"They're the ones giving me grief by locking me in the bathroom!" Odd complained.
"Did you get any good data from your time at Sumeragi?" Jeremy asked.
"Uh, about that, you, get out. Sorry, trying to get my annoying middle child of a brother to remove himself from my personal space. Still trying to get him to learn what that means." Naomi droned.
"You seriously didn't tell them that you've been working for Sumeragi all this time?" Copen realized.
"I've been busy. Hold up, come over here," Naomi demanded as she moved herself to the other side of her room along with Copen.
"What in the double dipping pocky sticks made you so intent on kidnapping Joule that day? Did you know something about her being a clone? Answer me now you fiend, or the work equipment gets it." Naomi threatened.
"If you're holding an interrogation over there, we can just call back later." Jeremy notified.
'Eep, omg! I totally forgot that they could still hear me!' Naomi mentally panicked.
She rushed over to the computer to claer things up with her friends.
"How much did you hear?" Naomi asked.
"Enough to know that you've been working for Sumeragi for quite some time and you also have an enemy in your room." Jeremy declared.
"What!? How long have you been working for them?" Ulrich questioned.
"I'll have to ask Asimov, he knows about my records. I'll call you back when I'm done." Naomi assured as she powered her computer down.
She looked at Copen with fury similar to when he called her a freak.
"Those are some of the only friends I have and there's only so many humans that I'm willing to trust. And you are not one of them. The only human I trust here is Nori." Naomi huffed.
"You do realize I could share that information at any given time?" Copen warned.
"Please, I've faced worse. And just for the record, your Greed Snatcher Bullits aren't anything compared to the Septima Sealer ones!" Naomi added.
"I still don't know who you're talking about." Copen reminded.
"You know them, you just don't know who has the bullets." Naomi corrected.
"So, it's somebody I know?" Copen assumed.
"Think about it, who do you know that has a gun?" Naomi reminded.
"Well, other than you, there's Gunvolt, your boss, wait, what about dad?" Copen guessed.
"The last one." Naomi confirmed.
"I don't understand." Copen muttered.
"Think about, he knows more about Adepts than you ever could. If you wanted to learn about then, just ask him." Naomi notified.
"I'll do it, good luck with whatever trouble you're about to be in." Copen commented before walking off.
"You're the only trouble in this place!" Naomi ranted.
Deciding Copen wasn't worth the hassle, Naomi called Asimov.
"Is this a bad time or should I contact you during office hours?" Naomi pondered.
"Now's fine, is something concerning you?" Asimov responded.
"I wanted to ask you about my records. Considering Sumeragi's strict security measures. I wanted to ask rather than try to look it up." Naomi explained.
"I suppose it started when you were seven. You had either a part of the Resurrection Septima or a whole of it implanted into you the year you died. Afterwards, it's safe to say you gained titles faster than Nova got promoted." Asimov elaborated.
"Do you know how many positions I hold there currently?' Naomi hoped.
"I'll have to check. I'll call you back in five with the specs." Asimov promised.
Naomi put the phone down with a sigh.
'Alright, five minutes. it's just five, that's it. No more, no less. It's not like that's enough time for me to completely lose it.' Naomi mentally rambled.
That's when Naomi remembered that she asked Gunvolt to keep an eye on Mytyl. Her head was drowning in fear and paranoia. Naomi worried what would happen should her parents or Copen found that Mytyl was staying with an unknown friend. So help her if Copen said anything about Gunvolt.
That's what encouraged Naomi to make a break for it. She was out of breath once she reached Gunvolt's aprtment. To Naomi's surprise, it had been over five minutes and she still hadn't heard a word from her employer. Just as she went to open the door, Gunvolt burst out of the apartment.
"Oh, Naomi, perfect timing. Could you keep an eye on the aprtment for me?" Gunvolt supposed.
"I just came by to get Mytyl and take her home. What's going on that I can't go with you?" Naomi interrogated.
"Asimov told me I have a target. he didn't give me any official name other than the target was codenamed Apollo." Gunvolt elaborated.
"Where did he say the target ws currently located?" Naomi pondeed.
"Yeah, he said to take the road going left and when the road forks to make a right. After that I keep going forward until I see a two story white building with a ton of different sized windows and some spire looking structures on the roof." Gunvolt stated.
Naomi felt that description to be rather intimate to her. So, Naomi thought back a bit and pulled out her phone. She scrolled until a picture of the sanatorium popped up wit the Mantis on the front lawn. She sent it as a selfie with a thumbs down.
"Is that where Asimov wants you to go?" Naomi questioned while showing Gunvolt the picture.
"Yeah, are you familiar with the place?" Gunvolt guessed.
"GV, that is my house! Why do you even want to bust in there!? Wait, there isn't even anybody named Apollo there! So why- oh, oh no. He can't be serious! It was one itty bitty arguement! And it was incredibly insensibly petty! It doesn't make any sense though for him to get you invovled! You don't even know any of the target's information!" Naomi hollered to the point where Gunvolt swore his neighbors -both upstairs and downstairs- could hear Naomi.
"So, don't go?" Gunvolt guessed.
"Yes, please!" Naomi pleaded.
"Asimov must really be desparate if he's calling me in too." Gunvolt theorized.
"Hold on, what do you mean 'too'?" Naomi snarled.
"Asimov said he was sending Zeno to the same address." Gunvolt informed.
Naomi's stomach felt like it contained a bucket of ice cubes.
"That's why he hasn't called me back! he was calling you and Zeno! He wanted me to help him fight! I'm calling him back right now!" Naomi snapped as she went to call Asimov.
However, before she could, Naomi was stopped by Gunvolt putting his hand over her phone.
"I know you want to stop this but Asimov's proably directing Zeno there now." Gunvolt warned.
"He's already been met with resistance from Copen. Zeno will have to worry about that too. I don't even know where he came up with such a preposterous idea anyhow!" Naomi lectured.
Naomi sighed. Mytyl went running to Naomi and hugged her.
"Hey, are you having fun?" Naomi smiled.
"The best! Joule and I have been singing and making jewelry! Look, sis! I made you a necklace!" Mytyl cheered.
She handed Naomi a necklace wit silver colored elastic twine. It held a charm, some letter block beads and singular colored round beads. The butterfly charm was on the center of the necklace and was red on the left with orange on the right. Two beads of red preceeded an orange bead in the pattern. There was a N and A bead on the left of the butterfly charm. The N bead was red, as were the round beads separating it from the orange A block bead. On the right of it was a M and I. All of them were separated by two same colored orb beads.
"The butterfly is supposed to represent the O." Mytyl explained.
"Copen's an idiot. If he thinks he can overpower you or Zeno, then something's seriously wrong with him. But then again, what isn't wrong with him already? You have Dullahan bullets that don't need your Azure Striker, he's seen that. Zeno's weapons don't use his Septima. And the boss can just toss his visor for the fight." Naomi remarked.
"What does that even do anyways? Is it supposed to work like my contacts?" Gunvolt pondered.
"Wait, if Asimov takes off his visor, will he get recognized? Oh no, that can't be good." naomi muttered.
"Naomi, your mind is going a million miles a minute." Gunvolt stated.
Mytyl nudged Naomi to get her attention. Naomi looked at Mytyl then Joule. Naomi got the sudden urge to say something, but instead bit her lower lip.
"Were you going to tell her that?" Gunvolt supposed.
"Yeah, but I can't! They'll be so shocked! And Joule's probably gonna cry- why do I smell bubble gum? That better not be perfume you're wearing Mytyl." Naomi answered.
"Joule wanted to see if you'd be interested in trying some gum. She said you liked blueberries and thought some gum would be better than you gritting your teeth all the time." Gunvolt replied.
"I don't think I'll be able to chew that and have the boss take me seriously." Naomi doubted.
"GV, I made you a necklace too." Joule notified.
"What would be the best way to get ahold of Asimov right now?" Naomi asked.
Gunvolt took out his phone to see a message from Asimov with two different pictures of the target. Naomi saw them and instantly knew she wasn't getting any sleep that night.
"He almost looks like an older version of Copen." Gunvolt noticed.
"Basically, that's because that's where Copen got his DNA from." Naomi stated.
"Wait, aren't you, so that means, why does Asimov want to eliminate him then?" Gunvolt pondered.
"I dunno, but he stopped by earlier and called him an unfit parent. Would you believe that Asimov actually said I was being raised in a toxic environment and he could do a beter job? You certainly did something to him." Naomi informed.
"I'll try to have him call it off." Gunvolt promised.
"Sis, what's wrong?" Mytyl worried.
"It's fine Mytyl, nothing to worry about." Naomi assured.
Naomi walked over to Gunvolt and wished to inform him of something without the girls knowing.
"Is it bad if I hope somebody lands a shot?" Naomi whispered.
"With all the information I've been given I can't really say yes or no." Gunvolt stated.
"I'm going home, stay here and see if you can talk the boss outta doing this." Naomi spoke.
Naomi teleported home, hoping that everyone there would still be in one piece. When she arrived, naomi saw that everyting was fine, until she entered her room.
"Why is everyone in my room!? is the kitchen closed or something!?" Naomi yelled.
"Ay man, take it easy. And keep it down. Why didn't you tell us you were being held hostae by such a high class target?" Zeno questioned.
Naomi wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. But whether she would exclaim the reason she resided in the same building as their target or to get out of her sight was to be determined.
"He's my dad you ill intended sharpshooter!" Naomi ranted.
Naomi realized what she said ad covered her mouth.
"Now hold up just a heckin' second! Boss, why didn't you tell us anything about this!?" Zeno interrogated.
"I thought you would've noticed." Asimov stated.
"Well we never saw him to know!" Zeno reminded.
Zeno gave Naomi a questioning look.
"And you. Ill intended sharpshooter? Seriously? You couldn't have come up wtih anything better?" Zeno mocked.
"Hey, heated moment in the heat of the moment over here." Naomi grumbled.
"But that can't be right, can it?" Zeno doubted.
'That's why I got mad at the footage, and Moniqa." Naomi confessed.
"Wait a min, that scientist, that you're mad at," Zeno spoke as he pointed at Asimov. "Is her dad!?"
Naomi looked down sadly.
"Why didn't you tell us anything?" Zeno wondered.
"Because her father is Dr. Kamizono, Copen is also her brother because of this. We swore to never let anybody within QUILL know this. He's Sumeragi's most notorious scientist. I think there's something you all need to know. But first, we should all get some sleep and leave Naomi alone." Asimov notified as he left with Zeno.
Naomi flung herself stomach first onto her bed. The following morning, Naomi woke up at 8:15. She took half an hour to get ready and a quarter of an hour to reach HQ. She stared up at the building and let out a shaky sigh. Her body felt like a towering sturucture in an earthquake. If the structure was sound, it would survive. But if it wasn't, everything would come falling down.
'I can't let that happen. That's why I'll distract the boss with some data.' Naomi supposed.
She walked toward the place she dreaded entering. Eventually, Naomi entered to see all eyes on her. For this, only Naomi, Asimov, Gunvolt, Zeno, Lumen, Moniqa, Xiao and Joule were present. A bunch of chairs were set in a circle. The only ones not seated were Naomi and Lumen. Naomi seated herself and tried to suffocate her worries with happy thoughts. Unfortuantely, this proved to be impossible at the moment.
"I'm confused. Why are we all sitting in a circle? I feel like I missed something." Gunvolt supposed.
"Me too." Joule agreed.
"I called you all together for a very important revelation. Some of us have been hiding secrets, even secret lives from some of our teammates. So, those of you that need to come clean, stand up." Asimov announced.
Asimov, Naomi and Lumen stood up, with only Gunvolt and Naomi capable of seeing Lumen who was sitting on the couch. What Gunvolt didn't know was Naomi called Joule later the previous night and explained things to her after she went home. Joule stood from her chair as well.
"So, who's going first?" Asimov wondered.
Naomi pointed to Asimov.
"Is this supposed to be some group therapy type thing?" Naomi pondered.
"It seems like it to me." Lumen agreed.
"If nobody is going to say anything, I guess I'll speak first. I was taken rom my parents at a young age. I was sent to S-FIT. There I obtained the Azure Striker Septima and my visor. From the experience, I learned of other Adepts suffering from the Sumeragi so I wished to liberate them. Eventually, I managed to escape and create QUILL with the help of others." Asimov stated.
Everybody was trying to understand and recover from the shock while Naomi and Joule silently debated amongst themselves who would go next.
"Why don't you go?" Lumen inqueried.
"Because I'm not somebody's clone. And I thought we were going in order." Naomi whispered angrily.
However, when Naomi looked up, all eyes were on her.
"I don't wanna do this, I think I'm gonna be sick." Naomi denied.
Joule and Lumen were both annoyed that though she agreed to do this, Naomi was planning to back out.
"I'll go, I was lab created by Sumeragi to be a clone of Naomi's sister, Mytyl. Part of the Muse Septima was implanted into me before I was born. My Muse was also used to stengthen the Sumerai's other Adepts during combat." Joule explained.
"Your turn Naomi." Asimov notified.
Naomi began mentally hoping that something would come along and interrupt this all too silent time.
"I was born the eldest of three to a Sumeragi scientist. I have all forty four Septimas, most of which I'm the sole wielder. I was murdered when I was seven. I work for both QUILL and the Sumeragi. I have five positions currently with QUILL and approximately twenty jobs within Sumeragi. My life causes unprecedented amounts of danger due to my uncontrolled Septimas and affiliation with Sumeragi. And I'm a prisoner in my own home." Naomi elucidated.
Naomi rapidly hung her head down out of embarrassment. And a growing fear that everyone would hate her. Luckily, Joule, Lumen and Gunvolt didn't seem to resent her. However, everyone else except them and Asimov seemed upset.
'So, that man on the footage was..." Moniqa assumed.
"Dr. Kamizono, Sumeragi's most dangerous and notorious scientist." Asimov confirmed.
Naomi felt all eyes on her and possibly a target on her back. When she looked back up, Naomi noticed Moniqa turn away and Zeno glaring, Xiao was sifting through data to see if Asimov's previous statement was true.
"If you want to kill me now, either raise your hand or remember that somebody already did it for you." Naomi retorted as she stood up.
She started for the elevator as Gunvolt, Lumen and Joule followed after her.
'Is this really what I wanna do for the rest of my life?' Naomi pondered.
"Naomi, wait!" Gunvolt begged.
Naomi turned around and placed her right arm out diagonally.
"No, I can't! Maybe if I negotiate with the higher ups then they'll stop blaming you or involving you in any media coverage." Naomi hoped.
"You don't have to do this. This is exactly what they want you to do. They want you to meld into their plans. To be malleable, to be expendable. Are you really going to give them what they want?" Gunvolt wondered.
"I am what they want GV, don't you get it? The power, all theirs to control. Someone to corral humans into fearing Adepts. It's a political fear mongering tactic is all it is." Naomi informed.