New chapter 8D
Guys, just for the record, there will be more Dr. Nero in the next chapter. Just appreciate my hard work in this chapter til then xP
H.I.V.E. belongs to Mark Walden.
enjoy.
Kazuno Kobayashi was only seven when he knew he was different. No one took much notice of him but the men at the scrap heap, from whom he bought parts and scavenged papers from.
He enjoyed the river.
He didn't have parents to return to, not really. He knew who his parents were, he knew he was part Japanese, part Chinese, and he knew he was already twelve years old, nearing thirteen.
But beyond that didn't matter. He was just Kobayashi the little boy who sat at the river. He wasn't called lazy because he helped at the scrap heap everyday in the morning. He wasn't called strange because it was only those at the scrap that knew he took parts, and they didn't give so much a care as long as Kazuno did a fine job, which he did.
It was his thirteenth birthday, that day when he sat on the riverside without intent, thinking that perhaps, this day would be different from the others, that he was taken.
Without incident, he was taken away.
As long as he had his notes, he had no need to resist.
"Each of you is to be separated into your streams. There are five: Alpha stream, Technical stream, Political/Financial Stream and Henchman stream."
The woman, Madame Saturn, interested Kazuno more than a number of the people around him. He studied her calm face. There was the barest flicker in her expression when she noted each stream, and Kazuno suddenly wondered. She said five. Why did she only mention four?
He didn't have time to think on it, though. Standing in the way of H.I.V.E. gunmen was not the smartest move, but, still disoriented from the trip, Kazuno was knocked asunder by a passing guard.
A welcome hand, offered by the first friendly face Kazuno had seen all day, helped him up from the cold metal floor.
Tyler Rhinnes was his name. Red hair, brown eyes.
The name and face of his first friend was something he would remember long after H.I.V.E.
In their first year at H.I.V.E., both Kazu and Tyler were separated from the rest of the Technical stream for their unusual skill. The whole truth was that during classes, they would sit beside each other and help each other with school work. Whatever Kazuno didn't know, Tyler covered, and whatever Tyler didn't know, Kazuno answered for him. What was left unknown between them didn't seem to apply in the school room, and soon they were the talk of the entire Tech. Stream, whether out of envy or awe.
But students weren't the only ones taking notice.
On the day they were called into the office, they expected something seventy times seven times worse than anything they could imagine. Beaten, bruised, but not broken, the boys lay in their chairs, waiting like it was judgment day, and their condemning omnipotent higher being was to come to them was in the shape of a man in his perfect black suit and blood red cravat, eyes like inescapable pitfalls.
Kazuno could not muster anything less than complete and utter respect for Dr. Nero the first time he spoke to them personally. Nothing more could be said than that.
Nero explained to them, then, why they were sitting in his office in the first place.
"If you had listened to Madame Saturn on your first day, then you should have a clue why you two have been chosen above the others in the Tech stream." He told them. Tyler looked to Kazuno questioningly. Kazuno nodded. "She said there were five streams, but she only mentioned four." He answered hoarsely. He rubbed at the bruise on his neck. "What's the fifth?" Tyler asked, his question fading midway when he remembered whose presence he was in.
"That's why you're here today. Although it isn't the only reason, I'm sad to say."
Needless to say, he didn't sound too sad. If anything, he sounded vaguely amused, as though he'd seen a mouse attempt to take cheese from a trap, without the success of retrieving the prize but also without the misfortune of having its body broken by a spring metal bar.
"Will you punish us?" Kazuno asked.
"No, actually, I have to commend you. Still, I have to wonder why you went through such lengths to leave. They found all those plans. It must have taken months to formulate, but neither of you struggled when you were caught." Dr. Nero examined them both, their bruises and cuts never escaping his gaze. "I will have to find out why you were so painfully adorned, of course."
"I suppose it was that lesser intellect comment, eh Kazu?" Tyler smirked. Kazu cracked a smile, wiping it off his face just as quickly when he turned back to the headmaster.
"Care to answer my question, Mister Kobayashi?"
"Well sir, we wanted to test H.I.V.E.'s security system." Kazuno said simply. If it was a lie, it was the smoothest lie he could ever make. But it wasn't.
"So it was simply a project, and nothing more." Nero stated, smiling ironically.
"Now that I've settled that paradox, I suppose I should allow Saturnina to explain to you the first reason I called you here. Your skills are worthy of the fifth stream, you two."
The headmaster pressed a call button, and in less than a minute, the small woman emerged, slipping through the door with an odd grace unfitting for her physique.
"I expected you two. With your skill, you could have had fine placement in the Alpha stream, and yet it seems fitting for the two of you to be where you are. Kobayashi and Rhinnes, let me explain the Omega Black stream." Madame Saturn led them out of the office. Kazuno took one last look behind him, catching the gaze of the headmaster, unreadable and yet...
He blinked, catching up to Tyler as Madame Saturn showed them to another room.
They sat down at the black plastic chairs as Saturn went up to a screen on the near wall. "As you know, H.I.V.E. is funded by G.L.O.V.E., The Global League of Villainous Enterprises. Many intelligent students from H.I.V.E. have the potential to serve under such an elite league, and those who seem to have more potential than others are placed in the Omega Black Stream. This stream is much more special, because it generally deals with the most skillful, the most intelligent, and perhaps the most brutal of students here at H.I.V.E.
"You two seem to possess the second of those that I mentioned, especially in the field of robotics, and Artificial Intelligence. Recently, G.L.O.V.E. has been funding a number of researchers and developers to invent, in simple terms, a thinking machine. One that will have the intelligence of a machine and the practical thinking of a human being, to assist them in a majority of their schemes. This has been going on for only a year, and yet you two have made more progress in a few months than those scientists could do in three years. We studied your notes, Kobayashi, when you were away. Your ideas combined with your projects with Rhinnes are the breakthrough they've been looking for. As such, you two, like the few before and with you, are being accepted into the Omega Black stream for service of G.L.O.V.E." Saturnina looked at them with tired eyes, comparable to someone who was in charge of informing a victim's family of a tragedy unthinkable.
Kazuno couldn't understand then why she could ever think this was anything but good.
Not then.
"Motor functions are fine. What we need is a way to expand its nervous system functions."
"A feeling robot, eh? People'll start thinking you're troppo, but hey, so long as you can find a way, we're set." Tyler said.
Kazuno nodded and rubbed his hands together. Feeling. Perhaps it was something people tended take for granted, but he realized how deeply it affected him.
"Hey Tyler." He said slowly. Tyler looked up from the mechanisms of their project's chest cavity. "Touch me." Kazuno said. The Aussie looked at him curiously at first, but then rested his dirty index finger on the other's nose. Kazuno blinked. It was bare, but it was there.
A jolt.
"Thank you, Farrah. It's a big help, honestly." Kazuno thanked his friend profusely, the papers almost slipping from his hand. "Stop it already; I told you I enjoyed that project. Gave me something to draw, and you just inspired me, Kazuno. Still though, why would a Tech streamer want charts on the parts of the nervous system?"
"Little project." Kazuno answered. The explanation was enough for Farrah, knowing how much the Asian and his Australian room mate loved to tinker. She contentedly loaded the last of the detailed sketches into Kazuno's hands before the boy walked in the other direction, sending her some final thanks.
Nowadays, Room 76 of the Tech Stream dorms was filled with the countless material and sheaves of filled up paper. Paper decorated the walls, piled on the floors, were shoved under the bed with the scrap metal and parts Kazuno and Tyler had pack-ratted for further use.
Tyler stood up every now and then to adjust the papers he was studying as he assembled a mechanical prototype arm using scrap metal, some copper wire and rubber bands. Kazuno, on the other hand, sat in the bathroom, staring at his hands.
Kazuno ran piping hot water over one finger, the jolts coming more painfully. He counted. Then he splashed it with cold water. It was numbed. He attempted another finger, the entire time calculating in his mind.
Mind. Thoughts. Feelings. All nervous functions. They wanted a thinking machine. It only made sense that they would also want the machine to feel, to wonder, to grow.
A debate a week before with some of the funded scientists sparked the first thought.
Artificial Intelligence, they said, meant that it had to know every necessary fact. Everything written by leading scientists in history books and files. They meant for its mind to be one huge file, to keep every piece of information together without flaw.
Kazuno contradicted them. If they wanted to force all that information without culmination, the Intelligence part of the AI would be purely material; the machine would only store, not think.
Then they would install emotion packs, they concluded.
Doing that, Kazuno argued, would only make it wily and willful. It would, with all that intelligence, question their authority if the emotional packs were installed. It was a fear unwarranted, as far as they believed, but the entire debate was cut off when Nero entered. Tyler followed him, carrying the plans Kazuno had asked for, those they'd thought up the days prior.
The argument, and all noise that came with it, ceased immediately.
"I hope there are no problems, gentlemen."
"No, Dr. Nero. Not with us. Although young Kobayashi believes that the project does not require the collected data."
Kazuno could feel the leer of the others. He ignored it. He felt a jolt when Tyler lay a hand on his shoulder, the Aussie nodding seriously. "I simply believe that all that information shouldn't be stored all at once in its central processor. It's dangerous to overload its systems at such a delicate part of the development. It has to, like any thinking being, learn. It will no longer be a thinking machine if it's convinced that all the data stored in its head is infallible." The Asian said slowly, to clarify, and without leaving any room for argument as he spoke.
He received none. Dr. Nero looked at him once, examining the younger one's expression, the look in his deep black eyes. Kazuno shivered imperceptibly.
"I believe Mr. Kobayashi is presenting a fair point. Present the data you've collected to Professor Pike and Madame Saturn and they'll be the judges on the subject. In the meantime, Kazuno, you need to present some results on ANIMA's nervous functions. You've already fallen behind." Nero said coldly.
Kazuno nodded, though his head kept low. The shame filled him like nothing else. And yet...
"Hey, Kazu, you should get some shut-eye. Call it a day. Well, a tomorrow. It's already ten past midnight, mate. And you've been in there for an hour." Tyler called.
Kazuno washed his face, stepping out after a moment. When he sat on his bed, Tyler sat by him. "Hey, mate, you need to get yourself together. Give your noggin a sickie. Relax for one minute."
"That's difficult, Ty." Kazuno stated miserably. He WAS tired, but his body couldn't relax. Not even all the knowledge supplied to him by Dana and Farrah about the human body's workings could get him to understand why he couldn't rest.
Tyler pushed him down onto the bed and put a hand on his forehead. "No, it's not. Get some shut-eye. I'll take care of your project's cleanup when you do." Kazuno felt the warmth from Tyler's hand, the callouses on his fingertips, the rough but soft feeling of the Aussie's skin.
He wondered if any machine could ever be as human as that. He supposed not.
In the very least, he would remember the feel of those gentle, warm hands reminding him that fact.
The next night, Kazuno was the only one in the lab. The other scientists were sent to Turkey for a brief repair session of one of G.L.O.V.E.'s smaller mechanical armies, and Tyler had gone to bed about two hours earlier, at 11:30 in the evening.
"When I said you were lagging behind, I didn't mean you should stop sleeping altogether."
Kazuno looked up stiffly. "I've been sleeping, Sir. With all the surveillance, I'd have thought you knew." He said, his tone even. At such a late hour, Kazuno's decorum was at a lack, all his brain power focused on the plans he had laid out on the table.
"So what is it that you're working on right now, Mister Kobayashi?" Nero approached the student. Kazuno noted that his clothes (still pristine) made it almost impossible for Nero to have been noticed in the dark of the room's edge. "The difference in feeling. I mean, the way a touch from oneself is difference from the touch of another. The amount of electrical charge I have to put in to balance them out. All those things. ANIMA requires skills of observation which can only be emulated if it has all the proper systems to observe... things... with."
Kazuno felt a hand brush over his sleeve. He looked up at Nero, suddenly feeling very small.
It was that night Kazuno saw it. Nero's first real expression. It was different from his usual unreadable face. This was a small grimace, an ironic smile, some concern and some sadness etched in the man's features. "If it wasn't for G.L.O.V.E., I honestly would have protested such treatment of my students." He said in a measured voice. The headmaster shook his head. "You're a brilliant boy, Kazuno, but a boy nevertheless. You shouldn't be killing yourself over this for nothing. As important as this project may be, your health still needs attention."
"But I..." Kazuno began, wanting to argue, wanting to say that he was capable. But Nero's coldness was all but gone, and that in itself had Kazuno speechless. He saw, for once, something that he doubted too many others had. He saw a man dedicated to caring for his students. He saw a headmaster who, though unwavering in faith to his superiors, would leave doubt only for the students he was so devoted to.
And Kazuno lost his old respect for the man, and the fear and the shame. What he gained was something different entirely.
The water numbed him. His hand was lain on the knob that controlled the flow of the hot water, slowly twisting to the left, slowly and steadily adapting to the cold that trickled over his skin, sending the little jolts that by now, he was so used to studying.
He felt his own skin, as cold as the water. Ran his hands over the contours of his face, the dips and crevices in his collar, his shoulders, his chest, thinking.
He thought of warmth, and his flesh suddenly heated in red blushes clustering on his white skin. He thought of Tyler, the warmth from his calloused, work-worn hands. He thought of the headmaster, marveling at how ordinary his hands were, resting on Kazuno's shoulder.
It was nearly morning when a drenched Kazuno, skin cold and clammy, eyes low, retired to bed.
The compromise had been reached fairly swiftly, perhaps, Kazuno guessed, under the influence of Dr. Nero. It would be a learning machine, yes, but it would be much more advanced than humans. Its mind would develop at four times the speed, even if it would start out with the mental capacity of a newborn.
All the information it would have, the input the scientists were planning though, had only increased after that decision came to pass. They decided that, notwithstanding Kazuno's reasoning, they would still have the most intelligent robot being ever created.
All that intelligence. Kazuno couldn't be so certain as the others that it would do well.
He was surprised when, past the curfew, as he returned to room 76 that night, he ran into a certain Madame Saturn.
"Oh, it's you, Mr. Kobayashi. Working late again?" Madame said, looking unusually tired even for someone up that night.
"I've been getting my sleep, Madame, so..."
"Ah, basta. It makes no difference to me. So how is the experiment going?"
Kazuno walked alongside her as they went the same way. "The developers have nearly finished the body. I need to finish the nervous system by the time they're done, or else there's hell to pay."
"Ah, the thoughts. Emotions as well?"
"Some. Those needed for reasoning." Kazuno said slowly.
"Good. Good. And I suppose they finally surrendered in your debate on the learning versus knowing?"
"Yes,they... Well, yes."
"That's good." Saturnina nodded, fingering a rosary Kazuno only noticed then.
"Kazuno, do you know where learning roots from? Where it all is? It's not in the knowledge of books or worldly views of scientists and intelligent men.
"It comes from parents. Mothers and fathers. And whoever it is that raises a child." Saturnina shook her head.
"For your robot to learn, it must have a guiding hand. Loading it with intelligence from books and files will teach it no respect or serfdom. If you wish it to listen, it must have something or someone to listen to. Otherwise, it will question your authority. It will find no reason to listen to your orders anymore."
Kazuno stared at her, his head suddenly cleared. She was right. Utterly and strangely, Madame Saturn was right.
The woman stopped in her tracks. Kazuno looked back. "I had a baby once, you know. A time ago." She said quietly.
"I worked under G.L.O.V.E., so I never got to see that child. And do you know what happened to my poor son?"
Kazuno said nothing.
"He died a traitor. He collaborated with the Japanese soldiers who killed our friends and relatives in World War 2. Now I have no animosity with you or your people, Kazuno, but at the time, you understand." Saturn said, wiping the tears that had escaped her eyes.
"I wasn't there to raise him. He knew things, he learned things without consequence. He thought he knew everything. He questioned why he should be faithful to his country, especially since the mother who sheltered and fed him and did nothing more to guide him never taught him to love his motherland. He latched onto power, which at that time was the army that held sovereignty over the Philippines for three years. He climbed the ranks, stepping on the bodies of his fellowmen, until he was finally shot to death by the soldiers he collaborated with. But only after he personally executed every single person in our village. He was only eighteen."
Kazuno stood, dead in his tracks, looking at the broken woman before him.
"I am very old, Mr. Kobayashi. It may not seem so, but I'm tired. I only live to guide you, to guide the children here. There is an art to villainy that is above shameless murder. I am trying to be the parent, the mother I never was. You must be the same for that ANIMA you are about to bring to life. And..."
Saturnina turned away, walking a different direction at the junction they stopped. "You must be ready for the consequences."
Next morning, Kazuno read the note that Tyler had written. LIKE A CHILD. MUST NOT KNOW YET.
And scribbled in smaller letters on the side, parents; mother and father.
Often in his life, Kazuno found himself coping with problems that never seemed to bother anyone else and nearly always seemed self-inflicted.
Perhaps some time after the plans had been completed for the nervous system functions and the central processing unit was undergoing construction, Kazuno began to notice it, ironically after he'd stopped TRYING to.
The touches. The jolts.
Tyler put a hand on his shoulder, unconsciously brushing against the back of Kazuno's neck. The effect was instantaneous, like a bee sting jolting straight up his nerves and back again, then suddenly softening into a pleasurable buzz. All this, happening in less than a second, had Kazuno swatting away his best friend's hand, a look of shock flashing discreetly over his face.
"I... I'm fine." He said, trying to convince his friend and himself of that.
It happened even after that. Tyler's friendly pats, his touches, simple things that he'd done often such as putting his arm around his best friend or supporting him whenever he felt too sleepy to walk on his own, they each had the same effect which had the Asian stumbling away from his Aussie friend, claiming an excuse for each instance. He was ticklish there, he had a shoulder ache, he felt a little sick and didn't want to give Ty the bug, or he was fine and didn't need any help.
He could kid himself as long as he wanted to, but there was no denying that it didn't happen with anyone else. It wasn't like the other students, whose shoves, pats and friendly shakes had no effect on him whatsoever.
These were the thoughts Kazuno had in his mind as he washed himself clean and scrubbed himself raw every night, even when the oil and fluids he'd used in the project were washed away long ago. He clung to the wall, turning the shower to a freezing spray, feeling his raw skin warm even then.
He remembered the touch. He vied for it. He felt it, conjuring up the memory on his skin. He gasped, panted as the cold numbed his back of pain. He felt warmth shoot upward, his knees going weak.
His fingers were washed in the continuing spray, and he knelt, spent on the bathroom floor until he finally came to his senses and dried himself.
A few nights of this... 'activity' lessened Kazuno's aversion towards Tyler, though the latter barely ever touched him anyway. Kazuno felt a sinking feeling every time Tyler was careful to keep from making contact, this feeling wrestling with his underlying guilt of objectifying Tyler's touch in the first place.
When Tyler faced him about it, Kazuno knew that he owed him the truth.
"I'm..." Obsessed with your touch. I want you so bad it hurts, I can't concentrate on anything else, I'm afraid I might lose control every day you're with me.
"Gay." That works too.
Tyler accepted the explanation so much better than he'd expected.
Kazuno wished he'd been chewed out in the very least. He didn't deserve so much from Tyler.
When the first model was booted up, Kazuno observed its slow learning process. The packets which would control its emotion and reasoning hadn't yet been installed, and the result was obviously insufficient.
"With no drive to learn, it doesn't absorb as much knowledge, nor does it unlock any." Observed some of the other scientists. They shut down the prototype after a week, with Tyler in charge of reassembling.
This time, it was Tyler who stayed out late, working on a month-long deadline, when the prototype alone took four months to complete. Kazuno often offered to stay late with him, but Tyler refused.
"Now you'll know what I suffered through when you did the same thing, Kazu." He joked.
The humor fell flat, though, on the second week, by which Kazuno felt thoroughly depressed, unable to see more than a few minutes of Tyler per day. (They had taken away the Aussie's school hours to give him more time to work)
Even when working in the lab, Tyler and Kazuno had to work on separate ends of the rooms, unable to do much talking, either.
"Hey, Kazuno, have you seen Tyler around lately?"
Kazuno turned to Amuri, wondering what exactly he could tell the girl. "He's been busy with a project. It's not gonna be for much long." He said uncertainly.
"Ah, well okay. See, he hasn't really followed up since our first date, you know?" Amuri fell into step with Kazuno as they walked from the H.I.V.E. library.
"I'm really worried.... I mean, not about Tyler." She said. Kazuno raised an eyebrow (or attempted to; he was never all that good at it) questioningly. Amuri smiled sweetly, and sadly, in a way. "Kazuno, you seem pretty lonely without him. You barely even talk to us girls anymore, and I know we're not the same as having a guy friend around, but seriously... you look sick, and thinner than ever. Reena says you're looking more handsome, but even Miss man-crazy is worried. Are you.... okay?"
Kazuno grimaced. "I'm fine, Amuri." Was all he said, before separating with the girl on another hallway.
"Hey, Kazu... Wake up, mate."
Kazuno was shaken awake, and the Asian was surprised to see Tyler sitting over him. "Ty? What.... what time is it?" He asked drowsily. "Two in the morning. Sorry for waking you so early, but I wanted to talk."
Kazuno sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "S'okay. What did you want to talk about?"
"Well, about before. Remember what I asked you, that time we booted up the first model?" Tyler asked. His gaze was focused right at Kazuno. It was one the latter was trying to avoid. "No..."
"I asked you if you were lonely. And you are, aren't you?" Tyler demanded seriously. "It's not your issue, Tyler." Kazuno said strongly, looking up at the taller male. Beneath Tyler's eyes were darkened circles, testament to his lack of sleep. Kazuno restrained the urge to touch them.
"You need sleep." Kazuno said, his voice suddenly taking a cold tone. Tyler's eyes widened at it, but he got up after a moment and returned to his own bed.
"Good night, Kazu." Tyler said weakly. "Good night." Kazuno responded.
He hoped Tyler didn't hear his voice shaking.
The next night was relatively quiet. Tyler was about to lay in bed when he realized that Kazuno was still in the bathroom. The Aussie wondered if Kazuno still kept at it, and remembered that he had come back to the room earlier than usual, so maybe his roommate did.
On the table was a glass, and a note.
Tyler, it said in familiar handwriting, I'm sorry about being so defensive. It may not seem like it, but I've been under a lot of stress. It's weird, really— There were some messy scribbles erasing the next sentence. —Work keeps my mind off things, so with less work, more crazy, you know?
Anyway, like I said, I'm sorry. You're right, I am lonely. A bit unhinged too, but—
—Well, I've been missing having you around. A lot has been worrying me recently, but I have to tell you, thank you for everything. Thank you. And I'm sorry. -Kazu
P.S. The drink should help you sleep. I know you've been having just a little insomnia lately.
Tyler took the glass, smiling. He felt happy that Kazuno had trusted him enough to tell him all that, albeit indirectly. He downed the contents of the glass and climbed the upper bunk, closing his eyes as the drink took effect pretty quickly.
Whatever Kazuno put in there definitely worked.......
Only the bathroom light illuminated anything in room 76. Kazuno climbed into bed, lying there for a long moment, his heartbeat suddenly loud in his chest as he looked up at Tyler, atop his own bunk bed, sleeping like a log.
Kazuno stood, gently pushing Tyler's overhanging arm back onto the bed. He climbed up, checking on the Aussie. He was sleeping peacefully. Kazuno lay a hand on the Aussie's, feeling once again a jolt to his touch.
And he climbed on top of Tyler, looking more closely at the Aussie. The latter's eyes fluttered open, but his movements were slow. Tyler held one of his hands and leant over, whispering to Tyler something he'd already confessed. And he kissed him.
Kazuno's hands found Tyler's skin beneath his shirt, kissing at spots on his neck, loving him for all he was worth, every jolt dulling.
That night was when it ended.
-cough-
okay XD I'm done. And that whole scene is too vague to be rated M, so I'm keeping with the T rating.
Review please.
Next chapter will be entitled "Kobayashi and Nero"
