An hour has passed since the incident with the Mantis Cyberbeast. Tatsuya has been brought to the ZOO headquarters. He's asleep in an officer closer to the top. Laying down on the corner sofa, clutching their guitar case.
Snoring their head off, their leg makes a sudden twitch that shakes his body. The jolt is enough to wake him up. With a dry mouth, and sleep in his eyes, he slowly comes to, still holding the case to his chest.
Collecting his bearings, he looks around the room to see Lady Luck sitting in one of the empty chairs beside the desk. She sips from a cup of tea in her hand, while holding the saucer in the other.
"Were you watching me sleep?" Tatsuya asks.
"Not the whole time. I needed to step out to report from maintenance," she replies with a deadpan tone while putting down her cup.
He sits up on the sofa, staring to come to the conclusion of where he is. "This is ZOO, right? Did you bring me here? You tasered me, and then brought me here."
She pauses for a moment, her expression showing no emotion, "Yes." She pauses again, leaving them both in a lull of silence. "I apologize for the method, but you weren't listening to reason, and I was under explicit instructions to bring you here."
Before Tatsuya can ask who, the door opens. All eyes turn to face it as an older man in a business suit steps in. They're well groomed, their hair combed with the greys visible on the sides. Lady Luck stands up, and bows at the older gentleman.
"Master Daigo," Lady Luck stands to back up, straightening herself out. "I'm sorry for the delay." This man is Miyamoto Daigo, one of the board members of ZOO.
Daigo lets himself into the room, this being his office. Shutting the door behind him, his eyes are fixated on Tatsuya. His expression is a mixture of stern, and emotional. "Tatsuya," the old man finally speaks, cutting the tension with his words.
Tatsuya just sits there and stares at him. He breathes in, and sighs, finally letting a word out, "Father." Tatsuya's tone has turned cold toward his father. The two have some problems in their relationship. "How long has it been?"
"Too long." Daigo approaches his deck in the corner of the room, opposite the sofa, and sits down.
"Not long enough," Tatsuya sits back on the sofa, his arm instinctively wrapping his guitar case under his arm like a movie date. "So how did you know you I was in Zenyatta?"
"Her anniversary. I knew you wouldn't just skip out on paying your respects. I just got very lucky that you came a week earlier."
Tatsuya looks fed up, but he remains seated. "Alright, fine. I'm here now. What do you want? Actually, better question, does this involve that Cyberbeast monster from earlier?"
With a solemn look, Daigo nods, "Yes. That monster you faced, was the result of stolen technology from ZOO."
Lady pulls out a laptop and sets it down on the table. She opens it and turns on the screen to show Tatsuya. The screen displays camera footage of people turning into Cyberbeasts, all of them showing the same symptoms as Ren did.
"ZOO is currently in a war against the organization, ACT. From what we know, they want what we have, and are willing to do whatever to take it, even if it means destroying the peace. At first, it was just theft and disruption of stolen equipment, but now they've escalated to more…extreme measures."
Tatsuta sits there and listens, while his expression isn't the happiest, he's at least paying attention to what they have to say. "So this is just another case of corporate rivalry, but taken to its extremist conclusion?"
"Regardless of what it is, we couldn't stand by and just let them take their aggression out on the city or its people. Which is why we have a counter to them." Daigo nods at the lady, giving her the command. She changes the display on the laptop. In place of the footage of Cyberbeasts, they have turned over to video of Kamen Riders. The oldest video dates back to 1971. "In our world's history, we've been protected by masked heroes, the Kamen Rider. If ACT is going to run amuck in our city, then they should expect we'd find the means to fight back."
Tatsuya watches the screen in awe. His eyes widen as he is met by the only documented records of these heroes spanning over 50 years of human history. "Amazing," his cold exterior for his far is momentarily melted as a fire ignites behind his eyes.
After staring at the screen for long enough, the video ends after a recording of a news report regarding a Kamen Rider fighting a demon.
Tatsuya slumps into the sofa, his hand hovering over his waist as he becomes lost in thought. He looks up from his lap to face his father. "But why me? Surely there are others more qualified. For the job. Yet, you chose me to have this burden. Haven't you?"
Daigo closes the laptop screen down, "Why? Because you're my son. When given the choice, I couldn't think of anyone more suited for the role as a Kamen Rider to me."
Tatsuya scoffs, "Typically. Just another venture that you want for me. Even now you're still trying to control my life." He gets up from the sofa, grabbing his guitar case before heading for the door.
Daigo tries to plead for him to stay, getting out of her chair, and asking that he stays, but it's too late, Tatsuya is already out the door, leaving just Daigo and Lady Luck.
"Master Daigo, if I could voice my opinion," Lady turns to speak to Daigo. "I'm not so sure he's the right candidate for the role. During the first fight with the Cyberbeast, he was unable to fully complete the transformation."
Daigo refuses to hear her, shaking his head as he looks toward a photo frame on his desk. "Tatsuya…he's always been like this." He picks up the frame and smiles, examining a picture of a young Daigo and Tatsuya with a woman beside them. "I will trust in his abilities. At the very least, for her."
Coming out of the lift on the ground floor, Tatsuya tries to beeline for the exit, when the receptionist calls out to him, "Excuse me, sir! I need you to sign out before leaving."
Begrudgingly, he returns to the counter and signs his name. She watches him write it in full. Her eyes widen when she realizes something.
"Oh, you're Miyamoto Tatsuya?" She sounds surprised "I actually have something for you. Just a moment."
He stands there and waits before she pulls out a slightly scorched cowboy hat. Tatsuya's eyes sparkly, "My hat!" He takes it from her. Dusting off the smoke, he puts it back on, "How did you get it?"
"Some boys came in just a few minutes ago. They said that you lost it in the park, and they wanted to return it," she smiles, not knowing the full details, but still finding joy in the story.
"Did they now? I guess those boys wanted to return the favor. Bless them." He runs his fingers over the hat. "If that's everything, I'll be taking my leave now."
Turning around, he spots a few police officers standing by the glass door entrance. He stops in the middle of the lobby and watches them. The gears start turning in his head. Something sparks in his mind.