He'd gotten changed some 12 minutes ago. The main part of the softsuit now underneath his clothes. It hugged him so tight it felt like a second skin. Jacob did feel safer. A 12 gauge shotgun in the trunk and his Hardsuit. At least he had a chance if things went tits up.

The lumbering truck was just 10 feet away from the small Camaro. Jacob let out a small sigh of relief felt his heart rate beginning to even out. Quickly glancing down at his watch he smirked. 2 hours till show time. He mused to himself. Hikaru jumped out of the truck and gestured Jacob over.

Looking in he saw Irene watching her lover from the car mirror. "Wait here" Jacob told her.

Stepping over Jacob saw the boyish grin on Hikaru's face. He looked ready to jump for joy.

"You sure look chipper" Jacob commented.

Hikaru glanced at him flashing a smile. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small hard-disk. Jacob smiled as well upon seeing it. The info that would guarantee him and Irene a new life.

"This baby alone is worth 50 million," Hikaru said. "What's in the back is 3 times that" He gestured to the truck.

Jacob's face lit up like a Christmas tree. He can imagine what he could do with that money. Retire at age 40 or 50 and go down south. With that money he could disappear and never be heard from again. Closing the truck door he also knew Genom would have it out for him if he did sell all of that stuff. And selling it wouldn't be easy either.

Jacob sighed. "It's my job to get you out of here not turn the whole damn street into a flea market" He said guiding Hikaru along.

"I'm just thinking you could increase your profits from this one" Hikaru said sounding generous.

Jacob shrugged. "All I need is to see you two on a plane out of here," He replied. "Then I can get a decent nights sleep"

Hikaru nodded. "Whatever makes you tick" He muttered softly.

At Genom.

He could swear he was getting paranoid. Sipping casually on some rum and coke he stared out at the city beyond the window. A devilish smirk slowly spread across his face. His city, one he could use as his own personal sandbox for his new inventions. His super boomer project would take some time but he had other pet projects keeping him busy. The wait would be worth it. Taking another sip he then marched to his desk and placed the glass down. Slowly sitting down he touched a stud on the comm-unit built into the desk.

A brief chime sounded indicating the person on the other end was listening. "I want a status update on truck number 274" He said with a dry and almost mechanical tone.

There was a moment of silence and then an uneasy response filtered through the speaker. "If I'm reading this right then it has stopped at Otomo boulevard in the south end. It's been there for the past eight minutes"

Mason felt the hairs on the back of his neck slowly stand up. A pit begin to form in his stomach.

"Eight minutes," Mason said. "I wanna camera feed now!"

The person did just that and then a few seconds a video popped up on the display. He could see the truck coming to a dead stop 10 feet away from the blue 70s Camaro. Hikaru hopped out of the truck and gestured the other man over. Mason watched the two chat but couldn't make out what they were saying due to the lack of audio. Watching with a newfound sense of fury he waited to see the two beginning to loot the truck. Back to his surprise it didn't happen, the man he didn't recognise guided Hikaru along to the car. Something in Mason kept nagging at him as he paused the image and jotted down the license plate on a piece of paper. TK-421. Quickly switching to his computer he enquired for any data extractions as of late. To his non-surprise there was one. A full dump of the super boomer project performed by Hikaru himself.

"That little bastard!" slamming his fist down in rage he then switched to his comm-unit. "I want a duo of assassin boomers and a C-55 deployed on the double. The target is one Hikaru McKinney, code number 519!"

For a moment the person on the other end and respond. writing it down. "On it, they'll be deployed in less than 10 minutes" The person responded.

Mason scowled. "You've got 5" He said before switching off.

With Jacob.

The Hardsuit and 12 gage shotgun in the trunk didn't make it feel any better. It was nice to have them and it felt good to know he could be trusted with them, but it probably wouldn't do him any good against a chasing Boomer. Unlike the sabers he didn't have any plot armour. Neither did Irene and Hikaru for all he knew. Should have binged the show when I had the chance. Jacob lamented. One of his biggest regrets in life that would probably haunt him to the end of his days. He can only pray he'd live to the end of it all. Just look on the bright side, he reminded himself. I'm helping these two get outta the city and into a comfortable life. The light flashed green and they began driving once again. Glancing to Hikaru in the backseat via the rear mirror he looked back forwards. So far so good. Turning the wheel to the left he rounded the corner. In his side mirror he could see a black DeLorean looking car just a few cars back. Jacob noticed two people inside riding shotgun. Both were abnormally still. Biting his lip he drove the car down the road and flipped the turn signal indicating they were going left. Turning again he saw the black car still behind. The cars it had been behind were now go in the opposite direction of them.

Jacob could feel his throat going dry. "Hikaru, look behind us and tell me what you see" He said, the nervousness slowly creeping into his voice.

Irene looked at Jacob with a puzzled expression. "You look tense" She commented.

No shit. He didn't respond to her words. His hand tightened around the shifter and he watched the road ahead. It was almost empty aside from a few cars going the opposite way. Hikaru looked back squinting at the tail. Then his eyes suddenly went wide.

"B-b-boomers?" He said, he couldn't mistake it either.

Even at this distance he could tell what exactly they were. Assassin droids. Lighter models with less armour and meant for a more subtle approach. That word was all the confirmation Jacob needed.

His foot went to the metal in a heartbeat causing the tires to squeal and kick up smoke. "Hang on!" He said shifting up a gear.

Easing off the throttle he shot around the corner and quickly gunned it. The red pursuer matched him with tires squealing. Jacob up shifted again and the car lurched forward at the sudden burst of speed. The red car was getting closer as the sound of it's engine began to burn itself into Jacobs mind.

"Irene pass me the CB now!" Jacob demanded.

She grabbed a CB radio and gave it to Jacob who now saw another intersection approaching. The light has just turned red but and vehicles beginning to cross. Fuck it!. He applied more gas and dropped the radio onto his lap Both Irene and Hikaru looked at Jacob in horror. Irene covered her eyes screaming in horror as they blazed between two cars crossing but never touched. Hikaru's heart was pounding in his chest as he saw the lights flash green just a second after they crossed.

"They've got light overrides!" Hikaru informed Jacob.

Jacob grimaced reaching down towards the CB radio. "Oh that's just beautiful," He responded. "Fucking beautiful"

Then he made the call.

With the Knight Sabers.

"Houston we've got a problem"

Sylia felt as if her heart stopped in that moment. Jacob's tone was stressful and the sound of an engine roaring only compounded her feeling. Irene could be heard screaming and car horns could be barely heard blaring. Sylia grabbed the comm and watched the gps dot moving like hell. Whatever was going on Jacob was trying to get away from something quick!.

"I'm listening Jacob" She said, glancing around seeing the mood had darkened.

There was a brief curse from Jacob just before he responded. "We've got two Boomers riding my ass and-," A gunshot rang out and the shattering of glass pierced through the speaker. "COCKSUCKING TIN CANS!" He screamed loud enough to peak the microphone.

That little outburst would've been enough to make Priss proud if it were a different occasion. Sylia could've sworn her ears were ringing from that scream. Nene was nervously pacing and Linna was internally praying.

Expanding the map Sylia Quickly marked down a place. "Jacob, there's an abandoned factory 6 miles from where you are. I want to to go to Warren and Davis drive and hide there. We're coming" She said.

Jacob laughed. "There won't be much of them left after I give them a piece of my mind!" He responded.

Linna then stepped in. "If you even think of taking one of them on I swear to God I will ring your neck!" Linna shouted into microphone.

Sylia looked at Linna and decided not to add to that. Jacob was silent on the other end and was as he was now busy trying to get to the new destination.

"No promises," He quickly replied. "See ya on the other end"

Then he switched off. Linna sighed to herself and then sat down. Priss wasn't gonna be caught sitting around and mounted her motorslave.

"I'm going ahead," She said. "You can bitch at me when you get there"

With a flip of a switch the motorcycle turned on and the side door open and she vanished onto the road. Sylia didn't even try convince her not to. With traffic is as bad as it was in this town it may to be too late. If you die Wilson I'll make sure you get home. She thought. The thought of going to his dimension and then spreading the ashes now began to cross her mind. Shaking her head she push the idea from her head. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

"I'm gonna see what I can do for them" Nene said hopping behind one of the computer terminals.

At least it was a start.

With Jacob.

These boomers are really beginning to piss him off. The back window had been completely shot out along with the front window with it. The shot had almost taken off Jacob's head to boot. Coming up on another corner he eased up on the gas once again and sharply turned into the stream of traffic. Slipping between two cars he turned right and skidded onto the other road. The pursuing car slowed and swerved to avoid a collision delaying it by a full 10 seconds. Hallelujah. Jacob thought. Feeling the fire underneath his ass dissipate he rounded another corner and gunned it. The powerful engine roared as the car raced down the street. On the left only 100 feet ahead was an on-ramp to the freeway.

"I think that did it!" Hikaru said, feeling the tension slowly beginning to boil away.

Jacob didn't believe that for a moment. Glancing back via the rear view he saw the car hadn't rounded the corner yet. What was keeping them?. Then suddenly something caught his attention in his peripheral vision. Looking he saw the red car coming up towards them. It turned slamming it side into them as they drove. The car shook and vibrated with the impact. He looked with rage filled eyes. Jacob found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol. In a blind reaction he grabbed Irene's head and forced her down and ducked. Two gun shots rang out shattering his and Irene's window into shard. Turning the steering wheel the car skidded onto the on-ramp and got ahead of their pursuers. Pulling himself back up his heart felt like it had stopped.

Jacob glared at Hikaru and gritted his teeth. "You had to jinx it!" he growled.

Hikaru looked stunned at what had just happened. Irene was in a state of shock unable to scream. Oh god, oh god, oh god please make it stop!. She pleaded but got no answer. Jacob shifted up and merged onto the freeway overtaking three cars in the process.

Grabbing the CB radio again he knew this wasn't go over well. "Plan B got fucked. Taking the highway down south," He informed. Unknowingly he still had the mic hot when he said. "Fuck that was almost my head!"

With Priss.

"There headed south on the freeway and are gonna aim for the old Harbor instead" Nene informed Priss over communicator.

Priss nodded. "Roger that," She said before disabling the connection. "Christ can this get any worse?"

Sharply turning left she began towards the Harbor. She half expected to get another call informing her plans had changed yet again. But the call never came. She couldn't help but wonder if the A.D police were thinking about the car chase. Probably gonna leave it till it turns nasty. Raced on as others watched from the sidewalks. Some of them or even recording her. She couldn't help but smirk.

Back to Jacob.

Once they were off the highway he blasted past a old sigh which read 'Do not enter, area under construction'. The sign below it also read 'Construction delayed until further notice'. Good. Jacob looked back not seeing the sports car yet. They probably only had a 2 minute head start on it. Soon things were about to get hairy. It wouldn't surprise Jacob if Mason was using the city cameras to track him. If only I had given him the bird. Wiping the sweat away from his forehead he turned right. There were two cranes, and other demolition equipment laying about. Bringing the car to a halt he popped the trunk.

Jumping out Jacob tan to the back. "Hikaru help me out with this thing!" he called.

Hikaru crawled out to the destroyed back window and gasped. In the trunk was a armoured suit In similar design to what the night Sabres used. This one was obviously designed for a male occupant. Jacob threw off of shirt exposing the softsuit beneath.

"Y- your a Knight Saber?" Hikaru stuttered.

Jacob nodded. "Just grab the suit and hold it up" he told him.

Hikaru climbed off the car and pulled the suit out of the trunk. It was a tad heavy but nothing he couldn't handle. Mason would loose his shit if he saw this. He thought as Jacob pulled off his pants and shoes. Reaching back into the trunk he pulled out a grey neck thing. Securing it into place Jacob took a nervous breath. Jacob opened a small panel and pressed a button. The suit popped open to Hikaru's surprise. Irene watched as Jacob climbed in. She pulled herself out and stared in disbelief.

"Is Linna a Knight saber too?"

Jacob secured himself inside the suit and looked at her. "Yes she is," he then grabbed the helmet from the truck. "Hikaru take the shotgun and Irene and hide. I'm gonna keep these fuckers busy" he told him.

"Are you insane!. You'll be killed!"

Jacob slid on his helmet. He finally had a chance to look at his weapon. It was a simple high-powered laser blaster. Nothing complicated.

"I'm not risking your goddamn neck. You two are getting out of here alive and I can't do that if you're standing here like idiots!" Jacob pointed vaguely towards the machinery.

Hikaru relented. "Alright, I see your point" he then grab the scattergun and began moving with Irene to the equipment to hide.

Irene looked back to Jacob. "Good luck" she called.

Jacob felt stomach twist. He then switched his communicator on. Doing a systems check he found everything was within parameters. Thank god. He breathed a sigh. He looked around to see the pursuers were just arriving. Jacob felt cold. Slowly he raised his blaster arm lining it up with a cars engine.

"Sylia," he said. "How far out are ya?"

The response took a few seconds. "15 minutes. Priss is coming in on Motorslave. We're just about to do the same" she reassured him.

Jacob watched as the car pulled to a stop 60 feet away. The doors opened and The two slim assassin boomers stepped out. The back door is opened and two larger boomers stepped out as well.

"Oh fuck!" He sad in horror.

The two assassin boomers were both female. One with blazing red hair and the other with dark brown hair. The two C-55s with the equivalent of weightlifters who took steroids, one being blonde and one being a brunette. Four against one. Not how we expected to spend this day.

"What's wrong?" Sylia demanded.

"I'm currently staring down four boomers. Two assassins and two C-55s. Safe to say I'm fucked!"

Sylia went cold. "Oh god" was she managed to say.

The boomers were beginning to approach now. Jacob fired a blast right into the cars engine. The fuel ignited causing the car to erupt in a violent explosion!. The C-55 boomers were caught in the middle of the explosion. Their synthetic skin quickly melted away. Jacob took a breath. Here goes nothing. He thought just as the assassins charged him. He quickly engaged his jump pack and cut left. Firing a few shots he clip the shoulder of the red haired one.

"Ahh damn it!" it cursed.

Jacob landed on a pair of wooden crates. He kept his blaster trained on the two. The brunette approached him. Suddenly a laser dug into the ground just in front of it.

"You have a lot of nerve blowing a hole in the back of my car!" Jacob growled.

The redhead glared at him with pure rage. "How about you come down here and fight us like a man!" she taunted.

He wasn't stupid. If he went up against those two he would most likely be torn to shreds. From the fire he could see the C-55s emerging from the flames. Shit. He then looked back to the assassins.

"Nah, I'm good," he replied. "But, I'll be more than happy to send you back in pieces"

The brunette rolled her optics. She then leapt towards him!. Jacob gasped as he was tackled off the crates. Crashing to the ground he yelped out in pain. Son of a bitch!. He managed to position his foot at the assassins abdomen. Pushing with all of his might the boomer flew off of him. Quickly he lined up a shot and fired. The blast tore though the centre and caused the synthetic skinned burst into flames. The lifeless shell fell only a few feet away from him.

"One down, three to go" he muttered.

Yanking himself up he suddenly saw a shadow descending upon him. Instinctively leaping out of the way the ground he was one was crushed by the awesome size of the C-55. It towered over him as he brought his laser to firing position. The boomer laughed.

"Do you really think that little peashooter can damage me?"

Jacob checked his sensors. The others were approaching.

"God I hope so" squeezing the trigger he let out a shot.

Quickly he jumped away as the other two boomers descended upon him. Grabbing onto the bottom of the crane he fired downwards. The assassin took cover behind the larger ones as they tanked his shots. Damn things useless!. He stopped firing and pulled himself up. It was a bitch but he managed to do it.

The lead boomer grabbed one of the crates with ease. He lobbed it towards Jacob. The crate impacted were he stood sending the human off the side. Jacob used his to soften his landing. The other C-55 opened it's mouth. The energy buildup displayed on his hud.

"Oh shit!" He cursed as he jumped outta the way.

The intense beam of energy lanced through the air and blazed into the nearby warehouse. The entire warehouse shuddered as the blast blew the back walls off. Jacob rolled a few feet and kicked himself upright. The boomer positioned his head and prepared another shot. It opened its mouth once more. Jacob instantly brought up his blaster and fired a shot. The shot impacted just inside the mouth causing a chain reaction. Energy went wild as the boomers head suddenly exploded in a shower of sparks and flames.

Jacob sighed in relief. "That's another down," he muttered. "Just two more le..." he cut himself off when a box collided with him sending and flying service feet backwards.

Crashing into a instruction make it toppled over and crashed into the ground with a thunderous bang. Jacob groaned as he pushed the fragments of the wooden box off of him. Thank chirst that was only wood. He thought. Coughing he felt a searing pain in his chest. He either broke or fractured a rib. Either wasn't good, especially now. Suddenly a figure filled his vision. It was the red headed assassin. She stepped on his blaster and forced it down. She also stepped on his chest keeping him from moving too much.

"You ain't going anywhere boy," she coldly says. "Now where is the disk?"

Jacob Felt as if his heart had stopped. He felt the coldness return. Luckily thanks for the helmet she couldn't see his face.

"It's long gone. I'm only a distraction" he said.

She didn't buy it for a second. There were three people in the car. One was her true target. He was probably hiding with the other. She Press the down on him causing the armour to stress.

Jacob grabbed her leg and attempted to pull her off. She laughed at his feeble attempt.

"Aww how cute," she kicked his hand off. "I'll stop when you tell me where is that disk?!"

Jacob glared at her. He could see the other boomer beginning to look around. Crap. He thought before looking back up. He had to get free, kill this one and take out the other. Easy.

"Third warehouse on the left" he lied.

The other boomer heard him and moved towards the warehouse. That probably bought me a minute or two. He thought. Now he had to he her off. She bent closer to him and flipped up his mask.

"Your cuter than I expected," she muttered. "I expected someone a little older"

Jacob didn't know what to even say to that. "How about you get off me and we finish this dance" he offered.

The boomer giggled. "I'm not that stupid boy. I like you where you are" she pressed down on his chest.

"Well I don't" he bluntly replied.

Pushing all power into his jump pack he blasted off the mecha. The assassin went tumbling over onto the ground. Jacob landed 12 feet away when is searing pain shot through him. Collapsing onto one knee he gasped for breath. Swinging the helmet down he coughed.

"Body scan" he weakly said.

A readout displayed. Two fractured ribs and a fractured left arm. Oh that's not good. He quickly realized the severity of the situation.

"Come on pretty boy, I'm right here" The boomer taunted.

Jacob looked and drew a deep breath. Another wave of pain came over him. Grunting Jacob forced himself to stand.

He mustered up his remaining strength. "Let's dance" bringing his blaster the bear he fired.

The boomer cut left dodging his shots. Jacob lined up again and fired. He clipped her in the back but she quickly closed the distance between them. She punched him in the gut and threw him several feet. Jacob went ass over end till he stopped. Me and my big mouth. He pulled himself up again. He was suddenly met with a fist to the helmet. Jacob staggered back. Bringing his blaster up he blindly fired. One of the rounds tore through the abdomen of the assassin. She screamed and grabbed her wound.

"F- fucker!" She cursed.

Jacob quickly regained him his footing. Suddenly he heard the large footsteps of the other boomer approaching. Ah shit!. He cursed. He triggered the jump pack only for it to not work. Warning signs quickly flashed up onto the hud. His expression soured. His advantage was gone. He turned and fired up on the boomer. It shrugged off his shots as if they were nothing. What is that bastard made off?. He wondered. The C-55 closed the distance and it grabbed Jacob.

"Where is the disk!" it demanded.

Jacob kicked at it to no avail. "Up for exhaust pipe!" he retorted.

The boomer then threw him in a fit of rage towards a cluster of equipment. Jacob went crashing over Hikaru and Irene who yelped out in horror. Jacob crashed into the crane and screamed in agony. Hikaru moved over to Jacob and saw the suit was cracked in areas.

"Jacob you get up!" Hikaru pulled him up right.

Jacob's head rolled left as he gasped for breath. "I'm trying" he weakly said.

Irene looked to see the boomers approaching. "T- they see us!"

Hikaru racked the shot gun. "Shit" he cursed.

Jacob pulled himself up with the aid of the crane. Using his free arm he held himself up. Hikaru saw blood seeping out one of the cracks. His eyes widened in horror. He can't fight them. He realized. Hikaru stood and yanked the disk from his pocket. He quickly shoved it into Irene's hands.

"What are you d..."

"Just run," Hikaru cut her off. "We'll hold them off. I love you" he then kissed her.

Irene was on the verge of a complete breakdown. "I- I love you too" she managed to say.

Irene broke to run as Hikaru brought the shotgun up. Jacob groaned as he put himself ahead of Hikaru. The assassin couldn't help but laugh at the pathetic sight.

"You really think you can be us?" She mocked.

Jacob brought his blaster arm up with difficulty. "Tell that to your friends" he spat.

The boomer's face twisted into a nasty scowl. "And you'll be joining them real soon" she coldly said.

The assassin lunged at him. Jacob pulled the trigger only to hear a hiss from the mechanism. Suddenly an error message filled his screen. Low power!. He was suddenly decked across the helmet sending him flying back into the crane. Jacob felt like a truck had hit him head on.

"Bitch!" Hikaru aimed and fired.

The assassin looked. The shotgun kicked as the blast knocked Hikaru off his feet. The synthetic skin tore away off the assassin casing her to stagger back. The large boomer quickly stepped in and yanked Hikaru off the ground. Jacob saw it and jumped to his feet. He funnelled all reserve power into the his blaster.

"Eat this fuck-face!" He screamed.

The blast hit the boomer burning a small hole only 4 inches into its armoured body. The C-55 laughed. He grabbed Hikaru by the neck and squeezed. A bone chilling snap sounded before the limp and lifeless body was haphazardly tossed aside. Jacob watched as his hud went dark. His stomach twisted as his blood froze. The large boomer turned and grabbed him effortlessly.

"Out of power," it commented, turning its head towards its companion only to see its head had been punctured. "Armour piercing rounds. Clever bastard"

Jacob felt the boomers grip tightening. He groaned as he gasped for breath. His grabbed at the large hands squeezing him trying and failing to get free. The boomer's grip tightened as they kept Irene in one optic. Jacob kicked in an attempt to break free. Only a thud rang though his powerless suit.

"Someone please... hurry" he pleaded knowing he couldn't be heard.

I'm sorry Irene, he thought as his vision darkened. I'm so sorry. Suddenly the sounds of a Motorcycle engine filtered in from the outside. The tightening stopped not a moment too soon.

"Oh great, more of them" The boomer muttered.

Jacob felt a wash of relief come over him. He continued to skip away as he was dropped onto the ground. As his head hit the back of his helmet he lost consciousness.

Priss.

She fired her railgun at the boomer. It growled as she jumped off of her Motorslave. The bike shifted into its bipedal form and pulled out its cannon. Priss gave it the order to fire away. Two shots rang out. The boomer was suddenly thrown off of its feet and crashed into the crane where Jacob had creased into minutes prior. The boomer fell forwards with a hole tore right though the midsection. It crashed with a bang missing both Jacob and the dead Hikaru by inches. Priss saw Jacob and gasped. She ran over and dropped to her knees.

"You better not be dead ya bastard" She told him.

She rolled Jacob onto his said and quickly took off his helmet. Very faintly she could hear him breathing. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her gaze then shifted to Hikaru who lay on the ground dead. Her gut turned as she looked away. A pair of footsteps began to approach. She turned on her comm and looked towards the noise. It was Irene.

"Hikaru!" she screamed.

She skidded to a stop and dropped next to her lover. She took him on her arms. Her hope died as she lowered her head in grief. Tears ran down her cheeks as she began shaking.

"H- hikaru"

Much later.

There were stewardess Boomers on the plane. But they didn't kill her. It was all 'would-you-care-for-a-beverage' and 'we'll-be-landing-soon-please-fasten-your-seatbelts'. There were beverages, but they weren't poisoned. Hard liquor, yes, overpriced for what they were, but Irene bought what she bought, drank as much of it as she could six hours in, and spent the next eight hours in a pickled stupor.

There were guidance Boomers in the SFO concourse, and vacuum 'bots, and baggage carriers, and they all looked the same, their skin worn, their eyes unfocused. No jaws unhinged to reveal mouth lasers. No claws popped out from between white-gloved fingers. The Boomers there watched her the same way they watched everybody else.

She passed the last security checkpoint, passed the baggage claim. She wanted to scream, 'Look at me! The only man I ever loved is dead and I'm carrying around the last thing he ever did! I'll never go back to that city again! I'll always be here and it's not fair!'

But she didn't.

She was just about to hail a taxi from her phone when she saw Kou. He saw her too, and walked up to her before she could act like she hadn't seen him.

Kou was Reika's manservant, rigged up with shit-hot cybernetics, puppy-dog loyal. Grandfather had dragged him out of the slums of Taipei and honed every part of him to a sharpened point. If he was here-

"Irene," he said. "Your grandfather has prepared a car. He wishes to speak with you."

She didn't respond. "Hikaru didn't make it."

"I gathered as much from his absence. Do you still have the datadisc?"

"If I don't, will my grandfather not speak to me?"

Kou's hand darted out into her jacket pocket and snatched it out, just like that. He smiled. "Thank you." The same hand raised, as if to give it back to her.

"Keep it."

"I think it would be best if you were to give it to your grandfather in person. As a gift. As was intended."

She wanted to snap the goddamn thing in two. But she didn't. She took the disc, and put it back in the same pocket. Nodded.

They walked up to the car, another one of grandfather's massive limo-trucks, what Father had once called a mobile command center for all the comms equipment and snacks and wet bar that was rigged into it. Doctor Chang did not like stationary meeting places. Too many traceable risks for his line of work. He still hadn't quite bought off the FBI and closed their cases on him.

She got in. It was dark. Reika was there, in a smart little suit – she hadn't been keeping track of her work as Vision. Was she still doing that?

And then her grandfather.

The car door shut as Kou got in. They started up. Irene laid her bag on the seat beside her. Looked across the truck at the man she feared like nothing else in the world.

The windows tinted to full opacity. Overhead lights clicked on. Irene felt as her soul had left her body at that moment. If only Hikaru were here. If only.

End chapter.