Iseri paced around the port on the northern edge of Shacia. The Gila Liner was already parked, she watched closely to see the two of them come out. She expected a goofy, unserious Kitt, and an annoyed and frustrated Machida. When they came out, she understood something bad happened. She stopped pacing and waited as they approached. Kitt avoided eye contact, "Hey."
"What happened?" She put her hands on her hips. Kitt sighed and pointed to a darker corner near the port. They moved there, still in silence. Machida looked around to make sure nobody was looking and gave a thumbs up. Kitt turned to her and asked in a certain sign language, "In sign, please?"
"Sure," She said in sign, "Now tell me what's wrong, please."
"Omegas are born with..." He stuttered in his sign as he was rusty, "They're born with smaller lifespans because they're like a runtime error, right? Well, when we were on the Gila, we came across the engine room in our investigation. What we saw in there—it was—"
Machida patted Kitt's chest, "I'll take over." He said in sign. "There were six Omega children in the engine room. They were hooked up to a sort of machine that I'd never seen before. They were ragged and almost..." Machida hesitated with his hands, "...lifeless." Her eyes widened as she raised her round glasses, her hands getting more swift and drastic, "Wait, you mean they use Artificials as fuel sources?"
"Yes, it seems accurate, there is a shortage of some fuel sources now. It seems they've found a way to make soul energy tangible and usable. Impossible unless they have someone in their circle with certain powers. I saw Steele's powers myself, and he can't be the only culprit." Machida's hands dropped to his sides.
"Oh..." Her voice shook as she turned away from them, "The discoveries don't stop coming..."
"Iseri?" Kitt reached his hand out to Iseri, "Did something happen while we were gone?" Iseri snapped her neck to Machida, "You were right, General. That thing didn't leave. It was always here. I finally found it!"
Machida stepped toward her, "What do you mean you found it? It hasn't been a week even, and this is the biggest case—"
"What the hell is it?!" Kitt interrupted.
"—we've ever had. How did you solve it this quickly?"
Iseri looked away from them, at the colorful JanuEri street. She put her hands up again to sign, "I accessed files from top secret sources and gained access to cameras we didn't know existed."
"Did they notice?!" Machida softly yelled.
"Ugh, not yet, but I think even if I do get caught eventually, it'll take them too long to try. Anyway, that's not the important part!" Iseri got up and pulled her phone out. "I have a video, and it's in it! I swear that's it right there in the video!"
Machida snatched the phone from her hand and played the video. It was captured footage from two cameras. In the first, a cloaked thing could be seen casually moving through civilians like a ghost in a busy subway station. Its shiny mass dripped down to the floor without a sound. Nobody in the station seemed to bat an eye at it. They either didn't see it or didn't care.
"This thing has history too, check the date." She pointed at the top right corner of the video, "April 13th, 2062, a little less than two weeks ago." She switched the video, this one was April 1st. Another one, March 20th. They all featured the same thing in each video. The same station, the same train, the same strange figure.
Machida looked at the date on her phone, "April 18th..." He rubbed his gray-haired chin, "If my math is right, it could appear again on the 25th. You see the pattern, right?" Kitt and Iseri nodded together.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"That's what I thought too. Each appearance has a 12-day gap. We're lucky we have a week to prepare, right?" Iseri asked.
"It gives us enough time to have to involve the Omega and Uyama. There are pros and cons to that." Machida sighed.
Kitt nodded again, then furrowed his brow, "Wait, hell no! This doesn't make any damn—" sneeze, "—any damn sense! What is this thing we're talking about?! And listen, even if it's something top secret, why the hell does she—" sneeze, " —know about it, but not me?! I'm second-in-command, me!"
"You sneeze pretty hard when you're worked up." Iseri snickered.
"Not a laughing matter." Machida groaned, "I'll explain what happened later, Kitt. Just...calm down for now."
Kitt shook his index finger in his face, "Just calm down, huh?! Okay—" sneeze, "—I don't have the energy for this."
As Kitt fell to the floor, Machida rubbed his eyes, "Then let's prepare, shall we?"
———
Knock, knock, knock.
Enjō lightly knocked on Spade Mask's door, whistling as he waited. The doorknob turned and the door opened. For some reason, Enjō was expecting to see Spade's face, just for it to be covered in another mask. This time it was a gas mask that seemed suspiciously realistic.
"Just what do you do in your free time?" He chuckled as he was invited in.
"Whaddya mean? Is it my mask again?" He felt his mask again and groaned, "Gosh, I'm slow."
He left to what Enjō assumed was his bedroom to change his mask. When he came back, he was wearing a slightly more normal bicycle helmet.
"So it ain't hot in that thing?" Enjō sat down on the beige couch.
"Oh, it is. But I gotta be careful, ya know." He sat down next to him, guitar already in his hands, "You ready for lesson two?"
The two of them had another guitar session and talked for a while. Enjō was starting to get a feel for the guitar and was able to play by himself.
"Hey, so, you saw the news right? They're giving Artificials their rights," Spade Mask randomly brought up during their break.
"Oh, uh yeah. Why're you asking?"
"You looked a lil too young to be some boring hummus. You're an Artificial, aren't you?"
Enjō's eyes widened as he sat back up on the couch, "Uh...I guess I am. I'm a—"
"Lambda?"
Enjō's entire being went silent as he thought of what Uyama said in JanuEri, and uneasiness crept into his chest. "You—How'd you know that?"
"Oh damn! I got that right? Lucky guess..."
Nah, he doesn't seem to care much that I'm an Artificial. Damn man, I'm paranoid for no reason...
"So what do you wanna do? You gonna run for pres'?" He laughed as he tuned his bass guitar again.
"Uh, nah. I'm going back to my hometown for a while, even though I really don't want to. A friend of mine said it was a good idea so..." Enjō shrugged.
"Yeah, I get it. He can be quite a bother."
Enjō's eyebrows furrowed, He?, he thought.
"He?" Enjō unconsciously asked, looking at the back of his helmet.
"Huh? What'd you say?" He whipped his neck to him, audibly cracking some bones. "Ooh, man I need to do more stretches." Enjō faked a laugh with him as his suspicions grew.
Could he know Uyama himself? Or did I just hear things? But Uyama did talk about him before like he isn't a star... Maybe he does know.
"You happen to know...my friend?" Enjō asked, fiddling with one of his dreads.
" 'Yama, right? Yeah, I know him. We used to be in the same band back in 2036. I wish I could've released our songs from back then—for fun, of course." He continued to spiel.
Meanwhile, Enjō shook in place, veins popping from his arms. Why the hell does he know so many famous people?! What's wrong with him?!
He quickly put his hands on his lap and put on a smile, "That's awesome! I am sure you made great music back then too. Although, I am curious as to how you figured out I was talking about Uyama."
"Well it's not like he never told me about you," Spade responded, "I've known since the concert."
Enjō groaned, "How come he never told me he knows a whole celebrity?" Spade looked up at him and chuckled. "He never really liked me all that much, honestly. But I sure do know what he's up to."
Nah, there's no way he's leaking our plan to celebrities right now. Unbelievable.
"But... I also don't really wanna get caught up in it. There's a reason he didn't ask for my help himself." Spade's tone shift was apparent enough past the mask, and his neck stooped down.
"There's—there's a reason?" Enjō giggled in his mind and rubbed his hands together, Oh-ho-ho! Please, tell me more...