Chapter 8
Kubo closed his eyes as he walked over what remained of Sadamoto, muttering a silent prayer of thanks as he avoided stepping on the chunks of bone and flesh. He continued walking, staring down at the rifle cut smoothly in half. He wouldn't stand a chance if that-
"Gah!" he called out as Kagura placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned to her, the girl seeing the panic in his face.
"What are you doing in here, this might be dangerous!"
"You disabled this defence system didn't you?" she asked him.
"Yes, but it…"
"You disabled it. It will not come back on." She paused. She wanted the man to be confident, he'd need to be to fully shut down the main system. "I have faith in you. That's why I'm here."
Kubo nodded. "Thank you Miss Kagura. Are you sure you want to come?"
"Yes. I think I may have worked here. The more I see, the more I may remember" replied Kagura, hoping it was true. She couldn't do with being stuck in this greyness, remembering little, relying upon others.
Kubo walked forwards, slightly faster and more confident then before. He pushed the half open door out of the way and they stepped into a cramped room, holding what appeared to Kagura to be some sort of large black cylinder. Numerous wires led out from it, some lights blinking. It meant nothing to Kagura.
"Well this ought to be fun" said Kubo to himself. "First to get rid of the protective casing." He shrugged and turned to Kagura. "Looks like I'm going to have to simply yank it off."
Kagura stood and merely shrugged.
"It's a shame, because it's such a beautiful piece of equipment" replied the man. He reached up and gripped hold of the casing, yanking the plastic casing. It barely moved. He shrugged, kicked the casing and then finally yanked it away.
A faint beeping caught Kagura's attention. She turned and watched as a camera moved to focus on her. She stepped back as a faint beam was emitted- it could easily be another one of those defensive things. She stood in surprise as a figure bathed in red began to appear. It took the appearance of what seemed to be a ten year old girl with pigtails and a surprisingly happy look upon her face. She turned to Kagura, the smile disappearing.
"You must leave! You are not allowed within this area!"
Kubo heard the voice. "What the hell is that?" he asked.
"Red Queen?" suggested Kagura.
"Please for your own safety you must leave."
Kubo grunted as he picked up a large bag from an open container. He placed it down on the floor.
"What's that?" asked Kagura.
"Some kind of rudimentary EMP emitter" replied Kubo. "Evidently the people who worked here were more then slightly paranoid about this computer."
"You have to get out!"
"A jolt from this ought to shut the computer down, but I can't be sure for how long. It could be indefinitely, could be for a few minutes" said Kubo. "But it's the only thing I have at the moment."
"Disabling me will result to a loss of power and operating systems. Please do not disable me."
"Just ignore it" said Kubo placing the device on the floor.
"Please Miss Kagura, do not disable me" said the hologram, "Please do not do this."
"Charging up" said Kubo, stepping away from the device placed right next to the computer.
"Please sir, do not do this."
"Time's up" said Kubo. He held up the controller and winced as the holographic girl turned and stared right at him. "Goodbye."
"I am afraid you will all down here" said the girl regretfully. Kubo pressed down on the switch and a low hum filled the room. Kubo turned away as suddenly the lights dimmed. Along the corridor Yukari and Ohyama glanced around as the lights suddenly turned off, the room going pitch black. The room was then bathed in twilight as emergency lighting came on. Across the entire facility locks turned from secured to open, doors across the entire facility unlocking.
A sudden loud beep shocked Kagura out of her daydreams as she stood in the twilight. She turned to Kubo, who stood watching as something slowly left the exposed computer. Kubo reached out and took hold of the device and placed it into his bag. He turned back to Kagura who stood confused. Computers weren't her area of expertise.
"Better to take this then run the risk of having her come back on at the worst moment" he replied.
Kagura nodded in muted agreement. She wasn't entirely sure what the man was talking about, but he appeared to know much more about this then she did. The man picked up his bag and walked across to Kagura.
"Come on, lets get out of here" said Kubo. "The sooner we explore this place the better. And I want to get as far away as possible from that place" said Kubo, indicating the corridor where his friend had died.
Kagura nodded in silence and followed the soldier out of the room, creeping along the glass corridor, grimacing as she saw and smelt Sadamoto. They stepped back into the room where the others waited, much more spacious then the Queen room.
"What just happened?" asked Kimura, "The lights went off."
"I've just disabled this Red Queen being. The defences are now offline. There should be no more…traps" said Kubo pulling the door to the glass corridor shut.
"Hey, who is in charge now?" asked Kimura. He looked down at the floor sadly. "With Mr Sadamoto…well gone, one of you have to take charge now."
Yukari looked across at Minamo and mouthed the words Not me. Yukari was angered when Minamo agreed with this judgement.
"I guess I take charge now" said Kubo. "I'm now the most experienced S.T.A.R.S member here. Now everybody suit up and get ready to move out" said the man. He walked across to Kimura who looked up.
"You willing to behave officer?" he asked.
"I was from the beginning" replied Kimura. He turned around as Kubo unlocked the handcuffs and removed them from around his wrists. Kimura thanked the man, rubbing his wrists.
"We're two men down" said Kubo, "I assume I can trust a police officer with a gun" said Kubo pulling out a pistol from a concealed holster.
Kimura nodded. Kubo handed across the gun, Kimura checking it and placing it in his own empty gun holster. He stretched his arms out, groaning as he rubbed his shoulders.
Yukari slung her rifle over her back, loosening the strap. She turned to Minamo who was busy checking over her first aid kit. She paused, knowing her friend/enemy was looking at her.
"Think we'll find anyone else down here" she asked, pointing offhand to Ohyama. "I personally think everyone is dead." The bespectacled person turned to Yukari who pulled down her finger.
"That's a positive outlook on things" replied Minamo.
"No Nyamo it's called a realistic outlook on things" replied Yukari holding up a finger. "You should try living in the real world some day."
"I will when you do" stated Minamo, Yukari glaring at her fellow female soldier.
Kubo removed the clip from his rifle, checked it and slid it back into place. Wordlessly he signalled to the three remaining soldiers and they walked back along the way they had come, reaching the fork in the corridor. Kagura glanced across at Kimura and both quickly sprinted after the disappearing soldiers. Ohyama pushed his glasses higher up his nose and walked after them.
Kubo stopped in front of a set of glass doors, a thin crack of space between the two doors. Hoping they wouldn't slam shut, he pushed his fingers into the gap, gripping the doors. He pulled, the doors shunting open. He held up a piece of equipment designed for testing for toxins as the others hung back.
"It's good. Let's go."
"Stay close" said Minamo.
"You don't have to continually look out for me" replied Kagura kindly. "Look after yourself as well."
"I'll try to" said Minamo smiling. In this situation it was a strained smile.
Kubo stepped out of the way as Obata marched through the doorway, gripping his large gun. Slowly he stepped forwards. Kubo stood waiting and then the others began to file in behind Obata.