Chapter 7: Tangled Web

Waves of rain flowed down the wide windows lining the Bureau of Dragon Saviors. Apollo, glassy eyed, watched the world warp under the flood. The occasional lightning flash divided both the city and the office into a moment of stark light and shadow, always followed by the rumble of a thunderous echo, breaking the dull patter of the rain. In the midday dark that had fallen over the city, the faint, transparent, lights of the safe zone barriers rose in domes, like great flower buds, struggling to push over and between the skyscrapers.

Apollo, who was leaning against his desk, pushed up his glasses to rub his nose and blinked hard. Setting the lenses back in place, he swept his gaze over the office. BB had taken a seat on the bean bag chair but hadn't quite allowed himself to sink into it. He was leaning forward and absent-mindedly twirling his cap around his finger. With a quiet sigh, he turned his eyes from the floor and met Apollo's eyes. For once, BB didn't say a word. He looked back out the window.

Apollo looked to Cayman. A shadow from the brim of his hat, accentuated in another lightning flash, covered his eyes. Apollo observed the evenly paced movements of Cayman's lips as he counted reps under his breath. His thick fingers were wrapped around a stress ball which he squeezed and released with a slow, heavy pulse. Without looking up, he switched to the other hand and restarted his count.

The knob turned with a click and the door to the other room creaked open. Everyone looked up at once as Kirin, pale faced, and Shiron, red-eyed, called them over.

"The results are in," Kirin said. "Shiron has the details."

They all entered the conference room, and Apollo closed the door behind him, sealing them into a grave silence. Every sound: footsteps, the scrub of the chairs against the carpet, the shifting of clothes, Shiron's clicks on the pc, and the tap of Apollo's watch on the table as he folded his hands; all of it sounded sharply into the dead air. Kirin stood at the end of the long table while Shiron readied a presentation from the holographic projector at its center. The lights dimmed in preparation.

"Alright, guys," Kirin said, "We're gonna start with the good news, because there's not much of it. Shiron?"

. . . . . . . . . .

The glow of machines and monitors cast electronic lights, like old CRT lines, onto Copen's face. In the semi-shadow, Copen's disheveled hair drooped over the hand he was holding his head in. His elbow was propped on the desk as he sat in a t-shirt before a monitor connected to a machine he used to analyze septima samples. His armor, segmented into pieces, lay haphazardly on the workbench. Weld scars streaked his prosthetic arm where he had cauterized the bite marks. It was cold in the room. He was used to it.

"You're sure you're gonna be ok, Copen-kun?" Lola asked softly from her charging station.

"I will be," Copen, without looking up, answered. "Just not yet."

He rubbed his temples, put his hands on his knees, and leaned back.

"I didn't think… she'd miss me like that."

Copen tilted his head back, stared at the ceiling, and listened to the falling rain drowning out the faint machine drone. A beep came from the monitor, and the analyzer ejected the sample of ash he had plugged into it. Copen turned in his chair and looked over the report.

"As I suspected," he murmured.

"What's it say, boss?" Lola said.

"The readings match an adept from thirty years ago:'' Copen said. "Elise's Resurrection septima."

"Didn't you shoot her in the back?" Lola said.

"I did," Copen said. "She was one of dad's biggest concerns; I didn't take any chances. Yet, somehow…."

Copen went quiet and looked further into the data.

"There's no viral agent involved in the necrolyzation of these zombies," he said. "It's purely a septimal phenomenon, so at least we don't have to worry about people turning from bite wounds."

"That's good news, right?" Lola said.

"I'm not so sure…."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Instead," Shiron explained, "we're looking at a massive septima wave."

With a few clicks and keystrokes, Shiron brought up a satellite map on the projector and changed the display mode to septimal imaging. A huge reading, highlighted in violet, swept over the map like a hurricane, spreading well beyond the city limits.

"Everywhere this septima wave touches," he continued, "all human remains are going to reanimate into zombies. That includes anyone who dies within its bounds. Regardless of cause of death, body condition, or any other external factors. If anyone dies, no matter how, they spawn another zombie."

"Worse yet," Kirin said, "dragon radiation is flaring off the charts all over the affected area, like we saw this morning."

"It hasn't been at this level since right after Moebius," Shiron added. "The radiation spike also suggests that Elise is dragonizing with unprecedented speed."

"My people at Shadow Yakumo have confirmed the presence of a spiritual disturbance in her septima," Kirin continued. "That, on top of her mental state, might explain why the radiation changed her so quickly. On the subject of spiritual influence, the septima wave is reviving bodies indiscriminately, but it seems she can only perform full resurrections on people she knows about. Once she knows, though, she doesn't even need a body. We've already identified several adepts from GV's past."

. . . . . . . . . .

"It's practically necromancy," Copen said, "like some old voodoo hex.: nothing short of an affront to God."

"Makes me sick," Lola said. "You know, if I could do that."

Copen got up and moved to another monitor. He pulled up satellite imaging using a backdoor he had installed in Sumeragi's network.

"Even so," Copen said, "there's still a logic to it. Meaning, if we view it scientifically, we may be able to predict it."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Based on preliminary simulations," Shiron said, "even in the best cast scenarios…. Well, I'll just say it; the nation's going to fall apart."

Everyone looked around in distress. Cayman slammed his fist on the table.

"There has to be something we can do!" he said.

"There's only one way to stop this," Kirin said.

Still standing, she leaned forward and put her hands on the table. From under her bangs, she lifted a deadly gaze.

"We hit it at the source."

"Cut the head off the snake," Apollo echoed.

"Or heads, I guess," BB said.

"I'm already working on a plan to find Elise," Shiron said. "Take a look."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Based on these readings," Copen said, "the septima wave is expanding as a perfect circle with her at the center, but…"

Copen zoomed the map and pointed at the screen.

"It stops at the border."

"The Kamishiro barrier!" Lola said. "It must be blocking the septima!"

"Guess we finally found a reason to thank Sumeragi," Copen said.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Knowing her personalities," Shiron said, "it's safe to assume both Elises will be in the same place. Now, things get a little tricky here, but by tracking the expansion patterns after the wave hits the Kamishiro, I think I can pinpoint a few likely–"

The projector suddenly cut to static.

"What the hell?" Shiron gasped.

"Shiron, what happened?" Kirin said.

"I don't know; I just lost the feed. Wait, I think someone's hacking us!"

"What?" Kirin said. "Who would–"

Before Kirin could finish, the answer to her question flashed onto the projector with an obnoxious smile under his mocking, green eyes.

"What's good, losers? It's ya boi, the OG hacker supreme, Teseo!"

A sound like an air horn blared over the speakers.

"Not this clown," Kirin said.

"Beep beep, Richie," Teseo shot back. "Anyway, I know we just met, but I already know who you are, and c'mon, have you seen my sub count?"

"Shiron, how is he doing this?" Apollo said.

"Working on it!" Shiron said.

"Srsly tho," Teseo said, "Elise hacked me back to life so I could tell you your free trial of life has expired #1up #Teseotime."

"And you guys say I talk weird," BB said.

Shiron kept typing and clicking furiously on his computer.

"He's trying to transfer our adept records," Shiron said. "I can't stop him completely, but I think I can get a trace off."

. . . . . . . . . .

Copen's screen suddenly went to static.

"Oh, so that's who's sucking all the bandwidth," a half-yawning voice said.

A moment later, the static cleared to reveal Merak's drooping eyes and lethargic expression.

"You?" Copen gasped.

"Yep," Merak answered. "Necromancers really be making me work overtime. But, man, Sumeragi has let their cyber security go super slack without me. Why have I gotta do everything myself?"

"Why even bother?" Copen scoffed. "Was your deathbed not comfy enough for you?"

"It actually wasn't half bad," Merak said. "Problem is, she can still turn me into a zombie, and I'm not gonna be caught dead working that graveyard shift."

"Oh yeah?" Lola shouted from the background. "Well, as soon as we find you, we're throwing you a permanent retirement party!"

The words "Access Denied" flashed in red letters across Copen's screen.

"And with that, you are officially not invited," Merak said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a thirty year gaming backlog to catch up on."

Merak flashed a peace sign and Copen's screen cut back to a slow buffering wheel.

"You get him, boss?" Lola asked after a moment.

"You know it," Copen answered with a smirk. "Let's pay him a visit."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Well, would you look at that," Teseo said. "Someone else actually knows his way around an encryption. What are you, some kind of nerd? Lol."

"I'm a professional nerd, asshole," Shiron said.

"Oh, sorry (notsorry), but we don't do that kind of language here, so I'm gonna have to ban you from the chat."

"You talk a lot of smack for a punk sitting behind a screen," Cayman said.

"Yeah," Kirin added. "If GV were here, we'd punch you right through that monitor.

We'll find you either way."

"What are you gonna do? S.W.A.T. me?" Teseo mocked.

"Yes," everyone else said in unison.

"Aaaaand download complete," Teseo said. "So, I'm ending the stream there. Feel free to like, subscribe, and kill yourself, cause let's be real, it's gonna happen anyway. K thnks bye."

"Found him!" Shiron said just as Teseo cut the line.

"Just tell me where," Kirin said, "and I'll use my Radiant Fetters to seal his ass of a mouth."

"He's at the satellite base," Shiron said. "That's how he locked us out. We need that data if we're going to find Elise."

"Agreed," Kirin said. "I'll need you in the field for this one, Shiron. Everyone else, prepare to strike."

. . . . . . . . . .

Lola floated over Copen's shoulder while he examined his fragmented armor.

"The power reserves are fried," he said. "They're salvageable, but this damage is at least a week's work."

"We don't have that kind of time!" Lola said.

"My thoughts exactly," Copen said, "which is why I brought us here. Lola, prepare to resync."

Copen pressed a button, and a wall panel, with a hydraulic squeal, began to slowly lift like a curtain. Piece by piece, it revealed the silhouette, boots to hood, of another armor set. The backdrop lights flashed on and shone on the luminous, white and red surfaces of Copen's original Megante Leon armor and EX Gear shield. The only item missing from his original loadout was his father's Border revolver, a loss he had long lamented.

Copen began strapping it on. While he sometimes classified the Tiger armor he had been wearing earlier that day as his "jacket," the Leon was an armored suit in the fullest sense of the word. Copen's original approach to combating adepts had been to even the odds with heavy defense and firepower, an approach he would later drop in favor of movement capabilities most adepts couldn't follow. The Leon, however, was much bulkier than its successor and designed to work in conjunction with the heavy, EX Gear septimal weapons platform.

Though Copen almost never used the old equipment anymore, he had been tinkering with it to make it more compatible with his present combat philosophies. In addition to changing the Leon's power systems to function with Lola's AS drive, Copen had added boost jets like those on the Tiger armor, albeit much less efficient. The EX Gear also boasted some new configurations but was otherwise unaltered. Perhaps most importantly, Copen gathered several of his secret weapon: the septima canceling Greed Snatcher bullets he had previously used to kill Elise.

"Diagnostics complete, Boss," Lola said. "Everything but Darkness Trigger is online and ready to kick a whole lotta butts."

"Then we better get going," Copen said.

Copen went back above ground, his heavy, armored steps clanking against the stairs. He opened the door and looked out into the dark of the pouring rain. He lifted his hood over his head, unholstered his revolver, and fired his boosters to launch him over the nearest building.

. . . . . . . . . .

At the Bureau, everyone was making their final preparations while the two VTOLs' engines warmed up at the launch pad above. Shiron, who had shed his usual jacket for a tighter fitting operations suit, had the most to do and was out of practice for it. He picked up two small, blue orbs and held one in the palm of each textured glove. He closed his eyes and his hands to focus and opened them both in unison. The refraction orbs levitated and each expanded to the size of a fortune teller's crystal ball, reflecting the lights and scenery of the office in curved images. Using subtle hand movements, Shiron rotated and twirled them around him before bringing them back into place over his palms. He smirked.

"Still got it," he said in relief.

Shiron looked across the room to Cayman who was practicing some kind of martial arts kata, his rigid muscle flexing with each movement. The smile faded from Shiron's lips. He shrunk the orbs back down to their base size and let them drop into his palms before putting his hands into his pants pockets. He glanced at the assortment of other machines and drones he would need to take with him scattered across the table and sighed.

"Hey, Sensei?" Shiron called. "You think you could help me get these loaded up?"

Glancing over, Cayman returned to the firm stance from which he had begun his sequence and let out a controlled breath.

"Sure thing, little man," he said.

Shiron watched as Cayman strode over with a confident smile, scooped up nearly all the machines in his arms at once and started carrying them up the stairs. Shiron took a small drone in his hands and followed in his shadow.

On the helipad above, two VTOLs waited in the rain for take off. Apollo was reviewing the operational details with BB in one while Kirin sat wiping her blade in the other. Cayman carried the machines past Kirin and dropped them with a racket into the open container in the VTOL. He dusted off his hands and took the drone from Shiron.

"Appreciate the help," Cayman said.

"Yeah," Shiron sighed quietly.

Kirin looked up from her polished sword and noticed Shiron's downcast expression. She sheathed the blade and propped it against the seat.

"Shiron," she said, "is something wrong?"

"It's just…." Shiron said. "I haven't been on a field op since that Zed guy kicked my ass. He didn't even believe I was a dude! How am I gonna be any help in the freakin' zombie apocalypse?"

"C'mon now, Shiron," Cayman said. "I didn't teach you to talk like that."

"No, but," Shiron said, "I'm not like you guys. I'm not a badass or a superhero; I'm just some guy with a computer. I don't know if I'm cut out for this."

Shiron looked at the floor, his statement hanging in the humid air. Cayman's stern expression softened. He knelt down in front of Shiron and laid a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to do it alone," Cayman said.

Shiron lifted his gaze and peered into the depths of Cayman's sincere eyes. Kirin leaned forward and cleared her throat.

"Y'know, Shiron," she said, "back when you went primal dragon, and me and GV had to come stop you, that was one of the toughest fights I've ever been in, even tougher than your sensei there."

Shiron turned to Kirin in surprise.

"That's right," Kirin continued. "If it weren't for GV…. Well, let's just say you came about this close to killing me."

"Really?" Shiron said. "Hell yeah! Crap. Sorry is what I meant. It's just, I don't get that much, y'know?"

"I know," Kirin said with a nod. "You deserve it, though."

"C'mon," Shiron said, "I know you're just trying to make me feel better."

"It's nothin' but the truth," Cayman said. "Take it from your sensei. You may not be able to bench a rhino, do triple backflips, or almost single handedly take down borderline gods (props to Kirin by the way), but you've got your own skills. Truth is, I spend all this time working on myself just so I can carry my own weight. Strength and perseverance are all I've really got. But you? You put the team, hell, the whole department on your back every day. So don't you be ashamed to ask me to pick something up for you or give you a hand, because you're the one carrying me every day."

"Sensei," Shiron sniffled, "that was beautiful."

"No!" Cayman said. "You're beautiful. Now, let's get the rest of your dohickeys loaded up so we can go save the world!"

"Y-yes, sir!" Shiron said.

Kirin smiled as the two of them rushed back into the building. A moment later, a lightning bolt arced like a cobalt viper and blasted sparks off a nearby lightning rod. Kirin looked at the residual flashes for a moment before her smile faded, and she turned her face away.

BB glanced over from the other VTOL. A gust of wind threatened to blow his hat off, but he caught and readjusted it. When he looked back up from under the brim, he met Apollo's scowl. He had been caught not listening.

"Hey, uh," BB started, "sorry for asking, but are things still kosher between you and Kirin? I've just been getting some bad vibes; y'know?"

Apollo looked over at the edge of Kirin's yellow cloak flapping in the wind.

"Yes," Apollo said. "I've felt them, too, but we're still on the same team. She just has too much on shoulders. Speaking of, why don't you go lend the others a hand?"

"I got your drift, boss," BB said with a nod. "It'll take more than this to bring us down."

BB got up and went back inside. Apollo watched him drop out of sight and turned his eyes to the other VTOL. He took a deep breath and strode through the rain. Kirin glanced up and looked away from him as he climbed in and propped on the bracing bar.

"We need to talk, Kirin," he said.

"Apollo," Kirin said, "you know we don't have time for this right now."

"I do," Apollo answered, "which is why I want you to promise me that we'll have this conversation before you go out on any more missions."

"Look," Kirin sighed, "I know I was a little harsh earlier, but people need me. The team needs me. I can't just sit around while they're in danger."

"And that's exactly the reason you have to," Apollo said. "You're in danger, Kirin, and I can't watch you face it all yourself."

Kirin propped her hands on her staff and looked up at Apollo's sharp, clear eyes. He extended his hand.

"Please," he said.

Kirin looked down, sighed, and nodded. She pushed herself to her feet with her staff and clasped her hand in Apollo's.

"It's a promise," she said.