humanity, Lucy. I always knew you would try to prevent something like this from happening."
"I don't give a damn about the human race," said Lucy, gruffly. "Kohta, Yuka, Mayu, and Kanae are the only humans I have ever cared about or will ever care about."
"Keep telling yourself that, Lucy. It may be true someday if you do."
Lucy turned to face Nana and just stared at her for a long moment, waging an internal war as the emotions she always fought so hard to suppress came bubbling to the surface. With a small sob she pulled Nana into a tight hug, something she had never done before. "I'm sorry for the pain I caused you so many years ago, Nana. And I'm sorry for the loss of your 'papa', he was good man in the end."
Nana was absolutely shocked at this behavior. Never once had Lucy shown any sign of affection toward her. Nana was not sure how to react. "Lucy..?"
Lucy gathered up her backpack and handed it to Nana. Nana opened it and found that Lucy had stored several wilderness survival manuals, books on knot tying, road maps, and guides to edible plants of North America along with the music box. "I bought all this knowing we may someday need it," said Lucy. "Be obedient to Kohta. He knows what my plans were and he will see all of you to safety." Nana just stood in shock as Lucy left her standing there in the bathroom. Once the door closed Nana began to weep.
Lucy walked over to where Mayu and Kanae were kneeling next to the still unconscious Kohta and quickly hugged both of them. "Take care of Kohta for me. He will not understand why I must leave. Both of you take care as well." Lucy gently leaned over Kohta and kissed his brow. "Goodbye, Kohta. Know that I loved you to the end." Wiping the tears from her dirt stained cheeks; Lucy made her way back up the station stairs and into the growing night.
…
Lucy stared in horror at the destruction that met her eyes. Most of the buildings that made up downtown L.A. were either toppled over or bombed down to a few stories. Cars were overturned everywhere and the streets were blasted to ruins from the bombs that had been dropped. There was at least on tank that had been overturned (Lucy wondered where the silpelits had got it from and how they got it there so quickly) and bodies were laying everywhere; a few silpelits but mostly humans. Fires were burning everywhere and oily smoke was blocking out the setting sun, turning the sky a sickly brownish-orange.
The hive mind was racing with the thoughts and experiences of the silpelits. They were learning quickly. Lucy could easily guess that when one had a success or made a mistake, they shared the experience with all. They knew how to operate quite a bit of military equipment, and they were still experimenting with everything they could get their hands on. The mind here in Los Angeles had also switched from 'kill the humans as fast as you can' to 'eliminate the few survivors'. Every human found and killed was being immediately reported to the rest of the hive mind. There weren't a lot of them being reported now.
Lucy ran as far from the subway station as her legs would carry her. She ran for a good half hour. Once she could not run any more, she sat down and sent a new message to the hive mind. You want me? Here I am!
It only took ten minutes for the first of the silpelits to find her. One struck Lucy across the back of the head and Lucy saw bright lights flash before her eyes before she slipped into unconsciousness.