Chapter 9: Reencounter
07:26 AM (Japan Time), Monday January the 26th…
"… Fua~h…"
Nelaus exited his house looking sleepy: the streets were still semi-unlit but he simply locked the house and headed towards the institute.
"Yo! Nelaus!"
"…'Morning!"
Nelaus turned to the right to see Netto and Saito catching up to him.
"Uh-huh… Morning… Guys…" Nelaus barely repressed a yawn.
"Are you O.K.? You look like you haven't slept much." Netto asked.
"Don't forget to wash your face on the restroom once we get there. History is our first subject." Saito pointed out.
"Yeah… You're right…"
"… You know what? Vincent goes around sayin' Ameroupe's national treasure is a rotten potato." Blood Shadow told Isaac.
"BWAH, HAH, HAH! A rotten potato, he says! BWAH, HAH, HAH!" Isaac exploded into laughter.
"Yeah. And he claims that Mexico's own national treasure is a golden potato." Sigma added.
"Heh. Vincent is as crazy as ever…" Nelaus smiled and looked slightly animated.
"That's for sure." Netto smiled at him.
"He's gonna believe he's the King of the World next." Saito added.
"He is gonna be the King of the World? Why not?" Nelaus chuckled.
"'Cause he won't know what "uranium" means to begin with."
"Mwah, hah, hah! And they'll 'im: 'You're FIRED!'" Sigma added.
07:27 AM (Paris Time)…
"… Hum. Feels good to return to Paris from time to time…"
Dr. Spimer was sitting in an outdoor café's terrace and drinking some coffee: he looked a bit sleepy.
Today, he sported black business attire with a red tie.
He was using his reading glasses as well to read Le Monde.
"… Pierre? Is that you?" A woman's voice asked.
"Huh? Excuse me?"
Dr. Spimer looked up from the newspaper to spot a woman.
She looked around his same age: between her last twenties and her early thirties.
She wore a brown leather sleeveless vest over a green wool jumper, jeans and heeled shoes.
Her hair was blond and reached halfway down her back.
Her eyes' irises were brown.
"Do excuse me. I am not sure if I remember you." Dr. Spimer politely told her.
"… You're telling me you've forgotten me? Let's see… Who was the only one in Paris University who supported your thesis about the carbon-chemistry-based materials?" The woman asked with a smug smile and sounding amused.
"… Veronica Deuxer?" He gasped in recognition.
"Ta-dan! That's me!" The woman, Veronica, smiled.
"Goodness! It's been… What… Almost a decade? You haven't changed at all!" Dr. Spimer was surprised.
Deuxer sat down on a chair in front of the same table and smiled at Dr. Spimer, who put down the newspapers.
"What a coincidence! Who'd said we'd meet each other in a random Champs Élysées café?" She giggled.
"You have become a freelance journalist as you aimed to do back then, after all?" Dr. Spimer asked her.
"Yeah! I've been investigating a bit around… I know of your success in the development of the materials you spoke about 'cause I realized those were the cause the Ameroupe Army was able to reduce fabrication costs by 9%. And those idiots were saying it was a fantasy! Hah!"
"Obviously enough. There'll always be fools who won't realize when a new revolution in some topic has come."
"By the way… Do you still live here, in Paris, or did you move elsewhere?"
"I've shifted residence to Lyon… That was over seven years ago..."
"… Say, I've heard some stuff about you leading some kind of syndicate named "Cypher"…"
"It's no more than fool's talk. I lead a private company specialized in the investigation and production of my designed materials to then sell them to several international organizations. My rivals are trying to shun my company's reputation by making up those stories because I have the monopoly over it." Dr. Spimer calmly explained.
"Ah. I suspected so. I've also heard about something named "Council of Armies"… And your name is sometimes linked to it. It's another fabrication?" She questioned.
"… Not exactly. This "Council of Armies" is the management council of one PMC. It was banded together to try to design a PMC which instead of using violence would try to force the enemies to fall back. They use all kind of tear gas, flash-bang grenades, stun grenades, defense lines… But they try to avoid unnecessary deaths overall. And I have nothing to do with it."
"Speaking of weapons and PMCs… I've heard that a German company has been developing some kind of new weapons for someone…"
"Oh? Is that so?"
"The company is named Schneider Inc."
"Ah. They're under a contract with the French Air Force."
"Who told you that? That's not true. It's not France. It's another country in Asia. A contact of mine told me that."
"Hmmm… Choina?"
"Wrong."
"Thailand?"
"Wrong."
"Laos?"
"Wrong."
"India?"
"Wrong."
"Sharo?"
"Wrong."
"Mongolia?"
"Wrong!" She was exasperated.
"I give up." Dr. Spimer admitted.
"Dark Land."
Dr. Spimer had been drinking some of his coffee when he suddenly choked and began to cough.
"Mon Dieu!" He uttered.
"What? You weren't expecting it?" She was surprised.
"B-but Schneider Inc. is a company with a powerful reputation! They wouldn't go so low as to make a contract with Dark Land! They'd rather do it with France or King Land!" Dr. Spimer argued.
"Sorry. But this is reality, Pierre."
"Tonnere de Brest! Schneider Inc. is the contractor… We had the guy in front of our noses and tossed him aside because of his reputation… Times sure have changed, then… Wait. Who is the current president of Schneider Inc.?" Dr. Spimer muttered before asking her.
"Rudolph von Schneider, son of Francis von Schneider. He was promoted three years ago." She explained..
"… I'm… baffled."
"Man! You never tended to let anything surprise cha back then, did cha know?" Veronica smirked.
"I've changed."
"That's the clichéd line."
"… I'll have to tell my acquaintance. He will find out more info."
"By the way, Pierre…"
"What now?"
"Even though you still have French nationality and your residence is listed as being in Lyon… The France Safe Life Inc. president owns the apartment over there. You don't know how to cover your tracks well enough!"
"Huh… Well… Are you sure that you have the right address?"
"Yeah. I'm sure of it, Pierre. Where do you live at, then? If you live here in Paris… Why did you try to hide it? Did you fear that one of the Paris University idiots might recognize you and come knocking at your door to mock you after a whole decade?" She tried asking.
"Sort of …"
"Hmmm… I suspect that "Cypher" is more than a vulgar company…I've never found where its HQ is supposed to be at. Why would they hide?"
"It's probably for safety reasons. To avoid the rivals from trying to infiltrate spies or carrying out sabotage."
"I will admit that your reply does make sense, Pierre. But that thing about your address not matching reeks a lot: did you know that?"
"… Need Not to Know." Dr. Spimer coolly told her.
"Oh! Pierre! You can't be serious!" She complained.
"I am, Veronica. It's for your safety. Don't try to burrow so deep or you'll crave your own grave. There are powerful people who will go to any extreme to get a hold on where we are at."
"… Pierre… You've gotten yourself into some mess, right?" She rolled her eyes, exasperated.
"It's not a "mess". It's business."
"…I see that you won't say anything else… However… You owe me the fact that I was the only one who encouraged you to finish your thesis. Adieu, Pierre."
She stood up and walked away at a brisk pace, obviously offended: Dr. Spimer sighed and folded the newspaper.
I apologize, Veronica. Dark Land would try to use you to find out more about us if you had the info. I think I shall employ the services of certain persons to reinforce Cypher's firewalls: Zoan Gate Man lurking around her means no good: Twilight's set the sight on us and must want to figure out if the "Mega Hurricane" or the "S" Units have some weakness. Maybe I should send the Elite 3 to check out things in Japan.
He stood up and headed inside of the café, where the register was at; he paid the consumption in cash and then walked out while writing up a SMS with his cell phone; he quickly stopped on his tracks and looked around as if he suspected someone was trailing him.
I wouldn't put it past Veronica to try to stalk me… She did flirt with a lot of classmates back when college but it never went past teasings… Sheesh. Life would be easier without such carefree people, really!
He grumbled under his breath as he finished the message, sent it, and pocketed the phone…
09:18 AM (Berlin Time)…
"… Hum. Our stock market assets are on the rise… Good…"
Schneider was working on something inside of his office with his laptop when the interphone buzzed.
"What is it?" Schneider asked.
"Herr Präsident, Herr Kount Serbauf is here. He requests an urgent meeting." A man announced.
"… Show him in, please." Schneider calmly replied.
"Roger, Herr Präsident."
The door of the office opened and Kount Serbauf stepped in: he wore his business attire and looked in a rather bad mood.
"Herr Kount. It has been a while." Schneider calmly greeted.
"It has been, young von Schneider. However. It's obvious why I have come here." Kount Serbauf replied.
"Excuse me, but… I assume that you are going to discuss my company's former contract, yes?"
"Excuse me? "Former" contract, you say? When did it cease, then? We thought it was still up and running."
"Two days ago. All the materiel was sent to the Dark Land factories for mass-production. We were only to develop the test units and carry out field tests. The head of the R&D lab came up with the designs for the Nibelungs and the Bifrosts. The Valkyries were a joint work between him and me, Herr Kount Serbauf." Schneider admitted.
"Why did you pick Dark Land over any other possibility, young von Schneider?"
"Alas. The current state of affairs forced me. Sharo and Ameroupe are both bitter with us Germans even after sixty years since the end of WWII. France and King Land are also rather resentful."
"Huh. You've got a point there."
"Italy normally welcomes us but their military force is supplied by a Qatar company. Switzerland continues to be stubbornly neutral. Spain welcomes us as well: but the current crisis has hit them too hard to spend on foreign companies. I do not trust the Gulf powers. South Ameroupe is a chaos. Choina negates any external influence. Only countries like Singapore, Polynesia and such are eager for such designs. However… It was Dark Land who approached us." Schneider narrated with obvious frustration and tiredness.
"… I had no idea the thing was so bad… My company also has met trouble in some countries, but we never had to hope for a calling… I suspect I cannot blame you, young von Schneider. I would have done the same thing on your place."
"… As you can see, this is how things happened. I did coin the codename for the project because, as a good German, I am a passionate of the Nibelung operas. There are predictions that our country's economy will be able to recover and strengthen, compared to others."
"By the way… Do you know any names which might help us?"
"My contact was a gentleman whom I knew as Herr General Meta. I know no further." Schneider admitted.
"Good. I shall take my leave. I do hope you have a better fortune next time, young Schneider. Farewell."
"Farewell, Herr Kount Serbauf."
"Ah! Before I forget it: did you have any contact with "Twilight"?"
"Herr Gate, the R&D Lab Chief, did. I hired him 3 years ago and he proved to be an extremely efficient Chief but he seems to want to achieve some personal goal so he's going to take a leave for a while…"
"Alright. We'll research his background and, if needed, approach him. We will meet again."
"Roger, sir."
17:37 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Alright. What do you expect us to find here, Jasmine?"
"Chut. Wait and see, Justin and George."
"Is this really our target?"
"Tee, heh, heh. Who knows, Justin?"
"Jeez. George… Check the data."
"Sure. I don't trust her."
Three figures had sneaked into a warehouse building somewhere and were chatting amongst them.
One of them was a girl on her late teens or early 20s.
She could be over a meter and eighty tall and had short black hair.
She wore a black long-sleeved t-shirt along with black jeans, fingerless black gloves and black sneakers.
She also sported a pair of sunglasses over her eyes.
She also wore a utility belt with two knife cases and two gun pouches.
"This place is 555 meters SSE of our target!"
"Oh yeah? George Clooney?"
"Jeez. That nickname is lame!"
Another guy of similar height and age was standing there.
His hair was blonde in coloring.
He sported the same gear and clothes.
"Why did you lead us here, then?"
"Who knows, Justin?"
Justin had green-tinted hair instead and could be one or two inches shorter than George.
"Beef! Tuna! Beef & Tuna! Great Commander came~!"
"Hiya~… Ex – Great Commander."
"Huh! You guys again? What are you doing in MY Secret Base?"
"Secret Base, come on…"
Commander Beef walked in through the left door and Jasmine grinned at him to surprise him: Shark Man rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"I wanted to tease ya~… Saloma – san is going to marry the handsome new neighbor!" Jasmine laughed.
"WHAT?" He gasped.
"Come on." Shark Man groaned.
"Saloma~! Let me be your best ma~n!"
Commander Beef ran off while both guys sighed and slapped their foreheads in defeat: they heard a chuckle and saw Zoan Gate Man standing in a corner with 4 Mettools labeled "49" to "53"; he was crossing his arms as always.
"The gateman of Sharkey Street showed up?" She joked-
"Hmpf. Guess that."
"So? What's the catch?" Justin demanded.
"What's Twilight up to today?" George questioned next.
"Heh, heh, heh. You needn't know… yet."
"In 2012?" Jasmine joked.
"Nah. I guess in a while of Wales!" He made a silly rhyme.
"OH YEAH! LET ZA AGENTS HIT ZA WALL!" Cloud Man's 3D image formed there, laughing.
"That's stupid." The three of them complained.
"Hah! It's brilliant!"
"Beware, foolish humans… The Composer will extirpate your memories and consciousness from those bodies and implant them into the genetic code of lesser post-apocalyptic humans! The Didact has spoken from Charum Hakkor!" Twilight's amplified voice boomed out.
"We're SO scared, really. Spoiling the next Halo game already?" Justin complained.
"Go collect lilies!" Jasmine fumed.
"Better yet: go dig a Metro Line tunnel using Drill Man." George smirked.
"Hmpf! George Sears! Take over the Big Shell!"
"Not with the MSG joke again!" He groaned.
"The Precursors spoke! Your kindred will inherit the Mantle!"
"Stop spoiling us!"
"Are you ready to wait 2 years to know it?" Twilight teased.
"We can: Halo 3 seemed remote back when the "Nebula" campaign but by now it's been out for over one year. MGS4 seemed remote: it came out too. So it's just a matter of waiting." Jasmine shot back.
"Rule over them, little girl!"
"I'm not little girl! I'm 20 already!" Jasmine protested.
"And you can't be older than, say 26." George added.
"Sod off. We're going to do our job." Justin grumbled as he cocked his gun and headed for the door.
"Beware of Uroboros!"
"Don't spoil Biohazard 5 next: we know it's coming in about a month and few days from now. Go plot with Wesker." George fumed.
"Let's leave them to gloat in vain." Jasmine shrugged.
"Hah! Wayward souls: may you end up in the Palace of Pain aboard Installation 07! Become guinea pigs for the Primordial! Hah, hah, hah!"
18:55 PM (Melbourne Time)…
"… So? Master. Will you tell me the trick already?"
"Fine. I feel in a good mood…"
"Hypnotic post-suggestion or…?"
"No, no… Way simpler! Do you know about MGS?"
"A buddy of mine's a fan… He showed me the games last year."
"Good. Maybe you remember there's a fellow named Raiden."
"The blonde newbie who becomes a cyborg ninja…? Yeah."
Twilight and Philip were talking in the living room of their refuge and Twilight began to explain.
"I don't know if you know it, but during his mission on the "Big Shell" facility, he ended up discovering that the "Colonel" who had been giving him orders by radio and the one he'd never met in the flesh was but a simulation set up by a powerful neuro-optical AI… They stimulated activity in dormant parts of the brain and using his experiences and expectations they led him to build up that "Colonel"…"
"So you mean that you somehow made them believe that the events which happened on those two days were not real?"
"Correct. I stimulated their chip implants regulating their memories and mindset… I simply had to input some expectations and fragments combed from previous experiences… So both ended up believing they'd made a pact amongst them and their classmate to "spice things up" and they thought it was a game, "friendly" S&M… Hence why they didn't react or didn't struggle…" He detailed.
"Oh. I see. And then…?"
"Then when we warp them back at the stall, I take profit of their unconsciousness to reduce brain activity and "remove" those thoughts while setting up a subconscious instinct… When they're called out their wake-up makes them automatically believed they dozed off."
"And neither of them found it odd?"
"No. That was thanks to stimulating previous records and using the "closed feed" between both of their implants… The nanomachines helped as well… And I guess Laertes… I mean… Lartes… didn't find anything odd because they didn't display weird activity peaks and I fooled the GPS beacon to make them believe they were in school… It's not like he monitors them 24/7… And they've already dismissed those experiences as well…" He continued.
"Wow. So that's why nobody detected anything out of place, then?"
"IQ – sama told me to beat around the bush so I came up with this between the end of the FOD and the beginning of this project… Now I dunno what Gate's up to but IQ – sama gave him permission to beat around the bush… She wants us to try to find a long way around and make it subtle… Kyoudai expects me to be blunt and straight to the point so he can't imagine I'd come up with such a complicated system."
"Cool. And yeah, teasing them makes them underestimate you."
"Heh. Thanks, Darth Bapgei… Did it feel good?"
"Yeah. My first time having others do me blowjobs… I felt the power I had as the "Master"… How I ruled over them… How they belonged to me: body, mind…" He eagerly grinned.
"Heh, heh, heh. You'd do a good trainer. But I want you to keep on with your sword and knife training. Just in case… And maybe I'll send you after one of those agents too…" He chucked.
"Roger. I'd like to test them out as well, yeha."
"OH YEAH! LET ZA SOLDIERS HIT ZA SAND!"
"Cloud Man. Shut up." Freeze Man snapped.
"R-roger, sir!" He gulped.
"Jeez." The others complained.
"If only this guy knew when to stay quiet…" Twilight fumed.
18:13 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Yeah… Like that… Pump me, Tooru – kun!"
"Yeah… Feels good…"
"Heh, heh, heh. Tooru – kun feels as good as ever… Doesn't it feel SO good to be in the middle when in a threesome? Here: prize."
"Yikes! Don't lick my ears from behind, Saito – kun… It tickles!"
Netto, Hikawa and Saito were having sex in Hikawa's bedroom: their school uniforms were lazily tossed atop chairs and they were all atop Hikawa's bed.
Netto was sitting on his fours and looked exultant as Hikawa (on his knees) pumped in and out of his ass while gripping Netto's waist to keep his balance: Saito was sitting on his knees too and pumping into Hikawa from behind while closing his arms around his waist too.
Netto had a vibrator stuffed into his ass along with Hikawa: Saito had it along with the string of anal beads.
The three of them had clothes pegs connected by a string clipped on their nipples.
"Heh, heh, heh. It's just Monday but I felt an urge to do this." Saito admitted.
"Curious: I had that same feeling. I guess a two-week-break was too much for us to bear!" Netto chuckled.
"O~h… Yeah… I missed it too… This "soft" game… Maybe we should "spice" it a bit one day… Maybe we could go by small stages and come up with something new each week?" Hikawa suggested.
"That doesn't sound bad…" Netto grinned.
"Let's give it a while to think it over." Saito advised.
"By the way, I got a photo of Dragon – san's banner… What's it today?"
"Huff." Both sighed.
"That bad?" Hikawa rolled his eyes.
"Totally." Netto groaned.
"… "Where floating objects meet rigid objects and sin ensues"…"
"… In short: an inn or somewhere else where a woman and a man meet and have sex?" Hikawa found it stupid too.
"I suspect Twilight's black humor behind it: not even Sigma can come up with something so LAME."
"And Shadow Man would rather put some RPG parody."
"No wonder." Hikawa sighed.
"Tease me, Tooru – kun!" Netto rallied.
"Fine." He grinned.
He picked Netto's cock and began to rub it while rubbing the head too; Saito kept on licking Hikawa's ears and slowly twisting the clothes pegs or pulling the skin on his balls to totally tease him: Hikawa moaned while Netto and Saito chuckled or giggled.
"Coming!" Hikawa gasped.
"Whoa!"
"Heh!"
Hikawa released and filled Netto's ass: his released gripped Saito's cock and he filled him up too while Netto also released and he gripped Hikawa's cock to make him spurt out another two times: they panted and giggled or chuckled.
"Ah… Refreshing! Now I feel ready to tackle whatever this week throws at us to begin with." Netto admitted.
"Math included?" Saito joked.
"Guess it's included on the deal." Hikawa joked.
They all chuckled or giggled and blinked to each other…