Pressures released. The mechanisms unlocked, turning away as the bright lights of the interior room slid into Archius’ eyes. The door unsealed open, revealing Cyrus - waiting for him. Of course, he had his combined great sword ready. He towered above him, before stepping to the side. Alright, it seems that he’s allowed in, then.
He patted Cyrus on the arm as he entered through, into the armoured office. But despite its name, it felt more like a breakroom for his five directors. Though exceptions were made for many others. Kazuki was standing in front of a large hovering board, with innumerable details on it, lines and pins stretching across its whole surface. He ignored Archius, merely watching the situation.
“You are late,” Cyrus commented.
Archius merely shrugged. “Whatever.” The Office of the Phoenix’s Fury was the same as ever, though Kazuki was attached to the Analyspec of the ship, on the other side, with his uplink clipped to an AI within the vessel. “Don’t tell me you brought it with you?”
“Yes,” Kazuki stated.
Eliza was there too, sleeping on one of the chairs beside the table. She was holding onto a data-pad, logistics reports. Upon inspection, the list of reports were small, much smaller than he’d expected, and magnitudes of order smaller than what they had to deal with at the end of the rebellion, it seems like she did wonders already for the group - much more than Rivera.
But… Eliza’s deadweight. Sure, she helps here and there: but she’s the chink in the armour. Go after her and Kazuki is sure to follow - whoever directed the attack probably knew that. her data-pad lit up with work from university as well, just another reminder to why she’s the blind spot, she’s not a Freemuzzle. She’s no contractor. And therefore: she’s the weakest. Even Sato can hold up in a fight, though not as well as Kaz, Hosea, Lilly or Martinez.
Perhaps things have settled down, he thought. Kazuki remained motionless, staring at the board, his mind uplinked to the Analyspec as the wall behind Kazuki’s chair was open, with a large quantum computer embedded into it. Cyrus closed the door behind him, stepping to the side of the room, unphased at the sight of the Analyspec.
“Sato did say that this partition is weaker, right?” Archius felt a drop of sweat fall down his cheek; the steel thing still looked unnatural to him.
“Yeah.”
“Eh, better than nothing, I have a lead,” said Archius, forming a normal face. “Fixers, Mischief Board and Gunrunners, it’s no Loyalist-level threat, but they’re still a thorn in our side.”
“Put it on the desk,” stated Kazuki. Looking down at the desk, Archius could see a pistol on a stand, as well as his aug-glasses beside them. Kazuki grumbled to himself, quietly - swallowing a pill. It seems the Analyspec wasn’t doing too well for him, but it was literally being connected to a Quantum Computer…
Archius did as he was told, but he was slightly worried about Kazuki. But one glance at Eliza piqued his curiosity. Placing the data-pads beside the weapon stand, he walked around the desk, approaching Kazuki. He leaned against the desk, looking at the detailed board. It had everything from suspects to dead leads to any spark of information that might be connected. It was… fascinating, a bit overkill: but he had no doubts Kaz could remember it. More and more information was being extrapolated onto it as Kazuki’s mental fortitude used the Analyspec.
“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Kazuki, eyes skidding over towards Archius. Though his body remained motionless, having to bite off every word.
Jessica Louis was the only photo present, the mastermind of the P-1 incident. She had a holographic red X over her, but there were numerous lines stretching out from it, with numerous targets of suspected activities.
“Just… curious, that’s all, nothing wrong with curiosity,” Archius said, playfully slapping Kazuki on the back. He didn’t seem too happy about that, sliding the Analyspec shut as he sealed it behind the wall. Then locking the panels in place with a press from his uplink.“Plus, the Mischief Board seemingly gave them their blessing, seems like someone wants you dead.”
“Whatever.” He didn’t seem amused, but he never did anyway. He chewed down on another pill, Archius noting down the stress on his mind that using the analyspec had. Not even he or Sato had the ability to use it effectively.
“I guess you got most of this from Clandestine’s archives… shame, you could have gotten more from it,” commented Archius, stretching his arms and shoulders.
“Yes, leaving the heavy cannons stationed there to fire upon the fleet would have been a preferred tactic.” snarled Kazuki, sarcasm filling his voice as he twisted to Archus. “Between the fleet and the knowledge, I choose the fleet.”
“Still… you could have used less high calibres, could have saved more of it.” Archius shrugged. “But I’m still thankful that you obliged to my little thing earlier.”
“Fuck you.”
“Oh, come on!”
“Archius… Eliza isn’t your plaything.” Kazuki stared into his eyes, twisting around to him. Despite Archius standing a head taller than him, it was apparent who held the conversation by the neck.
“Why so sensitive?” asked Archius, rolling his eyes, “A little bit of distress for de facto full control was, in fact, the best option.”
Kazuki gave Archius one glance. “She’s our friend, and we look after friends - do we not?”
“What are you insinuating?” asked Archius, his eyes widening. The two engaged in a stare-off.
“Actually… nothing.” said Kazuki, looking away. A moment of silenced passed as Archius sighed, he hated remembering the past. He wanted to change so much, yet can do nothing. “Sorry.”
“It’s alright,” said Archius. “It was both our faults.”
Kazuki slowly nodded. Archius remained motionless for a moment, before chuckling it off. Kaz shrugged it off, grabbing the data-pads, and throwing them onto Eliza’s lap as she was woken up.
“Blegh?” Eliza opened one eye, glancing up at the light. Archius noted down that she looked fine, with no sign of open wounds. But that was Eliza’s speciality, hiding everything behind a veil of perfection.
She waved at the duo, only Kazuki waved back. But Archius was given another look by Kazuki… It seems he wanted an apology for Eliza, but he deemed it unnecessary, what she doesn’t know can not harm her, after all.
But Kazuki didn’t budge, remaining adamant without a voice. Eliza started going through the datapad, fixing her messy hair and tying it up. She looked alright, but still: orders are orders.
“You don’t need to bother with that,” said Archius, leaning over towards her. “The only important thing is the location.”
“Very well then, ugh, how long have I been out?” asked Eliza, passing the pad to Cyrus. He leaned over, grabbing it as he placed it on his belt. Despite the fact that was in the Eden Initiative, he looked much older than anyone here, even Kazuki.
“A few hours.” Kazuki sat down on another chair, putting one leg over the other as he leaned back, causing the chair to slowly hover to a standstill. “I’ve taken some time to pin all the information I have. Started extrapolation. It’s a start.”
Not much? Fuck that?! Kazuki probably wrote down everything he could remember, regurgitating everything. Eliza looked at the board, seeing the labels and blank portraits of the perpetrators, with only two filled out: Shadoweye’s and Jessica's. She thinned her eyes at Jessica’s. Archius guessed that this was what Kaz and Liz were up to, before Kazuki blew Matt’s brains out. Still, if Kazuki didn’t want his help, he would comply.
Eliza asked, “Say, that was your boss, right?”
“Yes.” stated Kazuki, “But don’t worry, she’s dead. The masterminds behind the incident covered their tracks well. Tele-communication. Muscle. On-Site Detonation. Corruption and a Supplier. Jessica’s dead corpse provided some things. It should narrow things down, any ideas?” “But then… who’s that?” She looked towards Goldeyes.
“Pirate Corsair called Goldeyes,” said Archius, interjecting. “A fine piece of ignitable flesh.”
Eliza furrowed her brow in confusion.
“I used my position in the Judiciary to get some information.” Kazuki asked, “Know anything about the perpetrators of the attack?”
“N…no?” Eliza pondered for a moment. “Wait… I feel like I should…”
She shouldn’t, Archius thought, she definitely shouldn’t have. “The Republic blamed Goldeyes and his pirates for the attack, privately. For a while, I couldn’t put my thumb on why they didn’t release the information publicly…” Archius trailed off as he smirked. “But Goldeyes has connections to the Board and BCA… a paper trail existed…”
“The attack coincided with a bomb that killed several intelligence officials and politicians. People that could have been a threat,” reported Kazuki.
“This… sounds too much like a conspiracy theory,” Eliza admitted. Well, probably because it kinda was, Archius thought. She took a drink out of a water bottle on the table.
“Because Jessica designed it as such. A dead paper-trail, silenced politicians and redacted information. Those that knew of the attack were either in the circle, or were killed.”
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Archius glanced over towards Kazuki, trying to gauge whether he had a reaction or not, and of course he didn’t. Kazuki simply replied, “My time in Clandestine revealed much to me. This was no human error. The report that hinted at a possible attack was redacted and deleted within minutes, according to the CRIS data logs. Nothing of it remains.”
Eliza asked, “So, we were always going on a hunch?”
“Pfft,” Archius snickered. “Please, don’t call them hunches.”
Kazuki nodded. “Archius pried information from Clandestine’s servers. That’s how we knew of the report’s existence, because another report mentioned it. And the primary beneficiary of the attack were defence contractors. Jessica Kiki-Louis.”
“Which means… she’s either incompetent,—”
Archius started counting on his fingers.
“—complicit in the incident, incompetent AND complicit, or gave the incident the go-ahead, I’ll let you decide on that one,” Archius said.
Eliza slowed as Archius could see the gears in her head turn at this information, or rather flurry of information. “So you’re telling me that you knew that there were people behind the incident…”
“Only recently,” lied Kazuki. Archius glanced at him, oh… that was too sweet for even him. His dead golden eyes were looking just slightly ajar, away from its usual position. Kaz just lied, Archius thought.
“Wait, but this is a lead! I can get this information to Fer-Charelota, he’ll be more than willing to help us.” said Eliza, excited.
“We’ll never solve the investigation if you continue to play clean,” said Kazuki. “What happened last time you played clean?”
“T—that is irrelevant, and I wouldn’t have to do this if you had delegated this to someone else! Like… Martinez? Or Lilly?”
“To be honest, Kaz,” Archius started, “She’s making sense. You don’t need to do this.”
Archius was interested in why Kazuki wanted to do it. They typically have the same goals but they have very different ways of reaching it, and this may give him insight. But as always, Kazuki kept things to himself, but what little he gave was full of information.
“I wish to see this operation through myself,” Kazuki remarked.
This was irrational, Archius thought. Logic drove Kazuki, most of the time. But Eliza? She seemingly drives him irrationally crazy, for whatever reason. It seems that Eliza was the cornerstone of his reasoning for this… like back then. But Archius agreed: the gunrunners are a threat. And they are a threat worth his investment, so no questions from him. But Eliza? He had no idea…
“But Kazuki, you don’t have to.” She pouted in frustration, grumbling under her breath, “Can’t we just focus on this?”
“No,” stated Kazuki.
Eliza was about to say something, but Kazuki placed a handout, raising his own voice as he swallowed another pill - jeez he’s reliant on that. “That’s enough. My decision is final. We can deal with the investigation later.”
Eliza grumbled, rolling her eyes. “Fine…”
Archius only really had one proposition to why Kazuki would pursue this further: Eliza. Kazuki’s smart, but lacks wisdom. He delegated much of the AGENCY’s power to keep the commanders and handlers happy. But here? He was being irrational.
But as Archius mulled to himself, Kazuki glanced at him. Fuck, this is awkward. He normally never had to apologise. But here he was. He deliberated on the best course of action. Maybe showing his true colours would highlight the truth, but perhaps that was too heavy-handed. But a facade of pure joy, like what she was used to, would be the worst option - leaves the wrong impression.
Neutrality. It will be his tool. Flexibility is what is needed.
“Hey, Liz.”
“Hmm?” Eliza twisted her head towards Archius, placing her hands up towards him, “Ah, I’m fine if you’re wondering, though I appreciate your concerns.”
“No, this is important,” said Archius, giving her time to think.
“Archius, please… It…” Eliza trailed off, her typical optimism and determinism fading away. He was reminded of how she was back then, no life all work, no fun all study. But here, she just looked hurt. Archius… didn’t feel anything? Was he supposed to feel guilt? “It doesn’t matter that I’m down, alright… We can just move on from things, and I’ll be fine. You told me, after all, I’m strong, right?”
“Strong, yes, but not invincible. Back then, I stopped Kazuki from defending you.” stated Archius. Best to just give it to her straight and simple, that’ll make Kaz satisfied. Eliza’s eyes slowly grew, glancing over at Kazuki. “I wanted to get Frederick to blunder, to get us what we wanted. But… after that, I knew I went too far. And I did not… exactly foresee how far he’s willing to go at… demeaning his own daughter.”
Lies were mixed with truth, Kazuki knew that, and Archius did too. But that didn’t matter… Kazuki wanted an apology, never elaborated on sincerity. He wanted it, and here he is to give it. Nonetheless, if it was real or not it didn’t matter to him, nor to Kazuki it seemed.
“H—hey, this a joke… right?” Eliza looked at Kazuki, he looked away, scratching his neck.
“It’s not, I believed that conflict between father and daughter was the best way to make things awkward enough that the others wouldn’t want to drag things out.” explained Archius, shrugging.
“Sorry… Liz.” Kazuki muttered under his breath. Archius noted the sense of guilt in his voice, rising slowly. “Your father’s wrong. You’re no mockery. You’ll surpass them all…”
Archius stood up and saw a weird curvature slide onto her lips. Was that really all it took to make her smile? Walking around the desk, he sat down on a chair opposing Eliza. He had his hands together. “Look, I didn’t think he’d go that far…” lied Archius. What she doesn’t know cannot hurt her, he repeated to himself.
“You…” Eliza grimaced for a moment, she rightfully felt betrayed - Archius thought. “Was it worth it?”
The question was teeming on the edge of one of those impossible questions, where no answer is correct. If he said no, then she’ll know he’s being dishonest. After all, he’s already shown his hand to her. But if he says yes, he will ruin whatever friendship they had, if they even had any. But he rarely made friends, real friends. He had to brew something up, a concoction.
“At the time, it was. We got the contract… but now, it seems so trivial.” commented Archius, “It could have been done differently, plus I underestimated the rumours about your family relations...”
Yes and no, simple but it might work with her, though he had no idea if it would. Eliza stayed silent, closing her eyes for a moment before standing up. She looked towards the desk, scanning over at the pistol, paperwork and water canister.
His mind slowly formed an irrational conclusion: that she’d shoot him. She extended her hand out towards the desk, wait was she going for the gun? Neither Kazuki nor Cyrus seemed worried. Archius felt fire in her eyes, and a fire within him. This was exciting! And here he thought Eliza was boring, but then reality dawned on him. She might shoot him?!
But as she touched the desk, she latched onto the water canister, flicking it directly at Archius. It was the complete antithesis to what he’d expect, and it slammed directly between his eyes, crashing directly onto the temple of his nose.
“FUCK!” Archius groaned, grabbing hold of his nose as the canister fell onto the floor with a clank. It was genuine pain, but he made his emotions, surface-level, match the physical. “Ow… was that really necessary?”
“N—no. I just wanted to do that, I’ll take your word that you’re sorry, even if it goes against my better judgement.” said Eliza, looking towards Kazuki, “And you… why did you…”
She looked as if she was about to break again as Kazuki opened his mouth. “Liz, I’m sorry. Forgive me, don’t forgive me - it’s whatever…” said Kazuki. He seemed as emotionless as ever, but of course his words carried the weight of his mind.
He looked hopeless. But as Eliza stepped towards him, she lightly slapped him across the face. He rubbed his cheek… It seems that Kaz got a free pass, probably since Archius did all the leg-work for this deception.
“Ow.” muttered Kazuki, in a calm, nonchalant voice. “Liz, if you want to sit this operation out, I won’t object.”
“I didn’t spend two months training for nothing,” Eliza coldly stated, affirming her position.
His phrasing did make it seem like he was questioning her competence. She activated a data-pad, showing the two of them her latest recorded test. A 3D projection of what happened sprouted up.
It was clean, Archius thought. Even though it was just a simulated test-field with live operatives, Eliza acted as if it was the real thing: clearing pale white rooms against training drones with minimal casualties…
‘Team… two on your left, three on your right. Breach when ready,’ said Eliza, her voice playing through the video-playback.
‘ROGER THAT. TEAM READY!’ shouted Lilly, her mask and distinctive bellow cried out.
Her training team, consisting of defected Loyalists now in Deltastring, rushed forward, dropping grenades and training drones.
‘CLEAR!’ Kiri reported; a part of the training exercise with her legion of drones taking point and terminating the holo-enemies in the room.
Lilly and her fire team cleared through a hall, door after door, left and right. It was clean and precise. ‘Far left possible contact!’ Eliza said.
‘On it!’ Quinn remarked, moving ahead as the teams pierced the rooms he passed by. He came to the end of the hall, and with a tap from Kiri he threw himself into the room with her, a firefight simulation engaged the two as they terminated the training threats easily.
Huh…
It was… good? As the simulation test finished, Archius could see the digitalised score for her leading and that of the team’s. 93/100; that’s even better than his best! Archius thought to himself… finding it rather interesting; but she did fall short of Sato’s 99/100. And Martinez’s 100/100.
“Numbers aren’t everything.” Kazuki asserted, “And you’re not as experienced as Sato or Archius. Whilst this is a part-time job…”
“Uni?” Eliza’s head peeked up towards them. “Don’t worry, I’ve already covered everything this semester and submitted a handful of reports… so I should be good? Right?” Her voice betrayed her eyes, an inquisitive tone with a glare of frustration.
“Fuck me…” Archius muttered to himself.
“Yeah…” replied Kazuki.
With that, she marched out of the room, past Cyrus. The doors slid shut as he was still rubbing his nose.
“Happy?” asked Archius, dropping his face into a glare.
“At the outcome? Yes.”
He grumbled as he looked towards Cyrus. Archius pointed a finger at him, shouting, “Good fucking job! Worthless bodyguard…”
“If she was going for the gun, I would have intervened.”
Archius grumbled. Stood up, and looked towards Kazuki. “You think she’ll hold that against me?”
“No idea.” said Kazuki as he shrugged the problem off, “Don’t worry about it, it’ll probably be fine.”
“Fuck you.” joked Archius.
“Fuck you too.” Kazuki shot back, crossing his arms, “Anyways, you going to continue to complain? Or are we going to deal with these smugglers?”
“Dealing with them will increase the tension, Kaz,” said Archius, fully aware of the consequences. He was privy to the conversation he had with Emilia.
He remained silent, thinking for a moment. Then, he said, “Things will cool over… And I don’t want more conflict.”
“But more conflict means better contracts,” advised Archius.
“My objective is not new conflicts. Archius… don’t get any ideas.”
Now that he thinks about it, Archius did miss the old Kaz, before he became so soft. Eliza’s a liability, he thought. That doesn’t change… She was always an asset of questionable liability. But Kazuki? His liability is increasing…
Whilst directing attacking Kazuki’s liability will incur his ire, maybe Archius could… do something else? Eliza? Maybe? No, she’s worthless to the AGENCY other than her limited capabilities…
That was the cold hard truth.
Kazuki nodded, shrugging it off as he stood up. Approaching the door, he pressed down on the touch-pad, activating the doors as they slid open.