Chapter 5: Brush Seed

The drive back to Iria's house in the Kreper was tense. There was nothing Fujikuro wanted to do more than rip Iria out of the cocoon she was in, but without knowing how many more Zeiramoids might be roaming around on Myce, it simply wasn't safe. He could tell the kid, Kei, felt the same way he did, but for a miracle she was staying quiet in the back seat. That was fine with him. Maybe some of the things he was trying to teach her were finally getting through.

On the way back he had contacted Bob and updated him on the situation. Bob had been predictably alarmed and relieved at the same time. His only instruction was to make it back to the house as quickly as possible before abruptly closing the link.

The quick sign off felt a little odd, but Fujikuro was too distracted by a flood of other thoughts to pay more attention to it. Based on what the lead Zeiramoid had said, the Zeiramoids had specifically targeted Iria for capture. That seemed impossible. He didn't know a lot about Zeiramoids, but a few things seemed obvious from his observations in the past few days: namely that they didn't have a will of their own. Now that Zeiram was supposedly dead, they shouldn't be much smarter than animals - let alone have the coordination to track her down and capture her.

Had Zeiram found a way to cheat his death?

As he thought about it, an even more disturbing possibility occurred to him. Was the Zeiramoid attack on Iria a case of poor timing or was it somehow related to the bounty job to capture Iria? Fujikuro wanted to discard the notion almost immediately for how absurd it was. It didn't make sense for a few reasons, not the least of which was Zeiramoids or Zeiram being intelligent enough to get a job like that posted. Even if they could, why would they do it if the Zeiramoids already had a means to capture her? Wouldn't the Zeiramoids and the Hunters get in the way of each other? Best to just post the job and let the Hunters do all the hard work...

Then again, they weren't known for their intelligence.

But if they weren't that smart, how would they get a bounty job posted?

Fujikuro groaned in frustration as his mind started going around in circles. He was missing something. Thinking about this too much now was going to drive him crazy. Thankfully, he was saved from his headache by the sight of the house coming into view. He slowed the Kreper down just enough to be able to guide it into the spacious garage without crashing into it.

Kei jumped out before the Kreper was at a full stop and rushed over to where the cocoon was still held in the grasper claw.

"Watch yourself, kid!" Fujikuro warned her. "I'm releasing the claw now!"

"It's okay, I've got her!" Kei assured him.

He simply rolled his eyes as he released the cocoon.

There was a yelp of surprise from Kei as Iria's body proved to be to heavy for Kei to hold upright and she toppled to the ground with it.

"Bodies are a lot heavier when they go completely limp," Fujikuro instructed her as he finished shutting down the Kreper. The doors to the garage had already closed behind them.

He heard Kei grunt as she was no doubt struggling to lift the cocoon. "This is nothing! I... have thiiiis!"

Fujikuro just shook his head as he walked to the front of the Kreper to see Kei struggling to drag the cocoon to the elevator. "We don't have all night," he admonished her before leaning down to pick up the cocoon and cradle it in his arms. "Let's get up there so we can finally cut Iria out of this thing."

Kei just nodded as she called the elevator. As soon as they made it into the house proper, Kei rushed off to find some means of cutting Iria out of the cocoon. Fujikuro let her go as he laid the cocoon down on the couch opposite from the main computer bank. He took a seat on the raised hearth in front of the couch, taking care not to bump into the pothook coming down from the ceiling before studying the cocoon. With proper lighting, it looked more like webbing from a spider than a more proper cocoon. Most of the body was obscured under the webbing, but a few shocks of red hair that were unmistakably Iria's were poking out from one end of the thing.

Fujikuro was about to do a further examination when he realized that something was off about the house.

Bob.

Where was Bob? He should have been greeting them, or giving orders, as soon as they walked inside.

Fujikuro stood up in alarm and grabbed for his hand rifle. A quick glance at the computer showed that the screens were off. He also realized that he hadn't heard from Kei the moment she ran off around the corner.

He pointed his gun at the empty space that led further into the house. "Kid? You there?"

No answer.

"Come on out!" he growled. "I'm not dumb enough to walk into your ambush, so you might as well stop hiding!"

There was a pause before his ultimatum was met with female laughter, but it was definitely not from the kid. "And you think I'm dumb enough to walk out in the open so you can shoot me? I guess this puts us at an impasse, Fujikuro."

The voice sounded familiar and Fujikuro placed a guess, hoping that he was wrong. "Kily?"

"Kilyco," she corrected him. "The days where you could call me Kily are long gone."

Fujikuro grimaced. This was the last thing he needed right now, but at least it was a Hunter he knew pretty well. He could use that. "Listen, I'm not here for the bounty. Iria was attacked earlier tonight. I just want to make sure she's okay. Let's call a Hunter's truce. I won't attack you if you don't attack me. It's in your best interest to take her back to the client in as pristine a condition as possible."

There was a moment of silence before Kilyco responded. "You're telling the truth? I have your word?"

"You have my word," Fujikuro agreed. "I have yours?"

"As long as everything you said is true, you do," she answered. "One false move and I'll cut you down. You have my word on that too."

Against his better instincts, Fujikuro reholstered his hand rifle behind his back. It's not something he would do with many Hunters, but he knew Kilyco. She wasn't the type to break her word and he didn't want to leave Iria in the Zeiramoid cocoon any longer than necessary. "Deal. Come on out."

Kilyco stepped out from around the corner. She looked very close to how Fujikuro remembered her: sleek and fit. She wore a black bodysuit with pieces of silver and dark purple armor covering vital areas. Her medium black hair was braided into a ponytail and streaked with silver highlights. The silver in the hair had nothing to do with age, it was just a fashion choice. She had an advanced pair of hunter's goggles strapped to her forehead. A rifle was slung behind her back as well as a sword.

Perhaps most notable was that Kei was currently tied up and unconscious, doubled over one of Kilyco's shoulders. She raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I'm a little shocked. I really thought you'd have a gun pointed at me in spite of our agreement."

Fujikuro grunted in amusement. "Likewise. Was the runt able to find a knife before you knocked her out?"

"What kind of Hunter would I be if I let that happen?" She reached behind her back and pulled out a hunting knife before flicking it into the ashes of the hearth. It plunged in blade first with barely a dust cloud stirred. "You can use mine. What happened to her anyway?"

"She got attacked by Zeiramoids," he answered. There was no point keeping that a secret. "Still trying to figure out the how and why."

Kilyco laughed before setting Kei's body down on the floor. "You're kidding me! Gren's sister taken out by barely sapient garbage like that? Wasn't she the one who kept running off to face Zeiram one-on-one after Gren died? I thought she was tougher than that."

Fujikuro tried to ignore the dig as he carefully cut away the strands of bio-material with Kilyco's knife. The material gave way to the blade without too much effort and before long he was able to pull back enough strands to reveal the occupant within. It was Iria alright. However, as Fujikuro removed more strands, it became increasingly clear that the Zeiramoids had removed all her weapons and armor. She was entirely nude. Ever her hairbeads were gone.

Fujikuro averted his eyes as much as possible, before turning to glare at Kilyco. "Well? Don't just stand there! Get a blanket or something to cover her up!"

The other woman reeled back a bit in surprise. "Right. Fine. I suppose that's the least I can do before I turn her in for the reward."

By the time Kilyco returned, Fujikuro had fully removed Iria from the cocoon and was holding her limp body in his arms. With Kilyco's assistance, the two were able to wrap Iria up in a blanket. Kilyco also brought out a pair of cuffs and clipped them on Iria's wrists.

"Well, she seems okay to me," Kilyco remarked. "I'll be taking her now unless you intend to fight me for her."

Fujikuro stopped her with a raised hand. "Not so fast. What if she has internal injuries? Undo whatever it is you did to Bob so he can give her a scan."

"I'm not going to fall for these stalling tactics, Fujikuro," Kilyco said with a little irritation as a pistol suddenly appeared in her hand, pointed at him. "What is going on with you anyway? You used to be the most mercenary Hunter out there. The Fujikuro I knew would have tried to at least get a piece of the reward. Since when did you care this much about anyone besides yourself?"

"I... uh..." he faltered, unsure what to say to the question. "It's not like that."

"Sure it isn't," she replied with a sigh. "I never thought I'd see the day when Fujikuro went soft, but here we are." Kilyco narrowed her eyes. "Set Iria down and cuff yourself or I'm going to use your limbs for target practice. I'm done being patient."

Fujikuro hesitated, unsure what his next move was going to be. He didn't want to give Iria to Kilyco, but he didn't see a way out of the situation either. If he tried to fight Kilyco right now, there was a good chance that Iria might get hurt in the crossfire.

That's when Iria opened her eyes.

"Iria!" he exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

She looked at him distantly, as if still getting her bearings, before her eyes focused. "I'm... fine. Put me down."

Fujikuro gently lowered Iria to her feet while Kilyco watched from a distance with a gun still pointed at the both of them. Iria's legs wobbled a bit as she took her weight off of Fujikuro, but it didn't take her long to stabilize her stance. As she reached for the blanket, she seemed to notice the cuffs around her wrists for the first time. "What?"

"You're my bounty, Iria," Kilyco answered her. "Somebody put a job out on you and I'm collecting. It's nothing personal. Just business. Cooperate with me and there won't be any trouble."

Iria held the cuffs up in front of her and seemed to study them for a moment before scowling. "Too... restrictive. No."

Then, to the astonishment of Fujikuro and Kilyco, Iria's hands lengthened and got narrower until they were thin enough for the cuffs to simply slip off and fall to the ground. Once the cuffs were gone, the hands returned to their normal shape and Iria smiled at her success. "Much better."

Kilyco retreated a few steps in alarm. "Could she always do that?"

Fujikuro had also backed away. "Not that I've ever seen."

Iria looked at them both, confused. "What's wrong?"

"Who are you?" Kilyco demanded. "What kind of trick is this!?"

Iria laughed. "I am... Iria. Mostly." She then frowned at her own answer. "Mostly? What else am... I?" She looked around the room, seeming to search for answers, before finding the remains of the cocoon she had been wrapped up in. She approached it, getting a distant look in her eyes again, before kneeling down to touch it. "I see. I am Iria and I am... Zeiram."

Fujikuro felt a ball of dread start to form in his stomach. "That's impossible. Zeiram is dead. Iria killed him!"

The thing that looked like Iria stood back up. "I... did kill him. No... Iria killed him. I am a clone. I was made to... to..." She suddenly clutched at her head and made a pained expression. "I... have no memory about my purpose. Hatched too early."

Kilyco raised her weapon and pointed it at the false Iria's head. "If that's the case, I'll make this fast. Just stand still."

Before he even realized he was doing it, Fujikuro lunged in front of her gun to block the shot. "Wait! Don't kill her!"

"Have you completely lost your mind, Fujikuro!?" Kilyco demanded. "She's a Zeiramoid! And an advanced one at that! We need to destroy her now before she goes on a killing spree!"

"The real Iria is still out there!" He explained to her. "Whoever took Iria would need her alive to clone her like this! Maybe we can use the clone to figure out where the real one is. You want that bounty, right? Well, the client isn't going to pay for a forgery!"

Kilyco kept her gun pointed at both of them as she thought about it. "I hate to admit it, but you're right about needing the genuine target. What makes you think she'll be useful?"

"Right now she's the only connection we have to what happened to the real Iria," he replied. He then looked behind him as he addressed the fake Iria. "Hey, do you have any plans to attack us?"

"I feel no... need... to attack either of you."

Fujikuro looked back at Kilyco with a tilt of his head. "There you go. Why don't we work together until we find the real Iria? It'll be just like old times."

Kilyco made a sigh of disgust before lowering her weapon. "I hate old times, but fine, you've convinced me. However, the moment I think that thing is going to turn on us, I'm burning it down."

"Sounds fair to me," he agreed with a nod. "Now, would you mind getting Bob back online? We're going to need his help too."

"Yeah, yeah," Kilyco agreed with a dismissive wave of her hand before walking over to the computer console.

Fujikuro slumped onto the couch next to the unconscious Kei and looked over at the false Iria. She seemed content to remain where she was. The clone was still clutching the blanket they had used to cover her up, so presumably somewhere in that mind of hers was a need for modesty that had been copied from Iria. It wasn't a trait he would have expected from a Zeiramoid. It made him wonder how much else the clone had inherited.

Not to mention, it made him wonder where the real Iria was...