+I must admit, that was a rather
unexpected turn of events,+
Agito said, even as he donned the armor of Gigantic Dark - and
wasn't that a most satisfying name - and felt its power flow
into him and through him.
+That bitch could have at least waited
until Yukari had called the chrysalis for me.+
+I think it was her intention to keep
you from possessing this power.+
+Yes; I am rather aware of that. I
suppose I have no choice but to leave this battle in your hands,
Agito.+
+I won't let those two beat me; I'm not
Fukamachi.+
+Yes, I know. Those sentimental idiots
never could do what has to be done. We can.+
+I'm glad you see things my way, Akane.+
+Or perhaps you see things my way,
Agito.+
Agito chuckled.
+Perhaps.+
"One Gigantic against the two of us,"
Hikari Mirabilis said, obviously too arrogant to realize how
outmatched she was. "It hardly seems fair. But then, we really
never have cared about fairness, have we my Lord?"
"No, my Lady," Imakarum Mirabilis said,
with that same arrogant tone. "We never have been overly
concerned with such a foolish concept."
"Please, spare me the idiotic
posturing," Akane drawled, getting to her feet and moving to
stand beside him. "I may not be able to personally help Agito
kill the both of you, but I
will enjoy hearing him talk
about the battle when he returns."
"What do you say to that, Imakarum and
Hikari Mirabilis? I am your opponent now!"
"I
say it's just one more Gigantic for us to play with," Hikari
sneered.
"We will play this pointless game of
yours, Agito Makishima," Imakarum said, remarkably calmly for
someone in his situation. "But we will fight in a place of my
choosing!"
"Very well then!" Agito said, as he
launched himself into the air.
+I know that neither of us believes in
luck; but I will wish you happy hunting, Agito.+
+Thank you, Akane. Take care of Shizu
while I'm away, it would be better for her if she didn't think
about what happened today.+
+Yes, of course. I will try to give her
something else to think about.+
Satisfied that Shizu would not be
focused so much on Yohei, who he still had not gotten his
revenge for, Agito continued to follow the two Zoalords as they
flew toward some destination known only to themselves. When
Agito began to notice that they were flying over some of the
more populated areas, he at first thought that the Zoalords were
trying to disorient him and get him lost. It was a rather
commonplace tactic; to throw your enemies off-track by leading
them to as many different places as you were able.
When both versions of Imakarum Mirabilis
stopped, hovering above the city with an air of both finality
and satisfaction about them, Agito started to wonder just what
it was that they thought they were doing. There was no advantage
to facing him in this kind of terrain, nothing that could not be
found on a more open battleground. In fact, with all of the
structures in the way, it would make air-to-ground combat - or
its inverse - a great deal more difficult.
"You two wish to engage me in this
crowded, urban area?" Agito scoffed. "For what reason?"
"I suppose it may be a difficult
concept for you to understand, Agito Makishima," Hikari sneered.
"So please, let us elaborate!"
The next thing that Agito knew, he was
forced to dodge the Incision Waves that both Zoalords had fired
at him. The blasts that would have split him in half had they
connected with his unprotected body instead unleashed their full
force on the city that the three of them were hovering over.
"Do you understand now why we chose this
place as our battlefield?" Imakarum demanded, laughing like the
mad thing he was. "Even if our shots miss you, they won't go to
waste here!"
So that's their plan... These
fools don't realize who they're dealing with.
Snapping open the covers of his enhanced sonic emitters, Agito
fired at the nearest Zoalord. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to
kill Imakarum Mirabilis; only to mildly disorient him and shear
off two of the three black spikes that protruded from the right
side of his head. Hikari seemed to be rather enraged by this, so
maybe there was a way to deal with both of them; Hikari
certainly gave the impression that attacking Imakarum was a good
way to distract and anger her and throw her off her game.
Oddly enough, the same did not quite
seem to hold true for Imakarum. Not to the same extent, anyway.
As the tower that had been blown apart
by his sonic attack fell to the ground, Agito laughed at the
expressions of obvious confusion on the faces of his Zoalord
opponents. "You both made a grave mistake, assuming that I would
react like Fukamachi," Agito scoffed. "I couldn't care less if
our battle leveled this entire city!"
The two Zoalords shared a look, some
wordless communication, and then they started attacking with
oddly complementary movements. One of them always seemed to be
covering for the other. When he blocked a volley of Gravity
Bullets from Imakarum, Hikari was firing an Incision Wave at
him. When he moved to attack one of them, the other would always
launch an attack to drive him away. In fact, those two seemed to
be working together a little too well; anticipating the other's
moves a little too fluently.
When a thought dawned on him, Agito
decided to take a calculated risk. Dodging and weaving
in-between the energy and gravity blasts that were being aimed
at him, Agito rammed his fully extended Vibration Blade deep
into the left side of Imakarum Mirabilis' gut. The Zoalord
screamed as the pain hit him, but what was more interesting -
and gratifying - was that Hikari also screamed, holding the
exact same spot on her own body and curling defensively around
it as if she herself had been wounded.
Interesting; a two-way telepathic
link that allows them to function effectively as a single
entity. That explained why
they were reacting to his attack in such a way; with that kind
of a mental link, what hurt one would inevitably cause the other
the same amount of pain. And in the same area, no less. That
would be very useful knowledge.
Diving in on the attack again, Agito
used his shields to deflect a volley of Gravity Bullets from
both Zoalords and then rammed the foremost Vibration Blade on
his left arm deep into Hikari Mirabilis' right shoulder. The
screams of both Zoalords were a clear sign that both of them
were still mentally linked; and as long as they remained so, any
damage to one would affect the other to the exact same extent.
Mentally anyway.
It was only after a crushing punch to
Imakarum's gut sent both him and Hikari staggering backward
through the air, holding their respective midsections, that the
two Zoalords apparently decided to disengage their telepathic
link and face him as separate entities. Agito, powering up the
Gigantic's Pressure Cannon, fired it at Imakarum before the
Zoalord could fully reorient himself into his own mind. Hikari,
however, managed to draw up enough concentration to raise her
own forcefield in front of her counterpart.
Not that it mattered very much
what that Chronos bitch was trying to do, since hers was just
another barrier for Agito to break down. And he
would
break it, with the power of the Gigantic at his disposal.
"What's wrong, Sayuri?" Agito demanded, as he saw the female
Zoalord begin to falter. "Is a mere barrier using up all of your
energy?!"
When Imakarum moved to reinforce
Hikari's shield, Agito hit both of them with the Gigantic's
Pressure Cannon. He could see that even their combined barriers
would only be able to stand up against a few more strikes, Agito
felt a sense of cold satisfaction. Then he fired the Pressure
Cannon until he saw that Imakarum was beginning to falter as
well. Laughing at the futility of the two Zoalords' efforts to
save themselves, Agito fired one last shot.
The shot that destabilized the barrier,
collapsed it, and sent both Zoalords crashing through the wall
of the bulding in front of which their battle had moved. As the
two of them attempted to help each other back to their feet,
Agito glided up the hole in the wall that their crash had left.
"Do you realize now how
overmatched you both are?! The Gigantic armor was created to
fight against Alkanphel! Neither of you stands a
chance
against that kind of strength!"
With a growled string of obscenities
from Imakarum, and a few decorative metaphors from Hikari - as
well as something unspoken that seemed to pass between them -
Imakarum turned on him again.
"Don't underestimate us, Makishima!" the
Zoalord screamed, as he fired his cyclone energy blast.
Calling up the Gigantic's
forcefield again, Agito rode out the blast. "Idiots!
Your feeble powers are as nothing compared to the strength of
the armor I now control!"
When the air around him cleared, though,
Agito found that he had been shouting at an empty building; the
two Zoalords were nowhere to be found. Biting back a few choice
words himself, Agito flew into the building after them; just as
both Zoalords bashed their way out the opposite wall. Agito
could sense their actions using the enhanced sensors of the
Gigantic; he knew what they were doing. Firing the main Head
Beam, Agito chuckled coldly when he sensed it connecting with
one of his targets.
Then, sensing that something had changed
- something in the air and in the energy-field surrounding one
of his Zoalord opponents, Agito stopped. This change, whatever
it was, had the potential to cause him problems if the Zoalord
in question had effected it for a specific purpose. Scanning
deeper, and flying towards the two Zoalords even as he did so,
Agito saw a burst of strange light - balls of light, no less -
come flying out at him. The orbs of red light swirled inward and
coalesced into a single mass in front of him with a burst of
bright light.
And that was when the battle started to
get a great deal stranger.
Agito raised the Gigantic's forcefield.
The mass of light in front of him started to turn black; not
fading, but somehow becoming something that was fundamentally
the opposite of light. The transformation was accompanied by an
ever-rising wind. The transformation was also impossible.
Something like this could not happen on Earth; could not happen
in a place where there was insufficient mass to form this kind
of a gravitational distortion.
Agito knew that he could not be seeing
this; and yet he was.
"Do you still think you can defeat us,
Makishima?!" Hikari demanded. "Do you think you can stand
against a weapon such as this?!"
"This is the most potent of my
techniques," oddly enough, Imakarum was missing all of the red
orbs on his body. "My forbidden weapon: the Virtual Black Hole!"
Of course,
Agito realized, reinforcing the Gigantic's forcefield even as he
did so. Hikari is the only one
with all of the red orbs still in place. I believe Murakami had
a name for them, but things have been somewhat... fraught since
we last met. Regardless, Imakarum's orbs must be the key to it.
But, now that I know that, how do I destroy this thing?
Imakarum's virtual black hole seemed to
be causing a great deal of damage to the surrounding area, but
neither Agito nor either of his Zoalord opponents were
particularly concerned about that fact.
"Do you comprehend the power of my
Virtual Black Hole, Makishima?!" Imakarum demanded. "Do you even
think you can?! Even with the all the might of the Gigantic at
your command, you're going to die here and now!"
"You really should give up now,
Makishima," Hikari said, in the tone of someone who was merely
giving some much-needed advice. "Before my counterpart's Virtual
Black Hole stops being Virtual and becomes an actual Black
Hole."
Imakarum, despite looking rather
strained and worn, chuckled. "Yes; if this Virtual Black Hole of
mine were to exist beyond its intended duration, it would indeed
become an actual Black Hole. And then, not even I would be able
to destroy it."
Forcing more power into the
Gigantic's forcefield as he felt the virtual black hole tugging
at him more insistently, Agito made himself calm down.
There has to be a way for me to
destroy this. This virtual black hole was created by Imakarum,
so maybe he would be the key to all of this. It does seem as if
maintaining this gravitational distortion costs him a great deal
of energy. That would make sense, I suppose.
Focusing on the distortion in space in
front of him - Agito personally doubted that such a weapon as
this would have any affect on the local time - Agito started to
see past the virtual event horizon. What lay beneath, covered by
the lack of visible light, were the same red orbs that he had
seen in the sky, and on Hikari's body. They were orbiting each
other in a particularly complex pattern.
It appears that the orbs Imakarum
released simulate extreme gravity by interacting with each
other. Their stable orbits, most likely maintained by an
infusion of Imakarum's own energy, if the way he is acting now
is any indication. So, if the interaction between these orbs
were to be disrupted, or their motion stopped... yes, that might
do it. Agito concentrated,
bringing the Gigasmashers online and beginning the process of
fully charging them.
It took about one and a half times
longer than the Megasmasher to fully charge; but with the power
that his Fukamachi had displayed when he had used the
Gigasmasher, it was a shorter duration than Agito had truthfully
been expecting. As the Gigasmasher reached full power, Agito
fired it into the center of the disturbance. Nothing happened.
Agito could hear the Zoalords behind him laughing, taunting him
about the fact that his own gambit had failed.
Or... perhaps it hasn't,
Agito mused. Perhaps I simply
need to wait; the paths of the orbs seem to be destabilized now.
Sure enough, after he had waited about half a minute, the
virtual black hole exploded with the force of a bomb. Agito
laughed; he laughed at the sheer terror in Imakarum Mirabilis'
voice, laughed at the way Hikari was futilely trying to reassure
him that the two of them would be able to defeat him somehow. As
if two mere Zoalords, one of which had used up most of his
energy, were a match for his Gigantic Dark.
"Well, I have to admit that I wasn't
expecting such a powerful attack, Imakarum," Agito said, turning
his attention back to the two Zoalords. "But that was the last
of your trump cards; you played it and lost. And for your
failure, both you and Hikari are going to die here and now!"
As he dove at Imakarum, right fist
extended and charged with gravitational energy in preparation
for delivering a Gravity Punch to the Zoalord's head, Agito saw
Hikari throw herself in front of Imakarum. Shielding him with
her own body, the female Zoalord grabbed his wrist in a futile
attempt to prevent him from hitting either his current target or
the one she had just given him. Agito laughed as he felt every
bone in the idiotic woman's wrist shattering from the force that
his blow imparted on it.
Agito laughed a great deal harder when
he saw her Zoacrystal crack in several places and he heard her
screaming in tormented agony.
"What a worthless sacrifice you made,
Hikari Mirabilis!" Agito taunted. "It won't save your
counterpart, and it leaves you helpless to even save yourself!"
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
As Hikari slammed bodily into him,
writhing and screaming and clutching at her damaged Zoacrystal,
Imakarum wrapped his arms around her waist and cradled her
against his own body. There wasn't much more he could do, not
with his own energy so depleted. When he heard Makishima
laughing at them, and more than that moving in to kill them both
while they were weakened this way, Imakarum dove out of the Dark
Gigantic's way.
He had to protect himself; more than
that, he had to protect Hikari. He did not know why she had done
something so foolish as to take a blow meant for him; perhaps
she had thought to use her barrier to repel or diffuse the force
of the Dark Gigantic's blow. With her energy reserves in better
condition than his own, there might have even been a chance for
her to succeed.
But now, as much as he hated to give
credence to Agito Makishima's taunting, Hikari was unable to aid
him in this battle. She was nothing but a burden now.
A burden that he had to carry, for
Hikari was also a Zoalord and very loyal to Lord Alkanphel. Her
usefulness as a warrior and a source of information had not
ended; and Lord Alkanphel seemed to be rather partial to her.
Even as he was partial to Imakarum himself.
Besides, with three Guyvers and two
Gigantics, Hikari's power would still be needed.
When he heard a distinct popping sound,
Imakarum looked back up at the Dark Gigantic. He was greeted
with a very welcome sight: the armor of the Dark Gigantic
ripping itself from Makishima's Guyver and disappearing from all
of his senses. It was not so much of a reprieve; with his energy
reserves so low and without Hikari to aid him, he would not have
an easy time defeating Guyver III.
Nonetheless, it was the best thing he
could have hoped for. Now that he was no longer facing the
overwhelming power of the Dark Gigantic, Imakarum had at least
some hope of holding off Guyver III's assault - surviving it at
the very least - until another Zoalord inevitably appeared.
There would be no concealing this kind of a disaster from the
rest of Chronos, and Lord Fried'rich would doubtless be coming
to investigate the surge of energy released when his Virtual
Black Hole had detonated.
In fact, Imakarum could sense his fellow
Zoalord approaching presently. Even Guyver III was not so
foolish as to think that he could best a Zoalord at the top of
his game in that form. And he obviously could not call the
Gigantic again. Agito left with only a single look at Imakarum.
Probably trying to intimidate him;
Imakarum laughed to show the boy the futility of his efforts.
Watching as Lord Fried'rich came ever
closer to their battleground, Imakarum heard him call out.
"Yes, I'm here!"
Lord Fried'rich was at his side in a
moment.
"Lady Hikari, is she-"
"Badly injured," Imakarum said,
assuaging Lord Fried'rich's worries before he could fully state
them. "And for now, thankfully unconscious."
Hikari's eyes were still open, and her
pupils had dilated to the point where her eyes looked completely
black. Her mouth was still open, as if she was still crying out
for aid. Imakarum saw Lord Fried'rich cupping Hikari's chin, and
watched as the other Zoalord gently closed her mouth. Then Lord
Fried'rich gently put his hand on her face and closed her eyes.
Hikari looked peaceful now, as if she
was merely sleeping. The illusion was marred by the cracked
Zoacrystal in the center of her forehead, and the fact that no
Zoalord would have slept in their battleform. When Imakarum
sensed the arrival of another Zoalord, a very powerful Zoalord,
both he and Lord Fried'rich turned to look at the distortion in
the air that signaled the Zoalord's arrival.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Alkanphel, hearing Sayuri's cry of pain
even in the grip of his deep sleep, snapped his eyes open and
stared at the ceiling of his temple for only a moment before he
lunged out of his stone bed and stood up. That scream from his
only female child had not been something that he could have
ignored; something conjured up by his subconscious mind. Even
ignoring the fact that he was not such a one to imagine his
children in pain, Sayuri's scream had echoed in his own mind the
way that only a telepathic communication from one of his
Zoalords would have done.
And now he had arrived, and he could see
Masaki and Fried'rich gathered around Sayuri's supine form.
Masaki was supporting his only female child; holding her while
Fried'rich had seemed to be fussing over her. Seemed to be,
because Fried'rich was now turned toward him and bowing
slightly.
"Lord Alkanphel," Fried'rich said,
turning a look of reverence mixed with fear. "I am glad to see
you, my Lord."
"Sayuri," he said, gliding over to where
she rested, secure in Masaki's arms. "How is she?"
"She has been badly injured, Lord
Alkanphel," Masaki said, still cradling Sayuri as she struggled
to heal herself.
"Yes," Alkanphel said, as he reached out
to touch Sayuri's damaged Zoacrystal. "Are you in any condition
to fly, Masaki?"
"I think my energy reserves would hold
out for a short time, Lord Alkanphel," Masaki said, bowing his
head slightly. "What do you want me to do?"
"Give Sayuri to me," Alkanphel said,
holding out his hands even as Masaki laid Sayuri in his arms and
he cradled her. "I will take her to be healed. Masaki, you will
return to Cloud Gate with Fried'rich so that you may recover
from this battle."
"Yes, Lord Alkanphel."
Before either of his two loyal Zoalords
could ask him where he was going, Alkanphel turned and flew
away. There were many secrets that he still kept from even
Fried'rich and Shin; Silha, the island where he intended to take
Sayuri to recover from her wounds and energy-depletion, was
still one of them for the time being. Perhaps he would tell
them, since those two had long since proven their loyalty to him
beyond question.
But now was not the time for such
things; Sayuri needed his care far more urgently than Shin or
Fried'rich needed his reassurances. And that was why he was
flying at top speed for Silha, his barrier at full strength to
deflect or repel anything that might impede his progress. He
would see Sayuri restored to full health so that she could stand
by his side during any battles that occurred in the future.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
The girl gasping on the operating table
as she struggled to fight off the drugs in her system, the ones
designed to keep her asleep and hence harmless, looked about as
far removed from the wicked-dangerous exterminator of Zoanoids
that Razell had heard about as it was possible to imagine. Her
clothes had been removed and replaced with a standard hospital
gown some time ago, even that funny looking powder pink scarf
she'd been wearing. Razell couldn't help but think that that
thing had been knitted by one of her grandparents.
It'd go a long way towards
explaining why she'd decided to actually
wear
a silly-looking thing like that.
As Razell peered more closely at
the little Guyver girl's face, covered in a sheen of sweat as
her body tried to purge itself of the drugs, Razell wondered
again just what she'd been thinking when she'd decided to take
up the fight against Chronos with her... brother.
Gah, probably her twin, judging by
how much they look like each other in those photos. I guess in
this case, blood wins out over good sense.
It'd been like that for him, too. All of
his family had worked for Chronos, in varying capacities, and
now here he was; carrying on the tradition. He'd been processed
about a week ago, and so he was still getting used to his new
form and the way it moved and reacted. The new senses, most of
which came in through his antennae, were also taking a fair
amount of getting used to. That was why he hadn't been let out
of the Arizona base, yet.
And now here he was, staring down at one
of the most dangerous enemies that a Zoanoid like him could ever
face, and Razell found that he was feeling sorry for her. She'd
probably only gotten into this because her brother had decided
to try and fight, and she had wanted to protect him.
At the sound of footfalls, lots of them,
Razell looked up to see that a fairly large group of scientists
were entering the room now.
"What are you doing in here, Tory?"
"I was just looking at her," Razell
said, pointing to the brown-haired girl on the table. "She
doesn't look nearly as bad from this angle."
"That's true," his older sister, Miss
big-shot head scientist honcho, said with a nod and a smile.
"She almost looks harmless like this, but you have to remember
that she would most likely attack you without a second thought
if she were conscious."
Razell nodded, though he personally
doubted that that would have been the case.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
As soon as all of them had made it to
Prof. Odagiri's mansion, and it really was a beautiful place,
Shizu had locked herself in her room and gone to fetch her
knitting needles. Yukari had started working on a knitted jacket
for herself, wanting to work on something more complex than
scarves but not really wanting to make socks. Shizu had warned
her that a jacket was even more complicated than a sweater, and
sweaters were very hard to make.
Yukari had welcomed the challenge
with the air on someone who needed something to keep their mind
from wandering. And so Shizu had taken it upon herself to teach
Yukari how to knit something that she would be proud of. And
that was why she was going to finish Yukari's jacket, so she
would be able to present it to Yukari as a gift. Because Yukari
was not - WAS NOT! WAS NOT!
WAS NOT! - going to be missing
forever.
Master Agito and Mistress Akane
were going to rescue her, and then Shizu would be able to give
Yukari the finished jacket as a coming home present. After all,
Chronos could not - COULD NOT!
COULD NOT! COULD NOT! -
possibly do anything to harm a Guyver. And Yukari was a Guyver,
so she was going to be perfectly safe.
That was why Shizu felt perfectly
justified about finishing up the jacket Yukari had been working
on; because Yukari was fine.
Yukari clutched at her throat, gasping
for air with the Guyver's breathing tubes torn away
She was just fine.
Yukari fell out of the sky, her armor
disappearing behind her
Master and Mistress were going to rescue
her.
Hikari Mirabilis grabbed Yukari out of
the air by her head, disappearing and then reappearing. But
Yukari was gone
And then all of them could be a family
again; so she really should get back to work on Yukari's jacket
so she could give it to Yukari when she got back.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Sayuri had been recuperating in his
life-pod for just over half an hour, when Masaki walked in.
"How's she doing, Lord Alkanphel?"
"Her body has mostly recovered from the
energy drain," he said, looking at the spiderweb of cracks that
stretched across Sayuri's Zoacrystal. "It will be some time
before she is recovered enough to be awakened. Have there been
any new developments at Chronos while I was away?"
"Lord Fried'rich called a meeting to
discuss ways to deal with the threat of the Gigantic Guyvers,"
Masaki said, turning to face him after he had apparently
finished his examination of Sayuri's healing form.
"I appreciate that; it is good to know
that Fried'rich was showing some initiative. What was the final
consensus?"
"There wasn't any, my Lord," Masaki
said. "Balkus seemed more interested in waiting for your
response than in formulating a strategy of our own."
Alkanphel sighed. "Hamilcal
was
always more interested in maintaining the status quo than in
planning for contingencies. Masaki?"
"Yes, my Lord?"
"If I am unable to attend the next time
my Council meets, tell them from me that they are to protect the
interests of Chronos, even though they might be unable to
communicate with me personally."
"I will make certain that they
understand this, my Lord."
"Thank you, Masaki," Alkanphel said,
turning back to watch Sayuri as she healed. "Is there anything
else you have to report?"
"No, Lord Alkanphel."
"Very well. Return to Cloud Gate for
now, I will call on you if I have need of you."
"Yes, my Lord," Masaki bowed low, and
quickly departed.
Turning back to observe the healing form
of his only daughter, Alkanphel hoped that Masaki would have
something more substantial to report to him the next time they
met. He already knew from Sayuri's memories that Yukari
Fukamachi had been brought to Chronos. A Razell in that building
had acted as his eyes and ears as the girl was contained and
subdued in preparation for transport to the facility at Arizona.
It would soon be time for him to decide
what to do with her. He had some ideas, yes, however there was
still the matter of finalizing them. And the matter of her
Guyver, as well.
"What would you have me do, Sayuri?"
Alkanphel asked, speaking more for his own benefit than that of
his daughter. "I know that this young girl was your friend, but
she is also an enemy of Chronos and all that we stand for. Would
it be possible for us to control her?"
-Tell me what you know, Sayuri.-
As he slipped into the consciousness of
his daughter, Alkanphel began to see just what made Yukari
Fukamachi, the female First Guyver, what she was. And why she
had made the decision to stand against Chronos in the first
place.
He saw Yukari as she sobbed in Sayuri's
arms, after she realized that she had been responsible for the
death of her father. It had been an accident, to be sure. One of
Hamilcal's more amoral plans, no doubt. Still, even though she
had been in a fugue-state while her Guyver unit cloned the
necessary brain tissue to ensure her survival, Yukari had still
taken the responsibility for her father's death upon herself.
The girl was almost like Fried'rich in
that way; she would do anything to spare her friends and those
she had claimed as family from suffering. Alkanphel could see
this very clearly in Sayuri's memories from when she had fought
by the side of that young woman. Yukari could possibly be
reworked in the same way that Sayuri had been; reworked to serve
Chronos in the same capacity.
Surely the fact that Sayuri could
remember the way she had died in Yukari's arms would be useful
information. The anguish that the girl had suffered during that
time would make her receptive to the offer of rejoining the one
who had meant so much to her. Such strong feelings would make
her all the more malleable; easy to mold into his loyal servant.
Still, the fact that he was not at the
top of his game - Alkanphel was not so optimistic as to think
that this awakening of his was anything more than a temporary
reprieve from his hibernation - meant that he would not be able
to devote his full attention to Yukari's reconditioning, as
would be prudent. Perhaps a temporary measure while he slept,
then?
He would have to speak to Hamilcal about
that.
Disengaging from Sayuri's mind,
Alkanphel gently patted the life-pod where she slept. His
daughter would awaken once she was fully healed. And, perhaps by
then, Alkanphel would have adopted another foundling. He had a
feeling that Sayuri would rather enjoy having a sister.