Alkanphel was glad to be rid of the
aggravating, arrogant former Zoalord. Signaling mentally to
Hamilcal, Alkanphel was mildly surprised to see Yentsui
teleporting in beside his second Zoalord. Yentsui was in human
form, and Alkanphel remembered that for some reason Yentsui
preferred to be called Rienzi in that form.
"Hamilcal, thank you for coming so
promptly," Alkanphel acknowledged his Second. "Why have you come
though, Rienzi?"
"I came to assist you, my Lord
Alkanphel. Since I was not able to aid you in battle, I thought
that I could assist with this. However, if you feel that my
assistance would be superfluous in this endeavor, I will leave."
"No Rienzi, you may aid me in this,"
Alkanphel said calmly, knowing that the task would go much more
swiftly with the three of them. "Come, help me with this one."
Alkanphel took hold of the
Proto-Zoalord’s head and shoulder area, Yentsui took his arms,
and Hamilcal took the Proto-Zoalord’s feet.
-Where shall we take him, Lord
Alkanphel?- Yentsui asked.
-We will take this one to the Dead Sea
facility, and the other one as well. There are enough resources
at that facility to develop them both into what they were meant
to be.-
-There is another Proto-Zoalord here, my
Lord?-
-Yes. Developed, in fact, by our former
Twelfth.-
-Gyou developed a Proto-Zoalord?-
Yentsui seemed surprised by that.
-Oh, yes,-
Alkanphel himself, though, was just
amused. -Reholt thought that
he would somehow be able to develop his very own loyal Zoalord
without my knowledge.-
The three Zoalords and their cargo
teleported to Chronos’ base in the Mediterranean, and Alkanphel
released the dead Proto-Zoalord into the care of Hamilcal and
Yentsui. Now that the dead Proto-Zoalord had been dealt with, at
least for the moment, there was the matter of Kenji Murakami to
be dealt with. Teleporting in front of the group of Zoanoids
that were transporting the boy, Alkanphel placed a hand on the
container and teleported all of them back to the Dead Sea
facility.
Giving the Zoanoids orders to bring the
young Zoalord-to-be into Hamilcal’s private laboratory,
Alkanphel considered whether there were any other pressing
matters that required his attention. Since the Relic had been
all but destroyed, Chronos no longer had a way to escape this
planet as Alkanphel had intended. Perhaps there was a way to
rectify that situation, however.
Teleporting back to the remains of Mt.
Minakami a last time, Alkanphel retrieved a small piece of the
Relic. The Relic itself had been a living vessel, so there might
still be the chance of replicating it with Chronos’ superior
technology. Considering the small fragment of the Relic that he
held, Alkanphel teleported back to the Dead Sea facility. After
a short mental exchange with Hamilcal, Alkanphel teleported to
the development division.
XxXxX
Laying the fragment of the Relic on a
pedestal, Alkanphel then teleported to Hamilcal’s private
laboratory. The two Proto-Zoalords were waiting for him there,
as was Hamilcal. The dead Proto-Zoalord was lying on a
dissection table, and Kenji Murakami was back inside a
processing-tank where he belonged. Alkanphel was interested to
note that the boy’s body somewhat resembled that of the dead
Proto-Zoalord.
It had perhaps been intentional on
Reholt’s part, Alkanphel was not sure. Nor did he care all that
much at the moment. What the Supreme Zoalord was most interested
in was the development of his new Twelfth Zoalord. The matter of
Kenji Murakami could be dealt with in more detail later. With a
mental signal to Hamilcal, their work on the dead Proto-Zoalord
began.
XxXxX
After five straight days of work it was
finally done, the Proto-Zoalord once named Masaki Murakami was
now his new Twelfth Zoalord: Imakarum Mirabilis. Alkanphel was
at the moment still sifting through the man’s memories. The most
prominent in the Supreme Zoalord’s mind, however, were those
that dealt with the boy Kenji Murakami. He would not have
guessed that the boy was related to the former Proto-Zoalord.
Much less that the boy was the
now-Mirabilis’ offspring. Now at least he knew what had provided
a great deal of motivation for Imakarum to attack Reholt when
the man had known that he was dying. If one of
his
children had been taken from him by some force, as unlikely as
that scenario was, Alkanphel knew that there were very few
things that would be able to stop him from rescuing them.
Teleporting back into Hamilcal’s private
laboratory, Alkanphel laid a hand on the processing-tank that
held Imakarum’s son. When Imakarum had seen his son’s Zoalord
body, the first thing he had done was to say that it was the
wrong color. Only Alkanphel himself had known what Imakarum had
meant by saying that. After all, the boy’s favorite color was
blue, not white or purple.
Alkanphel had told Imakarum that he
would see to correcting the mistake, and his new Twelfth Zoalord
had thanked him and then teleported back to his quarters to
rest. Alkanphel had indeed seen to the problem of the boy’s
coloring. The young Zoalord was now a pale sky-blue, and a dark
royal blue on the parts that were not covered by his over-armor.
Alkanphel looked over the thirty Zoacrystals that pulsed inside
the boy’s body.
He had to give Reholt credit for one
thing, at least: the man was very thorough. The boy would make a
very strong Zoalord, once his development was complete of
course. The new Control Zoacrystal was also integrating well
with the boy’s physiology. Alkanphel was satisfied.