Looking around at all the Zoanoid
soldiers that were sitting or standing or walking around in this
particular area, Gyou couldn’t help but feel that there was no
force in the world that could stop Chronos’ plans from coming to
fruition. Of course, Chronos’ plans and his own would be forced
to diverge at some point, a point that was of course coming
closer and closer with every day that passed. Gyou smiled
secretively, at least he would have another card to play soon
enough.
The way that the Zoanoids all fell
silent in the space between one breath and the next was the
first thing that alerted Gyou of the fact that he was no longer
the only Zoalord in the room. The next was the strong psychic
force that all Zoalords exuded. It couldn’t affect him the way
it would have a Zoanoid, of course, but Gyou noticed it
nonetheless. From the way he was moving, it seemed that the old
man wanted to speak with him.
Fine. I’ve gotten good enough at
lying to the old fool that covering up something else will be no
problem. Gyou smiled
courteously at the other Zoalord, taking comfort in the fact
that it would only be a matter of time before he would be rid of
the annoying old man.
"Doctor Balkus," Gyou purred, as the
ancient Zoalord came into his line-of-sight. "To what do I owe
the distinct pleasure of your company?"
Balkus narrowed his eyes, and Gyou gave
the old Zoalord his most ingratiating, insincere smile. He
rather enjoyed baiting the old scientist, but not enough to
actually keep him around after Dr. Shirai had discovered how to
operate the Unit Remover and Gyou had claimed the third Guyver
unit for himself. Balkus was far too loyal to Alkanphel to ever
be trusted that far.
In fact, the only Zoalord other than
himself that Gyou truly trusted was Luggnagg de Krumeggnik.
Then, as Gyou had another thought, he had to bite the inside of
his cheek to keep himself from smiling wider. The boy Kenji
Murakami, once his transformation was complete, would also be
loyal to Gyou and to Krumeggnik as well. Gyou would personally
make sure of that.
After all, telepathically programming
the vulnerable mind of a young Zoalord would be very easy. And,
once he had that finished, it would only be a matter of time
before he could claim a Guyver for himself. And then, after
that, it wouldn’t take all that much effort to convince the
remaining Zoalords to work for him. Some of them were really
only working for Chronos because Alkanphel had given them power
beyond their wildest imaginings.
In fact, Gyou was reasonably sure that
the only two Zoalords who were truly interested in the cause
that Alkanphel promoted were Balkus himself and Fried’rich van
Purg’stall. And perhaps Waferdanos, but Gyou hadn’t known him
long enough to be sure of that. Gyou had only heard second-hand
reports of the power that the Supreme Chronos Overlord
possessed, but there were always chances that those stories were
exaggerated to keep his underlings in line.
All of these glorious plans were running
through Gyou’s mind, behind the telepathic barrier that he and
all the other Zoalords habitually erected to keep others from
prying into their private thoughts, while he and Balkus just sat
there and stared at one another. Gyou’s smile hadn’t faltered
once in all that time.
"One of my minor projects has been
erased from the database, Commander. I wonder if you would know
anything about this?" Balkus asked.
Even though Gyou suspected that he
knew just which ‘minor project’ the doctor was so obliquely
referring to, he still feigned ignorance. It was just more
interesting that way, and there was the added bonus that old
Balkus wouldn’t be able to connect him to anything even if by
some chance his little project
was
discovered. His scientists knew better than to tell Balkus
anything that he deemed inappropriate, after all.
"I wasn’t aware that you still
had
any minor projects, Doctor," Gyou said, pushing the plate that
held his sandwich away so that he could rest his elbows on the
table. Lacing his fingers together, Gyou rested his chin on
them. "Very careless of you to lose track of it like that, don’t
you think?"
Balkus narrowed his eyes, as Gyou
continued to smile almost-innocently at him.
"I did not ‘lose track’ of this
particular project, Commander Gyou," Balkus said, almost
sounding offended that Gyou would even make that kind of
suggestion. Gyou could have cared less. "As I told you, the data
was all erased."
"Is there anything you can tell me about
this particular ‘minor project’? Then I might be able to inform
you if I find out anything about it," Gyou said, wondering just
how Balkus would react to his offer.
Balkus stared at Gyou, giving nothing
away with his face or his eyes. "This projects specifics would
not be of any interest to you, Commander."
"Then I suppose I can’t tell you
anything that would help, I’m afraid."
Balkus, giving him one last suspicious
stare, got up and left the table without another word or a
glance backward. As all the Zoanoids resumed their interrupted
conversations and activities, Gyou smirked. Pulling his ignored
plate back over within easy reach, Gyou also resumed his
interrupted meal. It was only when he was almost finished with
his lunch that Gyou found out something that would influence his
plans for the rest of the afternoon.
Though most of the Sleeper Unit Zoanoids
that had attacked the Guyvers and their little convoy in
Takeshiro had been annihilated by Guyver III’s Mega-Smasher,
there were many more than Balkus had chosen to reveal in that
particular battle. In fact, most of the adult male population of
Takeshiro had been processed at this very facility. Gyou had
been keeping a mental link to one of them open, just in case
anything of interest started happening in the village.
Something that was most definitely of
interest to Gyou was happening now. He could see one of the
vehicles that the allies of the Guyvers traveled in. Not
Murakami’s annoying red sports car, since Gyou already knew that
that thing had been destroyed in their last attempt to escape
from Takeshiro, unfortunately not taking Guyver I with it. No,
this was the older, uglier car that the woman who tended to stay
with Guyver III drove.
All of the Guyvers and allies were
gathered in this one vehicle. Finishing the rest of his meal,
Gyou stood up and gathered the dishes and the remains of his
sandwich wrapper. He could have simply called a Zoanoid to clean
up the mess, but it would have probably entailed him having to
telepathically direct said Zoanoid. It was simply more efficient
to do this kind of thing himself.
Once he was finished with that chore,
Gyou called a small group of Enzyme IIs over to where he was
standing. They were newly processed, but that didn’t matter
since every Zoanoid who was not a Sleeper Unit would have been
telepathically programmed with the knowledge of how best to use
their abilities and new forms. Walking out of the cafeteria with
the Enzyme IIs trailing behind him like obedient dogs, Gyou
headed for the nearest elevator.
It would be a simple matter to delay the
Guyvers until he arrived.
xXxXx
As they entered Takeshiro for the
second and hopefully the last time, Masaki couldn’t help
wondering just where they would all be able to go to ground
next. There was nowhere in the world that would be completely
safe from Chronos, but there
were enclaves where Chronos’
power was weaker. The Zoanoid models in the western hemisphere
were significantly weaker than the ones that had been made over
here in the east.
The North American Zoanoids were the
weakest of all, and to top it off none of them had any of the
special abilities that Masaki had seen in other Zoanoids that
were developed over in this area. Hyper Zoanoids were in the
minority, and there were places where they apparently hadn’t
even been developed yet. Some of his contacts in the ACF had
been keeping him informed about the situation on the other side
of the world.
There had been no plans as of yet to
import the Zoanoid models that had been developed on this side
of the world over to the other, that was a good thing as far as
Masaki was concerned. There was only the small matter of being
able to get over to that side of the Atlantic. Locating an
airport would be their first challenge, and then there would be
the actual escape from Chronos Japan’s army of Zoanoids.
The ACF would probably be able to give
them some cover while they were moving, but only if Masaki could
get in contact with them. That would be a decent challenge,
since their info-drop points changed every three days. It was a
very good security precaution, but it could also be damned
annoying those few times that Masaki wanted to contact them
quickly. Like it was now.
The car’s sudden deceleration nearly
made Masaki slam his head into the row of seats in front of him.
About to demand just what the hell was going on, Masaki’s senses
were innundated with the presence of Zoanoids. The mutant
footsoldiers of the Chronos Corporation had surrounded the car,
apparently while Masaki had been going over the limited options
that were still open to their group.
The doors of the car were opened so fast
that they were practically ripped off, allowing the three of
them who had the power to fight against Chronos to pile out of
the vehicle and so not endanger any of the occupants of the car
any more than they would be forced to by the battle. Masaki
brought out his Zoanoid Buster Custom, freshly reloaded. He had
taken the time while they were all packing to restock the
ammo-packs in his belt, as well.
He could hear Makashima calling for his
Guyver unit, but oddly enough he didn’t hear Sho doing the same.
Then there was no more time for Masaki to think about what Sho
was or wasn’t doing, as a Ramochis lunged at him. One of his
high-explosive hollow point shells caught it right between the
eyes, blowing the thing’s head off and scattering its brain
matter over some of its fellows.
He could hear the sounds of explosive
mayhem that indicated that Guyver III was also making his way
through the fight. Turning to look over his shoulder, Masaki saw
that Sho was just standing there, an expression of mixed sadness
and horror on his face as the Zoanoids attacked. Masaki charged
over to where Sho stood, shooting a pair of Zoanoids who were
unfortunate enough to be in his way.
It was kind of aggravating, the way that
Sho wouldn’t just accept the fact that the creatures he was
facing – while they might have been human at one point – were
the enemy and needed to be killed if any of his friends were
going to survive. Reloading his gun with speed developed over
long experience, Masaki finally managed to make it over to Sho’s
side.
"What are you doing, Sho? Why haven’t
you called your Guyver armor yet?"
"Mr. Murakami," Sho turned haunted eyes
to look straight at Masaki. "I don’t think I can. Not… not after
what happened last time. These are all innocent people here,
they never asked to be a part of this," Sho looked out over the
army of Zoanoids bearing down on them. "This is all just like
what happened to my father."