Kiochi had been flying for a few hours, but was unable to catch a wink of sleep.

His thoughts were muddled and the random turbulence the plane experienced had a rather terrible effect on his mind.

He kept thinking back.

What could I have done different? He asked himself.

Could I have saved at least one of my men?

Why did do I even care that a few people died? He wondered.

People die all the time. He reasoned.

Kiochi had long detached himself from feelings like guilt and fear.

But as he made his way to Tokyo, one thing became very clear.

For the first time in a long time, he was afraid.

The plane landed and Kiochi made his way through customs and after handing exchanging his passport with the staff he made his way out of the airport.

In all honesty, his passport meant little to nothing, seeing as his true identity was as a super soldier was a secret.

Kiochi’s childhood was filled with intense training and his education was handled in secret the council.

He remembered being taken to secret facilities and undergoing various surgeries and procedures that made Kiochi the ideal killing machine.

No words of encouragement were ever given and no boo boos were kissed.

The Kynigoi were tools and the council made that very clear.

After leaving the airport, Kiochi took a taxi to the nearest three star hotel in Roppongi and got himself a single room.

His meeting with the council was going to be held the next day so he decided to get as much rest as possible.

Some time passed as Kiochi blankly stared at the ceiling and minutes quickly turned into hours.

He checked his watch which indicated that the time was thirteen minutes past midnight.

Still, he couldn’t sleep and the memory of the black giants was still fresh in his memory.

His heart began racing and his body shuddered at the slightest thought of those things.

Why am I so afraid? Kiochi wondered.

He had never felt like this way before.

The feeling of complete helplessness coupled by the chokehold of intense fear was gradually growing and he had no idea how to cope.

Kiochi had set foot on every type of battlefield at the age of nineteen.

Whether it was long ranged combat in the alps or unarmed combat in the jungles.

He stood tall and without fear because he knew his worth as a soldier and he welcomed death openly.

But all that had been washed away by the appearance of those things.

A couple of more hours crawled by as Kiochi twisted and turned in his bedsheets and he eventually found sleep.

.

..

The morning came quickly and Kiochi had much to do so he got up, took a quick shower and wore some formal clothes.

He had managed to get some clothing at the airport the day before, which was a much needed improvement over his dirty combat gear.

Not to say that he had it on the entire time.

He managed to procure some clothing before boarding the plane headed for Japan from Myanmar the day before.

This was going to his first time meeting with the council so he didn’t want to embarrass himself.

He took the elevator down to the lobby, walked out of the and found a black car parked outside.

“Good morning sir. I will be escorting you to your destination.” A man standing next to a black car greeted politely.

Kiochi knew him man as himself Dexter Jamison. A fairly short man but his sharp gaze gave him a rather intense aura.

Kiochi didn’t need to look under Dexter’s suit to tell that he was well built, the man was definitely an elite soldier.

Although he must have looked like an ordinary man servant thanks to his neat looking black suit, white gloves and a cool looking black hat.

Something that also made Dexter stand out was the fact that he had platinum blond hair and shockingly grey eyes, but Kiochi had other things to worry about so he cast Dexter’s appearance aside.

Kiochi gave Dexter a quick nod and entered the already open back door and took the rear passenger seat.

Dexter straightened his appearance before making his way to the driver’s seat and after he took a quick glance at his wristwatch they set of towards their secret destination.

Not much was said as Kiochi and Dexter drove along the morning traffic and Dexter kept his keen eyes on the road, never once looking at Kiochi indirectly through the rear view mirror.

Kiochi didn’t mind that, actually it gave him more time to collect his thoughts.

The two arrived at a warehouse in the outskirts of Tokyo which blended in well with the local environment.

Kiochi exited the car and Dexter led him towards the warehouses back entrance where they found two guards standing attentively.

Dexter gave them a quick nod and the guard on the left opened the door, allowing Kiochi in and almost instantly, the damp and musty smell of the damp musty outside completely disappeared and was replaced by cool, clean air that Kiochi assumed was coming from the many large air conditioning units in the building.

Bright white lights filled the warehouse and the interior was lined with what looked like dry wall. The floor was covered with clean white tiles that added to the buildings blinding effect.

Dexter led Kiochi down several dry wall corridors and they eventually arrived at their destination.

Stolen novel; please report.

Dexter stopped by a grey door and gestured that Kiochi enter.

Kiochi gave him a nod of acknowledgement, opened the door and found himself in what was the complete opposite of the warehouses interior.

The room was dark, very dark and the only light came from three monitors at the centre of the room that flickered on and off, flashing very little amounts of light into the room.

The walls must have been sound proofed because Kiochi’s footsteps had a muffled sound and the floor was lined with a think carpet.

After absorbing the scenery, Kiochi sat on a chair that was placed opposite the monitors and waited.

Not more than two minutes passed before the monitors lit up and faces appeared on each of them.

In the monitor to his left Kiochi saw a woman who looked like she was slightly past her prime.

Deep, yet charming lines marked her face as though each of them was a testament to all of the facial expressions she could make.

Her deep blue eyes were highlighted by the greying brown hair on her head, which was all Kiochi could see.

Her name was Natasha Lebedev and she was the third seat on the council.

She was the head of a pharmaceutical company known as ZhiznTech that achieved many great things such as almost doubling the human lifespan and there was news about how ZhiznTech was developing a method that allows the human body to regenerate lost limbs, but it was still in it’s testing phase.

In the monitor to Kiochi’s right was a middle aged man with dark black hair and even darker eyes that looked like they were staring right through Kiochi’s skull.

The crows feet near his eyes suggested that he had a marvellous smile, but that smile was nowhere to be seen at the moment.

That man’s name was Harold Barker. Aside from the fact that he was the second seat on the council, Kiochi didn’t Know much else about him.

Finally Kiochi’s eyes rested on the man in the centre display.

The man on that screen looked older than the man to the right yet his eye’s had a vibrant glow to them that didn’t match whatever his age was.

But that’s pretty much it.

Aside from his dark brown hair and brown eye’s, that’s all Kiochi could see. Everything else was kept neatly hidden away from prying eyes, such as Kiochi’s.

That man’s name was Alexander, head of the council and almost literal emperor of Earth.

Next to nothing was known about Alexander, except that everyone who served the council, served him.

These were members of the council.

The people who truly kept the world turning and so, Kiochi had to show them the highest level of respect when he spoke.

A moment passed and suddenly the left monitor sounded off.

“Designation?” A warm silky voice that belonged to Natasha Lebedev asked.

“A-3, ma’am.” Kiochi instantly replied.

“We received your report, but we would like to hear it from you. So please, recall all the events from the aforementioned night.” A deep voice that belonged to Harold Barker said.

Kiochi did as he was told and he recalled everything that happened on that night when his men were killed by those things.

He felt a chill crawl up his spine as he described the giants but other than that he felt relatively calm.

He had made up his mind. He was resolved to go through anything, as long as it got him the answers he wanted.

Kiochi’s report came to an end and the three heads all nodded in unison.

“If that is all A-3, you may leave.” Natasha Lebedev said flatly.

Kiochi’s brows furrowed slightly.

He looked at the right monitor and asked.

“Sir, with all due respect, I thought this was a debriefing.”

Harold’s face didn’t change.

“Are you implying that we knew beforehand about the existence of those humanoids you and your team encountered?“

Kiochi’s eyes twitched.

“No sir. However, in order to prevent future incidents similar to this from occurring, I would like to request maximum level clearance on any and all information on those humanoids, if any exists.” Kiochi said clearly.

He couldn’t leave things the way they were.

Who knew what those things were capable of and how many innocent lives would be lost if they were to rampage in a city?

That’s exactly why Kiochi wanted answers but for some unknown reason the council wasn’t giving them to him.

“Denied. You will not be receiving any special access to any information regarding this incident. The only thing you will do is return to your safe house and await for further instructions is that understood?”

The once warm, almost motherly voice that came from Natasha Lebedev had disappeared and what replaced it was the voice of absolute authority.

Kiochi lowered his head and apologized.

“I apologizes and will do as instructed.”

He rose from his seat and stormed out of the room, passing Dexter who was exactly where he left him.

Dexter, who had been waiting outside the entire time, closed the door that Kiochi had rudely left open and followed him as he exited the warehouse.

“Sir, this way to the vehicle.” Dexter gestured toward the car but Kiochi shook his head.

“I’m just taking a walk but my destination hasn’t changed. I’ll be at the hotel.” Kiochi shrugged him off as he walked away.

Dexter looked a bit puzzled but then his shoulders slumped before he gave up on the idea of trying to persuade a super soldier.

Kiochi walked towards the nearest train station and sat on one of the many benches.

Why didn’t the council want him to investigate further into the black humanoids even though he was A ranked?

He guessed that he had recently become overly arrogant.

What he told Rachael was the truth, regardless of rank, they were all just soldiers. Tools. Machines whose sole purpose was to move the ever turning gears of the war mankind waged on itself.

This frustrated Kiochi, but he had a hidden card to play.

He looked around to see if any security cameras had him in their sights, he checked slowly and carefully before placing in a tiny earpiece into his right ear.

He tapped the crown of his wristwatch and soon some audio came through to the ear piece.

[…This is the second one. How many of those things did they leave behind?]

Harold Barker asked.

[I don’t know. But panicking won’t get us anywhere. What surprised me the most was A-3. It’s one thing that his ASDP didn’t activate but the fact that they let him live is something else.]

Natasha Lebedev said calmly.

[True. We need to recover his body for further examination. The fact that his automatic self defence protocol didn’t activate might mean that he is defective, however there are too many unanswered questions. That concludes this meeting.]

Harold Barker said.

What did they mean by “automatic self defence protocol” and what did they want to do with my body? Kiochi wondered.

.

..

After a few minutes of commuting, Kiochi finally reached the hotel, but something felt off.

It was as if the air itself was heavier and considerably colder.

After taking the elevator he made it to his floor and the feeling that he had got even worse.

All the hairs on the back of his neck stood straight as if they sent him red flags.

Upon reaching his room he slowly turned the door knob and entered, silently closing the door as he took of his coat.

He walked into the bedroom and his eyes fell on something that triggered the activation all of his defensive instincts.

Which all told him to run as far away from where he was as possible.

“Hello A-3.” Came a greeting from what Kiochi could honestly call the worlds most dangerous woman.

“What are you doing here A-1?”

.

..

Somewhere in the Sahara desert

His name was Yassine Alami.

He, along with several other people had been digging for about four days in the middle of the desert.

What was he doing this for?

A better relationship with his professor?

Yes, unfortunately.

He had been studying Anthropology in Morocco when professor Rose Tahiri asked him to help her with her some of her work.

She enlisted the help of several other students and some curious locals who, Yassine guessed had nothing else better to do.

Dr. Rose Tahiri was at the top of her field and had written many papers on anthropology, some which received critical acclaim and others which where shrouded in controversy and conspiracies.

None the less, Yassine enjoyed her lectures, because she was stupidly smart and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, something her male colleagues didn’t find the least appealing.

Yassine on the other hand was average and that’s all there was to it.

He was a normal student who had normal goals such as settling down and getting a desk job.

So why was he stranded in the middle of the desert with his professor?

He shrugged those thoughts off and kept digging with his shovel until something knocked him out of his depressed state.

Whatever his shovel hit was metallic.

He dug again and got the same results.

With excitement slowly creeping in, Yassine got on his knees and started digging. This time with a smaller more precise tool.

The ground where he and the others were digging was surprisingly harder than that of the surrounding area, which only severed to fuel professor Rose’s curiosity.

After a few minutes of non stop digging and shovelling, Yassine finally unearthed it.

It kinda looked like a big bronze egg, except it was a big enough to require being carried with two hands but small enough for Yassine to easily climb from the small hole he had dug, not to mention it weighed about ten kilograms.

“Ms. Rose I found it!” Yassine yelled, unable to contain the joy in his voice as he ran towards the professors tent.

With this, we’ll finally be able to go home! That’s what Yassine thought.

“Yassine, I told you to call me Dr. Tahiri when we’re working.” She gently waved her hand as to shoo him away while she read a novel in her large tent.

Only when Yassine dropped the object in his hands did she turn and he couldn’t help but smile as her jaw dropped.

“Oh my goodness. My goodness Yassine, you found it!” She shot up from her chair and ran towards Yassine.

Fully expecting a grateful hug he opened his arms only to grab the hot desert air as the professor grabbed the big metal egg.

“Yassine, within this lies what could very well be the secret of life and we have it right here, right now!” Dr. Tahiri said excitedly.