Theory#4: Copen believes his father is dead.
If S-FIT truly did not explode, then Dr. Kamizono would certainly still be alive. With Copen believing his father was dead, Copen swore vengance on every Adept. This is most likely the case since he doesn't know who exactly did it. Even upon meeting the culprit at Firmament, Copen was still clueless. With no evidence as to who did this, all Copen feels he can do is kill them all. So if there's no one alive, the person who did it will no longer be breathing.
"What are we going to do now? With Takefutsu gone, they'll surely place the blame on us." The assistant worried.
"I'll be the one taking the blame. He was assigned to me after all." Dr. Kamizono assured.
"I heard the higher ups said S-FIT blew up to cover the truth. They want everyone else within Sumeragi to think the building no longer exists." The assistant notified.
That would pose a serious problem to anyone not knowing the truth. Many people would think their loved ones are dead.
"They're asking every S-FIT employee to move elsewhere." The assistant added.
Dr. Kamizono was worried about this, very much so. He had two children at home that were less than a year old. It worried him how this would affect them later on in life. But, if he didn't obey Sumeragi and tried to stay with them, it would cause more harm than good. He made the idea to give his research and gun to his son for later use.
"This is just another unfortunate part of the process." Dr. Kamizono sighed.
"I don't understand why they would try to hide it like this. Maybe they don't want the public thinking our security measures failed? After all, if the facility evaporated, then there would be no security to speak of." The assistant muttered.
Regardless of their desires, the scientists left their homes to hide their existence from the world.
Years later, Asimov was waiting for Gunvolt at Firmament when he heard footsteps heading his way. Asimov looked up to see it wasn't Gunvolt. Rather, it was the non-Adept Gunvolt wrote in his Sinner's Row report.
'So, it seems the Adept Slayer has made his appearance. Knowing Gunvolt, he'd be able to hold his own in a fight against Copen if they encountered each other.' Asimov noted.
Unfortunately, Copen caught sight of a glint of light from Asimov's visor. This provoked Copen to shoot, but he didn't know that Asimov had intel on him. Asimov dodged the bullet for the most part. It grazed the left side of Asimov's torso.
It caused his Azure Striker to become temporarily disabled. Even removing his visor wouldn't do any good at this point. Asimov knew Copen looked familiar, but from where he couldn't remember. All he knew was the report, that was it.
It all came flooding back. After the fight Gunvolt had with Copen, he informed Asimov of what he knew. The quote Copen mentioned was from the very person who caused him all that grief in Sumeragi. Recently, there was data confirming that S-FIT wasn't destroyed and the incident was all a lie.
The explosion was used as a lie to the public so nobody would know about Takefutsu's escape.
'If that's true, then not just QUILL is in danger. Every single Adept in Japan could die. This can't happen.' Asimov realized.
Asimov thought it would be ideal to tell Copen the truth. That his father wasn't dead, and that he was alive somewhere. Maybe it would stop his rampage, considering what Gunvolt told him. However, the idea was a two sided coin.
It could cause Copen to either stop his rampage or rile him up, thinking Asimov lied to him. But Asimov knew he could fight Copen if he needed to. The truth it was.
"You do realize your father didn't die right?" Asimov noted.
Copen stared wide eyed in shock, completely frozen in place. He quickly regained his composure and aimed the gun at the adult Azure Striker.
"You're lying. Even if you weren't, you still don't have any proof." Copen denied.
"S-FIT never exploded. In truth, a test subject escaped from under his watchful eye. Sumeragi was embarrassed that such a thing happened and wanted to hide it from public view. They took down their website so nobody else would see it.
The only people within Sumeragi that know what truly happened are the top brass and the workers that were at S-FIT when it happened. A recent hack revealed that the website is still accessible within Sumeragi and his files are still available to view. He had an undescribable hatred towards Adepts, viewing them as monsters and such. All of Sumeragi's other workers were told the workers died and the research was lost.
If they had access to the website, they would know the truth too. If you check the Datastore again, there should be data on S-FIT. One of the discontinued servers will be sure to have the data. Sumeragi would be too scared of the data falling into the wrong hands to delete it. You can find the location there and see for yourself." Asimov elucidated.
Copen was going to request Lola see if this was true. Until he remembered he left Lola to keep Mytyl company and prevent her from becoming lonely. There was no time to check the data either. Especially if Asimov was truly lying and using this to his advantage. Though it did sound rather promising, Copen held off for now.
"I don't need the data. I just need to kill every last Adept. The condition of the Adept responsible for his death was never stated. Meaning they're most likely alive somehow. If I eliminate every Adept, that means I'll have eliminated the culprit sometime." Copen rebuked.
The thought bounced around in Copen's mind for a little while. Once he finished pondering the idea, Copen looked up to see his opponent had left.
'I never thought of that. But, you can never trust an Adept. They're criminals, every last one of them. I'll leave and get Lola. If this is true though, there's no harm in searching.' Copen supposed before returning to the Saber Tooth's hiding spot.