Chapter 44: Closing stages
18:28 PM (Japan Time), Thursday August the 9th…
"… So! Which meeting do you wanna replay?"
"Let me think… By December, you'd already given me the disguise and I used some days to begin training… Suzuki – san had joined us. But Tozukana – san hadn't yet… By March, though… I seized ya."
"You mean that you seized me and had sex with me because you'd been building up that desire for months… Apart from her… Qong – kun, Ikada – san, and Zarashe – kun were already part of the org by then… If I remember right, Tozukana – san was the last one to join last year."
"But you didn't tell me about the "cyborg body" and your nature as "Umbra" until July before you left for Chicago to stage the back-story… Play that one."
"Alright."
Netto was sharing the king-sized bed with Kuroshiro; they had pulled the sheets up until the nipples, and Netto was lying on the right side and had placed his hands behind his head, glancing at Kuroshiro, who was lying at his left, and looking on his direction while interacting with the Link PET.
"Here it is… Sunday June the 30th, 2009… The school year had ended and I was two days away from leaving… It was the early morning…"
"Yeah. That was a pretty hot day."
"…Netto – kun. Hard to believe it, but we've already come this far! The start of the summer! The prelude before you enter "Golden Star"! As you know, I'll go to Chicago, take residence there for 3 weeks, and send you several postcards. Then I'll "rush" to Houston and then go "off the radar"… The back-story will be established and given the current context then it'll be easily believable… No – one will doubt of it no matter how hard they try! It's so plausible that they won't give it a second thought… I must say I'm impressed with the results of the gym training and marksmanship training… Even the instructor was impressed!"
"When I set my mind to something then… That's something which I'll complete no matter what."
"So, Saito – kun? Are you glad?"
"Yeah. I've had time to add some tweaks and dynamism to my "Andy" character… This is gonna be fun."
"By the way, Netto – kun… There's something I gotta told you… Something very important… I've been holding it back because I didn't want to scare you or have you form prejudices, but… My roots… The account I gave of them wasn't really true…" Kuroshiro timidly began.
"What? Why'd you change it, then?"
"Where should I start at…? Maybe by showing you this you'll understand one of the reasons…"
Kuroshiro interacted with the Link PET and then displayed a hologram of Umbra atop the desk; Netto gasped and leant closer before frowning and examining the hologram.
"… I thought it was Rock Man DS, but… The face, eye color and body height are different… It looks like a variation, though…"
"Who's that?" Saito asked.
"Umbra. Twilight programmed him."
"He's your Navi or was?"
"That's…"
"Wait. Or are you that Navi?" Netto asked.
"Yeah. Correct."
"But you told me the devices to materialize Net Navis weren't completed yet, didn't you?" Netto questioned.
"I skipped one because it's unique… There's only sample in the world and I happen to have it… A result of Twilight's obsessions… He wanted to prove he could create a cyborg…"
"Cyborg! Robot-human hybrid, you mean?" Saito gasped.
"Correct. He named it "cyborg body"… That's what I'm using. 90% of it is just like a normal human's body but… The brain has been altered to fit a Navi's frame… The consciousness program is executed by the brain after being removed from the frame… Some implants in the CNS help the body understand the brain's signals… And a network of intravenous nanomachines regulates my health…"
"I see… So you felt like you were a real human and that's why you can act and behave just like one…" Netto calmly summed up.
"Correct. Even though I can leave and then body is placed into a sleeping status, I haven't done that even once. I don't plan to. I've exiled myself from the Cyber World… forever. My place is with you, Netto – kun, in the real world. That's where I can protect you." He sighed.
"Alright… Nothing's changed. You're still my friend, Oriol. Nothing will make me back down at this point. I'm in and for real. Aren't we, Saito – niisan?"
"Yeah. We're not chickening having come this far. We'd like to ask one thing before you leave, though."
"Ask."
"Could you recreate that system for me?" Saito asked.
"Yeah. I've got the schematics and all the necessary data. The process takes about a whole month… Is it urgent?"
"Not really. Let's work on it after 2010 kicks in. Since not everything will be ready until over a year from now then… It'd be good if it could be ready by next year's summer. If we talk it properly with Dad he'll accept it and won't be able to refuse because it's just what he was looking for: a way for me to return to the real world."
"Deal. I'll remember that. I can use the lab facility since it's always locked and no – one comes over there. Once Purgatory is complete enough to be inhabited I can store it there in cold sleep…"
"Excellent."
"Alright. Let's make a toast… For a safer future!"
"Yeah! For a safer future!"
"… And that's all."
Kuroshiro stopped the video playback and left the PET on a desk close by.
"Really… I still remember how I began by sitting to your side. Then picking your wrists and making you lay face-up on the sofa as I unbuttoned your pants and lowered your boxers… I suddenly stuffed my cock inside without waiting: Legato was taken aback but Saito – niisan began to hug him and all so… We all went mad that day. But you didn't dare try it out on me until five days later after I'd insisted a lot."
"I know… On that summer, we began to meet in the apartment to spice things up… I requested of you to tie me up and you did! You immediately liked the idea and we came up with the system of switching each week… That's how our relationship evolved…"
"Switching topics… The latest estimates place Zero at 100% capacity around the 27th or the 28th."
"Excellent. We're drawing closer with every passing hour."
"So? Finally decided what the "party" will be about?"
"We'll bring Enzan here and make him go through a thrilling experience while you unlock his memories in a progressive manner! He'll be pressured from all sides and knowing the fact that we mustn't repeat that accident of the past he'll keep his trap shut. He'll be satisfied with having knowledge of all of the enigmas… I guess the folder he's filling with speculations is titled "The Golden Star Enigma" to begin with. Did Zero come up with something new?"
"He did. He's begun to tease him by sending him quotes out of the French TV adaptation of the Count of Montecristo… Remember: we picked Edmond Dantes, ED, as our reference given how the protagonist had been through something unfair because of others' greed and envy…"
"…and when he escapes the prison, he finds a secret treasure and establishes himself as the Count of Montecristo while also playing other roles such as a minister and others… His fortune can buy anyone and he slowly plans suitable revenges against the ones who conspired against him… He has no need for a disguise because no – one recognizes him after so much time and they thought him to be dead… He even considers himself a cold and terrible man… And he had no mercy in executing his schemes either…" Netto continued.
"Exactly. The similar points are that you felt like you had to defeat those three Navis because they stood for that which you wanted to erase and forget… Anyway… Nobody's suffered a tragedy or anything. They can't complain." Kuroshiro shrugged.
"True. Enough preludes. This time let's be fair and neat to each other…"
"I'm looking forward to it, Netto – kun."
"Who wouldn't?"
"Come to me…"
Netto quickly hugged Kuroshiro and began a passionate kiss while he pulled the covers over them; their giggles rang out and were joined by Kuroshiro's moans.
"You like straight inside, eh? I'll give you plenty of it today!"
"Please… Netto – kun… Fill the void in my heart…"
"I'll fill it to the point that it'll overfill and spill."
"And let's send Enzan one of those phones with an anti-laziness system incorporated: if they don't answer after 10 rings then a robot arm is deployed and hits the snoring guy with the receiver while holding their head up with one finger…" Kuroshiro giggled.
"That's just what he needs: a rough wake-up system!"
"Truly! To get him in the mood for 10 battles in a row!"
"He'll get more than what he wished for, indeed!"
19:37 PM (Japan Time)…
"Gentlemen! Waterloo and Stalingrad strike at us from the NNW flank and they bring a blizzard along!"
"Oh hell."
Oda stepped into the main break room of the Net Police's Cyber CID HQ building with the hands on his coat's pockets; Enzan, Obihiro, Meijin and Torolov grumbled at his appearance as if they'd preferred something else altogether.
"Uncle Moran's hated nephew is plotting something!"
"Now you call the guy "hated" nephew?" Enzan asked with obvious exasperation to his voice.
"Yessir! It's the trend, gentlemen!"
"The trend…" Torolov looked skeptical.
"Torolov – kun! Are you hiding a parka under the bunk?"
"And what if? That's not against the rules."
"I thought you were supposed to come out into the cold with only your boxers on." He let out next.
"WHAT? That's a stupid myth someone made up!"
"Bring Myth Man to the court, my fellow."
"There's no such "Myth Man"!"
"There is: Uncle Merton's logic says as much."
"Then that logic is outdated!"
"Nope. It's V2 and it'll soon upgrade to V3."
"By all the… Someone halt this unleashed steam locomotive rampaging through the city." Torolov cursed.
"Welcome to the club." Obihiro sarcastically told him.
"I get the point, yeah." He sighed.
"Do you want to join "Vincent's Men" and go investigate an old lady's apartment where yells of "killer, killer!" ring out from time to time according to the neighbors?"
"… "Vincent's Men"…? What's that?" Enzan skeptically asked.
"Why. Superintendent Vincent's crime-fighting squad."
"I don't know any Superintendent Vincent."
"Yeah. There's never been such a guy… at least in the Net Police's Cyber CID, though…" Meijin added.
"The old man made the guy up out of thin air!"
"Use the emergency railing!"
"What's the pun on it?"
"Mr. F. would rather use the bar's railing! Thus, he'd slide down straight into the bar! It turned out Mr. M. had decided to place barbed wire on it to avoid his pet-monkey of climbing it up thus ruining Mr. F.'s clothes… He was muttering that since it was clean it wouldn't stain his ropes… Talk about a quick "flag retrieval"!"
"Let us guess: that's the same comic book series Video Man and the others have been broadcasting in the Golden Star HQ." Blues quickly deduced.
"Yessir. You get a prize, Holmes."
"I ain't Holmes."
"Who knows, Mr. Anderson?"
"I won't fall for such a trap." Blues muttered with a hint of annoyance.
"Then climb such a trap."
"That's… ridiculous. Totally." Torolov groaned.
"It gets worse." Obihiro warned.
"Yeah. It gets worse." Enzan warned next.
"You gotta be kidding me." He cursed aloud.
"We ain't." Both replied.
"F. seized the monkey by the tail and used it as a blunt object to try to hit M. while he ran away in his turtle disguise. He then drops the stunned monkey into a corner and M. says this: "Alright! Hey! Don't move from there! Get it, Filemón?"… "Filemón! You named the monkey Filemón!" … "Come on, Boss! What name did you want me to give him? Shakespeare?"… The monkey thinks… "Gosh! I was at peace there, on Africa, amongst the lions, tigers and panthers…!" Oda began narrating.
"Someone save us…" Punk cursed.
"When it comes to transportation… They had a mini-skateboard, which only had one flaw: it had no brakes! They ended up landing inside of the trash collection truck's compartment! F announced that he had a plan: M muttered that if only F knew how much he feared his plans… The plan was for M to knock on the door to try to come in and keep the assaulter busy: F would climb until the rooftop and then jump in through the window using a rope! M put on his soccer uniform and boots and began to kick on the door! The granny inside of the house used the trumpet to try to ID the sound: she was unsure if it was the clock's tick-tock or if someone was knocking at the door… Mo switched to football disguise to "rap it with the shoulder" just as the granny opened the door! He fell atop the tea tray and was propelled across the room, finally tearing a hole through the wall! F didn't have better luck either because the granny closed the shutter to cut off the air current! F bounced off it and down into the street!" Oda excitedly narrated.
The "audience" groaned as if knowing what came next.
"It didn't end there! They decided to go through another way!"
"Elucidate us!" Enzan grumbled.
"I'm glad to not to have had to bear for this for years. Sheesh. That Video Man & co.! They had to mess up with everything!" Torolov muttered.
"Through the apartment below hers! They tied up and gagged the owner before using a laser gun to open a hole on the ceiling! F was showered because M had hit the underside of the bathing tube, which happened to be filled… They came in and F decided to hide behind a curtain just as the granny came in holding a ton of bricks… One slipped out and hit F, knocking him out. She tried to toss him into the bathing tube because it was cool! He fell into the apartment below through the hole! She rushed to prepare a bottle of cognac, which she served in a plastic cup! The cup melted! She put on the reading glasses and realized it was sulfuric acid for the car's battery! M, hiding in the shoe cupboard, came out burnt. Both met again and they then heard the yells of "Killer! Killer!" coming from close by… They rushed in and…!" He purposely trailed off.
"They got beaten by the robber." Obihiro tried to guess.
"Listen to this: "Killer! Killer!" … "Will you be quiet already, Armando? Ever since you saw the Gate-woman Murder over the TV you've spent day after day yelling that motto!"…"
"No way… The one yelling was a parrot?" Torolov groaned.
"I'll quote the press headlines! "Savage act inflicted upon a poor parrot! Two brutes rip off all of its feathers while still alive and they make the Superintendent of the "TIA" swallow it whole. They're believed to be around the Great Lakes region and so…!" … So?"
"The animal protection NGOs surely ended up causing uproar when they read that headline." Blues drily muttered.
"There's no beating Master Ibañez!"
"So?" Enzan asked.
"Oh yes. I almost forgot. That fellow of the other day called me and told me I was a genius."
"Damn. The last thing we needed!" Enzan cursed.
"Yeah. No wonder he's so cocky today." Torolov grumbled.
"Welcome onboard." Meijin sarcastically told him.
"Got the point, yeah…"
"Next! M put a William Tell disguise and tried to use a whip to split a cigarette F had in half! Mr. Super just happened to activate the summoning bell! The scare made Mo hit his nose instead! F came in, bandaging it, while M had an aching eye and the whip had been stuffed up his mouth with part of it coming out of an ear!" Oda didn't show signs of giving up.
The "audience" had had enough so they headed out of the break room and slammed the door on their way shut.
"My. What do you make of it, my fellow?"
"Don't worry, Danna… Next time they'll have to admit you're unbeatable and that Uncle Merton is gonna name you his rightful heir." Zero told him over the iPod Oda had on his chest pocket.
"So, you're "Origin", eh? I got the joke. Let's play with them: they're so dry, really… They need to be more dynamic!"
"Totally. We don't want the public to think this place is boring to begin with, do we, Danna?" Zero calmly argued back.
"Of course not… Ladies and gentlemen! Superintendent Oda tells you the following: you'll get a sneaker and a half as summer lottery prize! Who is in for the fun?" He asked over an interphone.
A chorus of groans, grumbles, curses, moans and hardly muffled exhales of anger came back as an answer; Oda merely lifted his eyebrows as if being slightly surprised.
"The heat, the heat… We should improve on the AC, really."
"Totally. The heat makes them dry: cool them down by sending them to a picnic in Shadow Moses Island, Danna."
"Truly. There they'll meet the legendary mercenary who hides inside of cardboard boxes! Box Snake!" He made up a parody
"Terrific, Danna. Patent it and everyone will ask to use the name!"