The Hand of Wisdom
By Zoram Selrof
Chapter 1: Abduction18:45 PM (Japan Time), Friday October the 15th, 2205…
"…Rip 'em! Slash 'em! Take that, puny fellas!"
"… Rock… You're being too noisy…"
Hoshikawa Subaru, aged thirteen, worked on his homework assignments.
He was wearing a classical buttoned middle school uniform.
"Who cares, man? I'm so gonna rip 'em to shreds!"
Subar sighed and leaned his elbows on the table and crossed his fingers to allow his chin to rest on his hands.
War Rock hovered in a corner of the room, slashing the air with his claws and roaring like he was busting Viruses.
"Jeez. Be quiet! Or Boss will get angry!"
"Bossing bossy of bosses?"
"Whatever! Listen. Boss gave you an ultimatum! Stop trying to drive me crazy or else he'll store you in the HQ's server while giving me the ability to transform on my own! I'm about to give him the go-ahead!"
He stood up and faced War Rock, being serious and exasperated.
"Yikes! Forgot about that!"
"Go do whatever you wanna do outside my room. Move it!"
War Rock warped out while Subaru brought the right hand to his forehead.
"About bloody time! Trying to come up with silly pairings and edited photos to stir up jealousy…! And his vulgar jokes, too…! I couldn't stand them anymore! I swear!"
He sat down on the chair and fumed.
"Anyway! I've finally begun middle school! We've had exams already and my marks are good. Gonta, however, is barely surviving! I suspect he must've copied the homework answers from somewhere… Else how could he have done them in so little time when he hadn't worked on them during the summer?"
His Hunter VG beeped, and he grabbed it to answer the call.
A "Real Wave" screen deployed to display the caller.
"Hi, Hoshikawa – kun!"
"Hi, Kiboyama – kun! What's wrong?"
"Nothing, really… But I'd like some advice…"
"I'll be happy to provide it!"
Kiboyama was a teen around Subaru's age.
He had brown, messy hair and blue eyes.
He also wore a school uniform.
"It's about Mr. Dragon, the cook! He always makes long speeches and while I don't mind them, I see that everyone else tells him to shorten them or get to the point… What should I do?"
"Let him be! He can be absent-minded because he believes in spirituality and such but he's a decent cook nevertheless!"
"I see. Thanks for the advice!"
"How does it feel to live in the HQ?"
It's amazing! I have a single room, which is a luxury! When I want to shake off tension, I visit the observation deck across the corridor… The views are breath-taking!"
"If you're enjoying it, then that's great!"
"Thank you!"
"Gino Il Napolitano~! B-B-B-Bertie~ is gonna play an amusing game~!"
"War Rock! Stop pushing memes into others!" Kiboyama sighed.
"Sheesh! Hijacking the interphone?" Subaru sighed.
"WAR ROCK!" A man's voice roared.
"Hijack Man hijacked the line!"
"What "Hijack Man"?" The man grumbled.
"Prosecutor Garyuu will argue that classmate equals to lover!"
"WHAT IN THE… That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Have you gone crazy or what?"
"I still don't know how War Rock can be so care-free when Mr. Vadous is scolding him for his reckless behavior!"
"Trust me. He's impossible outside of a battle!"
"By the way, Mr. CEO! Did ya find Futaba – chan?"
"We did, at last, five days ago! He's undergoing therapy at the local hospital because he was exhausted in body and mind from a long confinement and abuse… Akatsuki is arranging things so that he can return to Japan as soon as possible to continue the rehabilitation here…"
"It's been a long chase… It's been over a year since we became aware that some criminal organization had abducted him and other teens…"
"Sheesh. Sounds like something King would do…"
"I know. King and those creeps are fiends lurking in the human world! Sheesh! I hope we can teach them the consequences of their deeds!"
"Then I can finally film them doing it "hard style" and distribute the recording 'round the town!"
"No! You won't! I'm about to shut you in the server for another fifteen days to see if you learn the lesson!" Vadous roared.
"Welcome to the club!"
"I catch the irony, thank you!"
"I'm about to design the Ultimate Poll!"
"By all the…"
"What's the connection between Ophiucus and "you-know-what" stuff? Choices: deadly, rumor, nothing at all!"
"Ophiucus?"
"The FM soldier who manipulated Ms. President into becoming her host during the FM invasion, over a year and a half ago… She had fame of being ruthless and deadly!" Subaru explained.
"He's basing his poll upon those rumors?"
"Subaru~!"
"Gonta? What happened? Why did you suddenly join the conversation?"
"I need help!" Ushijima Gonta pleaded.
"Not the homework again… Go download whatever cheat sheet you've found and bear with it! You can't count on always having someone to save your hide if you're not doing it properly!" Subaru sighed.
"He's right! You must take responsibility for cheating!"
Saishouin Kizamaro adjusted his glasses and smiled.
"Kizamaro! Ya jerk!"
"Whatever. You're slow!" Jack told him.
"What's going on? Gonta! Are you cheating again?"
Shirogane Luna questioned him with a hint of annoyance.
"No, no! Ms. President! I'm an honest guy!"
"Prove it. Your homework reeks of copy-paste!"
"Buro~! I told ya that they'd find out!" Ox reminded him.
"Beware. Gentlemen. Probabilities of her anger unleashed at full power clock at 95%..." Pedia whispered.
"Sheesh. Again?"
"Plug your ears!" Mode warned.
"GONTA~!"
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
"HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO TELL YA? YA GOTTA SWEAT TO TRIUMPH IN LIFE! USE YOUR HEAD BECAUSE YOU HAVE IT FOR SOMETHING ELSE THAN THINKING OF SKIPPING EFFORT! NOW MOVE IT AND DO THE HOMEWORK! AND IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU CHEATED AGAIN, I WILL SPEAK WITH THE HOMEROOM TEACHER! GOTCHA~?"
"Man. What a display!"
"Welcome to the club!" Subaru sighed.
"Weird, though. You can send a message at the same time to various Hunter VGs, yet how can you interlink them? Unless…" Vadous muttered.
There was the sound of whistling and Vadous grumbled something.
"I know what's going on. I'll try to solve it. Someone is gonna find out what happens when you mess with devices!" He grumbled.
"AND REMEMBER: I WANT TO SEE SOME EFFORT OR ELSE YA WON'T GET PAST THE 1ST TRIMESTER! GOTCHA~?"
Luna kept on yelling given how she didn't hear the ongoing conversation.
"Y-yes, ma'am…!"
"Prove your intelligence!"
"Ms. Shirogane. That's enough… You'll end up aphonic!" Kiboyama sighed.
"Sheesh! You're right, Kiboyama – kun! We'll talk about it, Gonta!"
"Start by asking honestly to the others!" Subaru sighed.
"Exactly! It's not that hard, is it?" Kizamaro argued.
"Were it so easy!" Jack sighed.
18:58 PM (Japan Time)…
"… I WANNA PLACE A CURSE ON THE JERK WHO STOLE THE TOOLBOX AND HID IT SOMEWHERE~! SHOW YOUR HIDES! I'M ABOUT TO DESTROY SOMETHING AT THIS RATE~!"
"Now the toolbox? Last week it was 5 Hunter VGs!"
"Pororon! Another studio, then?"
"It could be. Or it's simply harassment by some deranged folk…"
"Sheesh. Humans are complicated!"
"You needn't tell me!"
"Please calm down, Mr. Urakata. Yelling and stressing won't solve it!"
"Like Suzuka says…"
"I know that you're right, but it's my duty to look after your welfare! Sheesh! How can we name it welfare if someone hid the toolbox when I need it to fix the water drainage pipe? We can't have to go to our homes when need to use the bathroom because someone wants me to call a plumber and waste money on something which I could fix myself in 5 minutes' time! This is another studio's work or some magazine with a pervert old man at the head of it!"
Hibiki Misora rolled her eyes as she looked up from a notebook and towards the room's door.
She wore her usual pink sweater, jeans and her typical boots.
Harp lifted her eyebrows upon hearing the scandal.
Urakata Mamorou started a fuss on the corridor outside the room, but she wasn't too impressed by that.
Suzuka and Ice attempted to calm him.
"But he's right. I'm sure this is the work of such a jerk. Jeez. I don't do my songs for money, silly-headed-guys! I do them because I like it! But the greedy folks won't understand that!"
"I found the toolbox, in the cup of a tree behind the event stage!"
"About hellish time! Hand it over! I'm gonna go fix this NOW!"
"Well then… Let's go back into our room, Ice!"
"Roger!"
A chuckle rang out.
"Pororon. I know this signature. Rock. Show your beastly and rude hide before Misora makes mincemeat outta ya!"
"War Rock. Didn't they tell you it's rude to get into someone's room without their permission?"
"Ask Subari~!"
War Rock showed up and Misora looked at his reflection on the mirror, uninterested at him.
"I guess you drove him to the edge of his patience!"
"Who knows, Detective Misora~?" He teased.
"Go collect lilies at the bottom of the ocean! Or tell Moon Disaster that his polls are a disaster because his name is Moon Disaster!"
"That's a good one! I'll tell 'im he brings disaster along! Get ready, Moonie~! I'll make ya dance to the rhythm of MY scenario! I'm gonna come up with the Disaster Rock genre!"
"You're such a silly guy!" Harp sighed.
"I need some fresh air. Besides, it's still 15 Celsius out there. It isn't that cold yet 'cause it's only October!"
"Then I'll go check the news. Maybe Ox has come up with something intelligent, for once!" Harp giggled.
"Who knows?"
Misora headed out of the room and inputted a command into a control panel using an ID card.
She headed down the corridor and into the main hall.
The receptionist was working with the computer.
Misora merely waved a hand to her, and she waved it back.
She stepped outside and stretched.
"Leaving, Ms. Hibiki?" The security Wizard asked.
"I'll go stretch my legs. I'll be by the tennis court if Mr. Urakata wants to talk with me. But I guess I'll be back in about 10 minutes… Tell him that!"
"Roger!"
She walked down the entrance avenue and stopped next to the tennis court and the Wave Station.
She inspected the parking grounds and found both the dummy car and a green car which had a drawing on the trunk door.
"What's that?"
The drawing was a human hand having the five fingers open and extended.
There was an eye drawn inside it coupled with a red dot in the very center.
It was painted in red, using oil-based spray.
Funny graffiti! Maybe it's about that topic? Someone argued that the plot of playing detective investigating rumors of the middle school and addressing the issues that bullying generates wasn't too "thrilling", and that we should add "magical stuff" to make it "cooler"! We don't need to act like anime copycats thank you very much. Now get serious!
She began to pace around and stuffed her hands into the jeans' pockets.
That's it! I need to say it loud and clear! I don't do songs to earn money in retribution! I do them to see smiles on peoples' faces! Wait! What…!?
She whipped around and delivered a kick to a figure which had jumped from behind towards her.
The figure wore a black tunic with a hood which hid its face and gender.
Misora's kick hit the figure's jaw (given how it was about 8 centimeters taller than her) and the assaulter soundlessly collapsed into the ground.
She heard a sound and counterattacked a second assaulter.
She leant her back against a tree and glanced over her right shoulder.
I knew this would happen! Maybe it's a criminal org that abducts teenagers for nasty "business"! What creeps! Feels like what happened to Futaba – kun! I'll report to the security Wizard and bring the Satella Police!
She began to head back towards the main avenue.
She felt something hitting the back of her neck and getting stuck there.
Only part of it contacted her skin given how she wore the hood.
That reduced the efficacy of whatever had hit her.
She began to feel weak and sleepy.
She managed to turn around.
One of the assaulters brandished a gun on their gloved right hand.
The hand was moving in an erratic manner.
I need to reach the entrance…! Or get close enough so that the Security Wizard can see me! This must be a tranquilizer bullet! Can't I remove it?
She concentrated and managed to pull it out.
She tried to run, yet she collapsed before she could begin.
Her body felt heavy and unresponsive.
D-devil…! Almost there…!
Before she could stand up again, another bullet hit her.
She collapsed face-down on the ground.
Her eyelids felt heavy, and her vision was blurry.
W-what's… going on…?
19:06 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Is she sleeping at last, Marie?"
"She is, Sophie…"
"I had never felt such damage before… My lower jaw is aching, and it hurts to move it…"
"We were not prepared. Even though that we knew that she was a member of a special police unit, and as such it was natural that she would have training on self-defense…"
"This is the first time I have seen a girl with such strength… But this is first time we have traveled outside of our Normandy as well…"
"It matters not, Sophie. The orders from Master were very clear…"
The two figures were looming over the unconscious Misora and speaking in French between each other.
They carefully lifted her and carried her until the open trunk of the car with the graffiti drawing.
One of them drew a roll of cellophane tape and taped it around her wrists and ankles before covering her mouth and eyes.
She also placed her arms behind her back before closing the door.
"Let us go. Master is waiting…"
"Roger…"
They climbed into the vehicle, and it began to run away.
One of them drew a Hunter VG and dialed a number.
"Master. Mission successful. We are on our way to Point P..."
"Good work, my disciples. Head over here! It is time to greet our guest!"
"By your desires, Master…"
"I am eager to see the results of your work!"