Both of the Chinook helicopters landed at the flight deck of the joint nations fleet's command carrier, opening their doors to let out the Special Ops Teams, the Diclonius and Katsuo. The food box and the teams' equipment were also floating with them.
The Diclonius stepped on the carrier, feeling the cold, soulless steel with their bare feet. None of them liked the familiar feeling, but they had to bear with it. Teams 1, 4 and 7 felt half-calm, half-wanting to get out of there.
Some of the Diclonius looked up at the sky and noticed a few bird-like objects with wings flying high in the sky at a brisk speed, leaving trails of grey-white vapor along their way. A couple of them pointed at the flying objects in wonder, while the rest would only glare at them in suspicion.
Katsuo looked around and noticed the whole command chain of the joint nations fleet walk over to them, accompanied by guards (including one with a video camera) and a masked, bound individual wearing a formal, wet and dirty business suit. He had two eyeholes in his mask to let him see. Katsuo already knew who it was.
Katsuo turned over to the girls, with a hesitant tone. "Now, I'm afraid we're going to have to...negotiate. About what we will agree to do."
Some of the more volatile Diclonii - mainly Number 31 - did not like the sound of that, while Number 20 slightly frowned at Katsuo, but she quickly softened it upon noticing him trying to smile at her as a way of easing up. "I guess we don't have much choice," the latter girl muttered.
The fleet officer group halted their footsteps at a certain distance away from the new arrivals. Both groups stared at each other, with serious, tense expressions dominating the scene.
The Rear Admiral spoke first.
"Katsuo. Step into the middle."
Katsuo quickly complied, feeling like he was stuck between two landmines ready to go off at the slightest touch, but he had to think better than that.
"Rear Admiral," Katsuo began with a cool and professional tone. "These are the hostages. The 'Diclonius'. The so-called 'next stage of human evolution', as some twisted folk of the scientific mind would say. We have freed them, knowing of the information we have about them capable of decimating the whole of humanity."
Some of the Diclonius looked down at their feet in despondence at hearing this, while others felt annoyed or confused or even a little prideful.
"Indeed," one of the Captains said. "We know of this already, but you are saying this in their presence, so that they would know, as well?"
"They need to. Otherwise, we would not be standing here if they came and left without their curiosities satisfied..." Katsuo replied, clearing his throat. "I am aware that some of them have killed innocents in the past, yes. But that is mostly to blame from the environments in which they grew up in. Bullying, neglect, shunning, disowning and even outright outcasting. I say 'mostly', because it has been theorized by the facility researchers - until recent confirmations upon further discovery from myself - that they have also developed separate, destructive personalities inside their minds as they age. They were led to believe that they were doing it in self-defense - not only from the environment...but by their separate personalities, as well."
Katsuo paused for a little while, letting the people around him take in this information, especially the Diclonius.
"And as you'll understand...they were harshly experimented on. Some were brought over by their parents, others from law enforcement unaware of what they were dealing with. Those at the facility led by Kakuzawa have struck deals with Japanese government officials to let these experiments continue, while they were also unaware of the deeper plots that Kakuzawa was planning behind their backs."
"The 'Lebensborn' project, for example," the Lieutenant clarified. "Kakuzawa planned to turn the entirety of humanity into Diclonius with their virus. As well as planning to make himself the world's ruler."
"Not too dissimilar to a certain other man from our history," said one of the other officers, with a noticeable European accent through his usage of Japanese.
"Precisely," Katsuo nodded. "I'm sure you know that these so-called 'monstrous animals' are still human. Like us. And they should be treated as such. I know that would be very difficult to do, considering what is happening with them. But, I say we should give them a chance. I say we should give them a better life. Give them help."
Most of the Diclonius had to smile at Katsuo's words, while the rest couldn't completely believe him - even though, for once, they really wanted to.
Number 20 dropped her weapon as she stepped over, next to Katsuo. Katsuo stepped aside a bit, letting her take the attention.
"Where did all of you come from?" Number 20 said, eyeing the fleet officers.
"From several parts of the world," the Rear Admiral replied to her. "Each of our nations' leaders were simply curious to see if you were the real deal."
Number 20 looked at one of the guards holding the video camera in his hands, to which she scowled at. The cameraman would've lied if that didn't strike a bit of unease in him.
"Is that necessary?" she pointed at the camera with her right arm.
"I am afraid so. Direct orders from our world leaders," one of the Captains sighed. "Bear in mind that we have to record this for history's sake."
"...Fine," Number 20 closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them with a look at the Rear Admiral. "Since you know about us so much...what are you planning to do with us?"
"That depends on what you want," the Rear Admiral replied calmly, but sternly.
"We want to be free," the Diclonius leader answered. "We want to live. We don't want to be caged and treated like...like those at the facility did. Not anymore."
"That, we understand," the Rear Admiral nodded. "We can arrange for those of you who have living families to return to them."
"Our families?" Number 20 raised an eyebrow. "How?"
"I have managed to take DNA test samples out of each of you girls' blood during my time in the facility," Katsuo answered her. "After some searching, I have found matches of those of your parents that were within the facility records. Those who are still alive, to be precise."
Hearing this, a few of the horned girls had their eyes filled with hope, others with hate, and those left with varying amounts of distress.
"And before you say anything - yes, I know not all of you would like it, since you each wouldn't have the same opinions of your parents. Not to mention potentially bad, or even irreparable relations," Katsuo continued. "From knowing that, we would like to know if you would prefer other solutions. Such as adoption?"
"And who exactly would even be willing to do that? Who would give us a home to live in? The care and trust that we need?" Number 20 questioned Katsuo and the fleet officers, with her voice slightly increasing with each question.
"Well, we can start with a close few. Take these folk, for example," Katsuo pointed over at the Special Ops Teams, with some of them widening their eyes in surprise at the mere suggestion. "They have come to rescue you, despite knowing what you are. So, why not take a chance with them?"
The Diclonius leader looked back at the Special Ops Teams, who were sharing stares with the other Diclonius girls. As expected, the mixture of facial expressions were enough to paint the picture.
She turned back to Katsuo, saying, "What if some of us don't want that, either?"
"Then, we would take you somewhere to live where you can live uncaged, but...we still have to keep an eye on you," Katsuo sighed. "You understand, right? That is, unless you have other demands? We would let you go truly free, but...who knows what you will do from there on out. We would have to respond to your actions, depending on what happens."
Number 20 looked down at the steel ground in thought. In many ways, Katsuo was right - considering the nature of current events, it would not be unreasonable to think they would go so far as detaining them again if they went fully hostile. Perhaps even putting them down, worst case scenario. She did want this to go smoothly without any violence. She really did.
One of the more volatile Diclonius, Number 31, stepped up while raising her voice. "Stop kidding around! It's obvious that you will kill us eventually! No matter if we agree to what you say or not!"
"Wait, 31! Calm down!" one of the more reasonable Diclonius yelled at her.
"Shut up! We all know it!" Number 31 yelled back at her, then quickly turned around to face her leader. "Don't listen to them, 20. They're lying through their teeth. That's what humans do when they try to deal with us peacefully. I've been in this situation before."
"And what are you going to do?" Number 20 asked her. "Kill all of them, like you did before?"
"They would have killed me, too! These humans are all the same! Always feeding us with lies about peace, when instead they just wanna play with our trust and then kill us after they've had their fun!" Number 31 kept raising her voice, her growing impatience being more obvious as she turns her head to the fleet officers with a look of murderous hatred, to which the officers reacted with some gulps and sweating.
A few of the other Diclonius joined with Number 31 by her side, having the same feelings as her on the matter.
"I say we kill them here and now. We don't have any other choice. We can take on their firepower. We are BETTER than them."
A nervous Katsuo looked aside at the Rear Admiral, as the senior officer subtly reached into one of his pockets, grabbing his device hidden inside and putting a sweating, trembling finger on a button, ready to press it at any second.
"What if they aren't truly lying this time, 31?" Number 20 narrowed her eyes at Number 31, lowering her tone to sound more stern. "What if they genuinely mean what they say?"
"20, stop it. You don't understand-"
"No. I think I do understand."
Number 20 then suddenly used her vectors to pin Number 31 to the cold, hard ground - the impact made 31 cough out a breath.
The volatile Diclonius that joined with Number 31 were about to help out their pinned comrade, only for their other brethren to try and pin them down with their vectors, helping out Number 20.
The humans watched the infighting as they quickly stepped away from it, careful not to get torn apart by a stray vector. Some of the Special Ops Teams went in front of the few scared and indecisive Diclonius, trying to shield and protect them should anything happen by accident.
The Rear Admiral still held on to his device as Katsuo sneaked over to whisper to him, "Don't. You will regret it. Please, just wait."
The aged, sweating officer held on to the device for a few more moments...
...until he finally let go of it, moving his hand out of the pocket as he continued to watch the infight with a held breath. Being this close to lethal danger was far more different from his usual position of fighting at long range - not good for his old, thumping heart.
After a tense minute or so, filled with high-speed vector clashes and body attacks that didn't involve dismemberment, one side of the infighting emerged victorious, thanks to greater numbers. The volatile Diclonii and Number 31 were now all pinned to the ground, with a few bruises on their bodies and some bleeding from their mouths.
"Argh!" growled out Number 31, her arms held with Number 20's vectors behind her back. "Let go of me, 20!"
"Now, 31," Number 20 spoke calmly, breathing in and out quickly after the scuffle. "Let me tell you something."
Number 31 kept silent as she listened to her leader while glaring daggers at her with clenched teeth.
"Do you know what I've understood? Not every human is the same. Not all of them are trigger-happy liars who are focused purely on saving themselves and murdering others. The reason why? It's because we haven't truly experienced what humanity is and what humans can do. It's especially because we haven't been shown what the positives of humanity can bring to us. And I know - the humanity we have experienced was pretty much only the bad side of it. Have you ever thought about there being a genuinely good side somewhere? Have you at least once stopped listening to what the voice in your head had to say? Have you ever thought about what you think?"
"..." Number 31 kept silent.
"These humans today came to us with the intent of rescue. Not extermination. And they went so far as letting us do whatever we wanted, doing what we asked out of them, and they complied all the way. They gave us food, clothing, their weapons, even knowing what we could do to them. They even let us negotiate with them about our freedom. Even knowing that we could kill them at anytime, they still tried to be good to us in whatever way they could. Even now, none of them want to point their weapons at us, despite them having the right to do so. And you still think they are lying?"
"...It's just...this is not..." Number 31 went off for a moment, trying to find the words until they came to her. "It could still be the case! I know they have something they're not telling us!"
"Then we will hear them out if they do," Number 20 replied, then turned to Katsuo and the fleet officers with a neutral expression, awaiting their response.
Katsuo stepped up close to Numbers 20 and 31's position, proceeding to sit on his knees on the cold, steel ground in front of the two.
"There is...one thing we kept from you," Katsuo began speaking, hesitantly. "I almost told you about it back in the facility, when you asked me what all the fleet's firepower was for."
"Say it," Number 20 told him, not looking away from the man.
"If by chance things here went out of control...the Rear Admiral would have pushed a button on a device to send a signal to every ship and aircraft here on the fleet. During that scuffle just now, we thought he would press it. Thankfully, he didn't - because he understood."
"What's the signal for?" Number 20 asked him, expression not changing.
Katsuo couldn't really put this off for much longer, so he decided to say it.
"The signal is for everything in the fleet to fire upon this carrier and destroy it. With all of its occupants, included."
Not only did Number 20 crease her brows and widen her eyes, but so did the other Diclonius.
"I knew it! I KNEW IT!" Number 31 yelled at him as her eyes widened with renewed rage. "You DID plan to kill us!"
"Only if things came to that point. Yes," Katsuo closed his eyes. "But we would have also killed ourselves."
"Why?" Number 20 blinked at him. Number 31 stopped her raging just to hear Katsuo's answer.
Katsuo took a deep, shaky breath, trying his best to get his strained words across.
"Because that would have meant...that we've failed. That I have failed. Failed to convince you girls...that we could give you a better place in this world. That we could be better people."
Both Numbers 20 and 31 widened their eyes as they witnessed Katsuo's eyes fill up with water...and see those warm, clear and pure droplets fall to the cold, dirty and impure ground. And they slowly began to increase as the man continued.
"If we did kill you...then we might as well have died along with you. At least...I alone would have gladly done so," he smiled, albeit with difficulty. "I'm truly sorry if we did anything even remotely against you. If you still want to kill all of us...then I wouldn't blame you. I'd have given up on my own species, too."
Number 20 slowly let go of a calmed and conflicted Number 31, who herself had her eyes somewhere else in her thoughts with an expressionless face. 20 stood up to face Katsuo, who had his watering eyes closed with a pitiful smile.
The horned leader put out a physical hand towards Katsuo. The man opened his eyes, seeing her hand through the blurring liquid. In response, he slowly tried to take her hand with his shivering one, until Number 20 quickly took his hand by force and pulled him up. A wide-eyed Katsuo got up from his knees and now stood, taller than Number 20 again.
"You are really honest, for a human. I would like more of that," she smiled at him.
Katsuo responded with a chuckle as he nodded while wiping off his tears with his arm. "Like you said, not everyone's the same. You can find someone who's honest to the end like me, but...don't put your hopes up too high. They're not too common in this world. And you know, jobs like mine involve dishonesty as a necessity."
"I understand," Number 20 replied. "We can continue learning from you humans. We can be better, too. Maybe."
"'Maybe' is the key word," Katsuo said. "We can end up with different opinions and conclusions about what we think on...well, everything."
"Yeah," Number 20 nodded. "I see that, now."
Number 31 just could not say much of anything, feeling like she had seen and heard things she never knew would happen in her life. She kept on her neutral expression as she sat on the ground, her eyes no longer full of boiling anger.
As they conversed, the Diclonius and human groups ceased backing away as they moved closer to the three, the situation having been thankfully resolved.
Number 20 turned her head over to Katsuo. "You say you have our families' locations?"
"Correct," the agent nodded.
"All right," Number 20 said, turning over to her fellow Diclonius. "Whoever wants to see their family again...no matter if they want you back or not...raise your hands."
As soon as she said that, most of the younger Diclonii immediately raised their hands, like a school teacher asked a question to her class full of excitable students. Some of the older Diclonii were hesitant as they raised their hands, while the rest didn't even bother as they either looked down in sadness or controlled anger.
"Whoever wants a new family...raise your hands."
And like that, a few more of the horned girls did so, with some pause. No one else shared that hand-based sentiment.
"Anyone else just want to go where these people said they would take us?"
As expected, none of them raised their hands. But, to the surprise of her brethren...Number 20 raised hers.
"Then, I'll go," the Diclonius leader stated, with a content expression that showed her readiness and re-built trust.
"You're sure of this?" Katsuo asked her.
"I will take a chance, yes," Number 20 nodded, looking straight at Katsuo to confirm her decision.
Katsuo looked over Number 20 and was relieved at seeing her with a newfound sense of hope in her amber eyes.
"Okay, then. But first - do you want a new name?"
Number 20 blinked at hearing that, being given a new name already feeling a little exciting, but she nonetheless gave him an answer.
"I...used to be called 'Masaki'. That's the name my parents gave me."
Her parents. It was a long time since she last saw them as just a 1-year old Silpelit, before being taken away by human authorities. She also couldn't forget her soft and caring older brother, who was born human before their parents were infected with the virus.
She didn't want to think about them right now. She genuinely cared for them and they loved her despite what she was, but...they were probably better off without her. Katsuo also guessed as much, considering Number 20 didn't raise her hand when she asked the other Diclonii about going back to their families.
"Do you want to go back to that name?"
"...I don't know. I think I'll stick with Number 20 - Nijuu - for now."
"Fair enough, Nijuu," Katsuo smiled.
Speaking of giving names, the other Diclonii were also going over their names, some of which discussed about it with the Special Ops Teams, who were one of their suggestions for a new family.
A timid Diclonius asked a question to one of the operatives. He had short blonde hair, styled in a crew cut; along with ocean, almost glinting blue eyes, with a vertical scar across his chin. 'Rugged' would be quite the apt description about him.
"Um...excuse me?" she murmured out as loudly and softly as she could.
"Yes?" responded the rough, but gentle soldier. Even after things have calmed, he still tried to be careful with what he said, considering the Diclonius' capability.
"W-What is your name?"
The grizzled operative blinked at her, then looked away with only his eyes while taking a small breath of air. "...Ethan."
"Ethan. That's a nice name," she smiled. "S-Sorry, but it also sounds a little weird, like you're from another place."
"Well, I am from America," he shrugged. "Or, the 'United States of America', in full."
"What is this...'America' like?" the shy girl raised an eyebrow.
Ethan looked around if anyone else was seeing him, then leaned over to whisper to her, covering one side of his mouth with a hand.
"It's a pretty rowdy and proud country, but - and don't tell anyone else this - it kinda ignores its own faults. A mixed bag, in other words. A little...stupid."
"It doesn't sound too nice," her expression squinted in confusion.
"I could think of worse places. Trust me on that," he smiled. "Either way - what's your name?"
"Oh...um, I don't have one," she tried to look sideways, but she kept staring at him. "I didn't know my parents when they took me away. They always called me 'Number 53'."
"Number 53. Hmm..." Ethan scratched his chin. "Can I call you...Phoebe?"
"Phoebe?" she thought about it, eyes darting around in contemplation.
"I know it ain't a name that's from this country, where your parents would have given you something entirely different. But, hey - I can be your, uh...dad," Ethan chuckled. "It's not...lame, is it?"
"Actually, that sounds nice," she nodded. Phoebe looked down a little, giving a subtle smile. "I like 'Phoebe'."
"Oh. Well...glad to hear!" Ethan gave Phoebe a thumbs up. At this, Phoebe also gave him a thumbs up, taking a liking to this gesture.
In the meanwhile, as the Diclonius and the humans were working things out, a scarce few Diclonius weren't exactly going out with their fellow brethren to converse with those they thought were their mortal enemies and evolutionary inferiors - though even then, they weren't sure what to think of those ideas at present.
Number 31 was particularly conflicted - she still thought the humans weren't being genuine in their actions, but a part of her felt...reignited. In terms of trust and hope. She didn't like that feeling coming out again after so long. Not after the one time she wanted to trust humans and paid for it with her capture.
'What are you doing? Why are you thinking this over?'
Number 31 widened her eyes at hearing it - that voice. That menacing, feminine, venomous method of speech she was all too familiar with for the large majority of her life.
'The answer is plainly obvious,' the voice continued. 'If you don't want your trust and your feelings hurt anymore...then kill all of 'em. Nothing else to think about,' the voice chuckled lowly. 'And besides...I'm always the one you can trust, you know?'
Number 31 refused to answer her, which made the voice less than pleased. The girl kept on looking at how most of her fellow Diclonius and the humans were conversing on seemingly tranquil terms.
'Oh, what? You actually want to join them? To share knowledge and a few laughs with them?' the voice bitterly exclaimed. 'Both of us know that isn't possible. They'll stab you in the back when it turns out they're laughing at you. Just like before.'
Number 31 looked down on the ground. The gray steel looked colder and colder the longer she stared at it.
'This is how we're meant to be. We're supposed to take over these monkeys. Don't you remember?'
Number 31 did remember. It did not mean that she actually liked it - she just thought it was necessary for her survival...until only several minutes ago.
"Why?"
'Why, what?'
"Why do you say these things?"
'Isn't that like, the third time in our life that you asked me that?'
"There has to be something more to this...right?"
'We've both been looking for that answer. And all I know is that we should kill all these humans so that they can stop hurting us. We've lived this far - and you remember what they did to you...so many times. You can't let that go.'
"You're right. I'll never forget what they did to me," Number 31 paused. "But...should I have really listened to everything you said to me?"
'Well, yeah. Obviously. Why do you ask?'
"Because...I believe I should start thinking on my own terms," Number 31 looked up from the ground and into the two conversing groups. "Not yours."
'Don't even think about it,' the voice said in a low tone. 'Joining them will only set you up for disappointment after all they've said and done.'
"That's not what I meant."
The voice's sudden, protracted silence showed its confusion.
During their mind-exchange, Nijuu walked up to Number 31 with a slight hesitance to her cold steps.
"31? You all right?" the Diclonius leader asked her fellow kin.
Number 31 looked back at Nijuu with an unmoving face at first, but then she gave a sad smile, which made Nijuu nervous - 31 didn't seem like the type to smile.
"Sorry, 20."
Nijuu blinked at Number 31's words. "Oh. Right. About earlier."
"Not only that."
"Huh?"
"Look, I...I wish you luck, for whatever that's worth," Number 31 said that as she took a couple of steps back.
"Ah...thanks," Nijuu smiled at her a bit. "Are you gonna go with anyone?"
Number 31 didn't answer as she lowered her smile while taking several more steps back away from Nijuu.
"31?" Nijuu stepped towards 31. "What are you doing?"
"Taking my own initiative, for once," the Silpelit answered her calmly, which made Nijuu raise her eyebrows at the implication. "And you know...if things were different...maybe we'd have been friends..."
"Wait, 31...no! Wait!" Nijuu yelled at 31 with her eyes widened as she began to run over to her kin, who was now close to the edge of the carrier ship. The others on board noticed this as some of them went over to the two girls.
"Goodbye, 20. See you."
Nijuu then felt the force of several vectors on the ground as they left small craters - Number 31 became smaller and smaller from her view as she flew at quick speeds towards the ocean, away from the human navy fleet.
"What is she doing?!" one of the Diclonius yelled out in worry.
"Looks like she's taking the risk," Katsuo said, with a bead of sweat coming down his head.
"Does anyone have binoculars?"
Number 31 began using her vectors to swim as far away from the fleet as possible, creating small waves behind her as some navy boats began chasing her after she broke the fleet's secured perimeter.
'You're going to die! WE'RE going to die! You're not thinking through with this!' the voice came back with a much more desperate tone.
"I have. For once in my life, I have thought this through on my own. You have no say in this," Number 31 replied to the voice as she kept swimming and swimming. She hardly felt the cold of the blue ocean.
'I'm a PART of you! I AM you! You're going to kill us based on something that's never going to happen!'
"I'll take that chance," Number 31 calmly replied back to the voice with a determined expression. "If we die, then we'll die. I'll accept that. Because it's my choice."
The voice couldn't come up with a response. Number 31, in the meantime, was deliberately slowing herself down so that some of the navy boats would catch up to her.
And a minute later, Number 31 was surrounded by several of the heavily-armed attack boats.
The men on the boats didn't even say a word of warning to the Diclonius as they drove in a circle around her until they stopped just around 10-15 meters away from her.
Some of the men had their guns at the ready, while others simply observed her. Number 31 looked over all of them as neither side would speak.
Then, one of the boat riders asked his nearest commanding petty officer - his Maestre, Mateo - a question in a hushed tone.
"Uh, sir? What do we do?"
"This girl obviously made a choice, Cabo Sergio. She slowed herself down on purpose, just so she would know how we would respond."
"We know she's trying to run away, but...why did she stop?"
"Let's find out," the officer replied, then turned over to Number 31 as the first to speak to her. "Why did you slow down? We have you surrounded. You could've easily swam far away from us."
Number 31 said, "You know my kind. You know how powerful we all are," she paused for a few moments until she continued. "I want to know something: are you going to kill me?"
"Depends. If you're still thinking of killing innocents...then yes, I'm afraid we'll have to kill you," the officer sighed.
"What if I didn't want to? Would you still kill me?" Number 31 added another question.
"How do we know you aren't lying?"
"If I lied to you, then I would have stopped talking to you and continued running away," Number 31 answered him. "Besides...if you are going to kill me, anyway...I'll let you do that," she closed her eyes.
The boat officer blinked at what she said, his mouth opening a little in surprise.
"I will not use my vectors to block your bullets. I promise you that."
As she said that, she splayed her arms out, with her eyes still closed.
'Stop it...stop!' the voice in her head yelled out.
Ignoring it, Number 31 continued. "I meant what I said before. I don't want to kill you. But, if you don't believe me...then I understand."
'STOP!'
"After all...I was born to kill humanity."
The boat men didn't give out a response as they still remained tense. One of them shakily began to point his M4 carbine rifle at the girl in the water.
Sergio had her in his iron sights, slowly motioning his index finger on the trigger, taking deep breaths.
'Just one shot...' he thought nervously. 'Just...one.'
He took a really long breath, then gently put some force on the trigger-
"Don't you dare fire that weapon," his commanding officer Mateo ordered him, which startled the armed sailor.
Sergio hesitantly looked up at his Maestre - the glare he was being given was just enough to make the nervous navy man put his rifle down, while also exhaling a deeply held breath.
However, the sailor suddenly felt his gun being taken away from his officer. "Wha-?! Sir?!"
Mateo didn't respond as he took aim at Number 31 with the rifle - one eye closed, one eye open on the iron sight. The other sailors watched him with anticipation to see if he was going to commit the deed himself, so that his men not take the responsibility of killing the girl.
Number 31 still had her eyes closed, but her inner voice could definitely see what was happening.
'NO! DAMN YOU!' the voice yelled out, both at 31 and the humans surrounding them. 'DAMN YOU TO HELL!'
Number 31 actually felt a bit of pity for it, seeing it scream in this sort of tone - it felt like the voice was crying. But it didn't matter. She was going to die. And she did not feel sad at all.
A shot.
And another.
And three more.
...Nothing.
Number 31 felt her eyes open.
She could see the face of Mateo slightly covered by the carbine rifle he was wielding, then saw it fully as he set it down, his tan face now looking like it went through a harsh trial.
Number 31 then looked around herself - no holes or spots of red could be found on her body; no liquid pooling out of her and dyeing the blue water red. Only the fading ripples of the rifle's bullets hitting those parts of the water, all of them having just missed her. She saw Mateo give the rifle back to his stunned Cabo, Sergio.
Mateo kept looking at her, realizing she told the truth. Then, he simply said...
"Go."
Even before he said that, Number 31 had water pouring down from her eyes.
She couldn't believe she lied to herself about accepting her own death.
"Go and live," he continued, his tone even. "Find some kind of happiness in this messed up world. Please."
The other sailors dared not to say a word, merely observing the event with calm silence.
Then, Mateo gave a hand signal and wordlessly commanded the rest of the patrol boat squadron to leave the Silpelit. She could only see them drive off as the grey metal boats left white water trails on the blue ocean, while they got smaller and farther from her view.
Number 31 didn't really move much from her spot, her vectors helping her keep her afloat. Mateo's words echoed in Number 31's mind - it kept going on and on, like a repeat of a song recording on a cassette tape.
She could not hear her inner voice. It had gotten dead silent. She didn't know what state it was in. She was curious, but...
...she had to move.
She wanted to live.
Some people just don't like the mornings. Not even Saturday mornings.
And one of them was especially not looking forward to today's morning.
"Sheesh...another day, another armless endeavour."
A man - in his late 30s - was just waking up to the rising orb of light, its streaks showing through the cracks of the dusty shack he slept in. And he was not happy - he hadn't slept that well for the past several days, having too much on his mind to even bother sleeping soundly.
Scratching his head and yawning, he picked up his sunglasses and his personal defense weapon.
He couldn't help but admire the gun in his hand. "The good ol' Desert Eagle," he says as he flips it up in the air and catches it with his other 'hand'. "And some would add...'Point Five-O.'"
Chuckling to himself at sounding cheesy with no one around to mock him about it, he got up and opened the shack door. He was glad he got his sunglasses on, otherwise the sun would have glared at his eyes, being the only entity so far today that would mock him. Even if his eyes were sensitive replacements, he valued them.
Observing around the area he was in, he noticed pieces of trash on the sand. He clicked his tongue at the more-than-familiar sight.
"What is it with these people? Every single day, it's the same shit again and again. There's literally a bin just around the corner!"
Throwing his hands up in defeat, he sighed as he got to his usual morning routine - wake up; pick up trash; get breakfast from the trash; go back; stay around the beach. He felt like he was just living rent-free, but without the benefits - his unofficial 'job' cleaning the beach notwithstanding.
In other words, he was homeless.
"One of these days, I'm gonna settle my score with that horned bitch and get outta this dump," he muttered to himself, pulling out a cigarette from his pack within his coat pocket. "Actually, scratch that. Two scores - that little one included. She pretty much just went up and screwed our deal," he finished as he began flicking his lighter - the tiny, gently flowing flame hitting the end of the cancer-inducing cylinder.
He recently heard rumors from some of his former SAT buddies looking for their target as he was hiding around and quietly listening to them while they were on the beach. Some of these rumors included being 'confirmed dead' or 'left the city'.
"Fuck that nonsense," he muttered, blowing some inhaled smoke that quickly appeared as it went away, the cylindrical paper partially turning to ash and mixing itself with the sand grains.
He wasn't just gonna believe that she was dead. He thought of the SAT people as 'desperately hopeful idiots', not giving their target enough credit for her tenacity.
"I know she's still alive and kicking. Question is: where?"
The more he thought about it, the more he believed that she had some sort of personal agenda related to someone or something in the city. He remembered a random boy associated with her during their encounter on the bridges between Enoshima and Kamakura. She seemed to be quite attached to him, yelling at him to meet her at some stairs at a certain location looking out over Kamakura, which he knew about. Plus, the boy seemed familiar to him.
After he got defeated by her for the second time, it took him a while to power through his injuries and go to the stairs - how he managed to do that, he still has no idea. As expected, he saw neither of them, having just missed the both of them going their separate ways.
Ever since then, he stayed on the beach licking his wounds, re-repairing his arm with the base knowledge that a suited man provided him with, as well as going around searching for any leads as to her whereabouts. So far, he made little progress. All he knows is that she's still in the city, hiding in some inconspicuous area.
He didn't realize how much time had passed as he was thinking to himself. He took a gander at his watch: 11:02 AM.
"Goddamn. Time and I aren't on speaking terms," he chuckled as he put his now tiny, ashed cigarette into one of the garbage bags he was carrying.
As he got up to observe the beach for any garbage again, he noticed a familiar individual. Accompanying them was something also familiar, but of much smaller size. He could compare it to a plushie, even though it's been decades since he last played around with one. He wasn't one to reminisce. Age and a darker mindset just made him find it a stupid concept for a toy at this point.
As he was briefly lost in his thoughts again, the individual walked up to him, with the smaller creature beside them.
They looked...happy to see him. He wasn't used to that. But the bowing? He was kinda used to that.
"Hello, Bando-san. It's been a while. Good to see you're okay."
That voice. He would always remember that voice. The voice that saved his life.
"The hell do you want?"
He couldn't afford to be soft in front of her. Not ever. Being tough and rude was in his nature, even though he was genuinely grateful.
"Well..."
"Well, what? Speak up already!"
He noticed her flinch at the tone of his voice. His pang of guilt was there, but he didn't let it overcome him. She quickly recovered, however.
"Can you answer a question for me?"
He raised his eyebrow. "Hah?"
"Please answer honestly."
He couldn't help but roll his eyes behind his shades. He decided to humor her.
"Sure, whatever. Go on," he shrugged.
She took a deep breath, he noticed that. Both believed this was gonna be a hard one to answer.
"...Would you like what you have lost back?"
"Ugh..." he facepalmed. "For Christ's sake, can you make a bit more sense with that? Like, be more specific, why don't ya?"
"I mean...would you like your eyes and your arm back?"
He blinked, his mouth agape.
"What in the sweet, merry Mother of Christmas are you talking about?" he walked up closer to her. His size was intimidating, but she stood strong, continuing her question.
"Let me finish the question," she took another deep breath. "How would you feel...if the one who brought them back...was the same one who took them away?"
Author's Notes:
Oh boy, oh boy, it's gonna be the 2nd anniversary of this story on the 6th this June! AND the 20th anniversary of the Elfen Lied anime's 1st episode on the 25th of July! Man, I feel old enough already.
...This is the closest I got to a present for ya, I guess. Just another chapter, and shorter than the previous two.
I've been REALLY struggling with writing this one for months and months. Nevermind the fact that IRL stuff keeps happening and I gotta focus my attention elsewhere. At least summer's coming here and I can hopefully relax more.
Thank you for your patience. And again, I apologize if I made it seem like I was dead. Or at least, stuck in a tall tree somewhere, and I'm bad at climbing down or up trees. Remember not to look down, folks. And also remember to make more sense with your jokes, unlike me.
And, uh...don't have much else to say, except for my constant worries on making narrative decisions that could make or break readers' interests. I ain't perfect - after all, I can't expect everyone to like every single thing that I like doing. Gotta live with it or find a compromise, whichever is easier.
So, yeah! See ya next time! And stay hydrated!