Chapter 116
[148]
Five Months Ago:
“Where have you idiots been? The tour’s almost over!” Ann Takamaki yelled at her friends as the two rejoined the rest of their class on the field trip.
“Bathroom.” The pair answered in unison. Ann rolled her eyes and turned back to the guide as the class entered the lobby.
As they stood near the back of the class, Ryuji turned to Ren and whispered. “Dude, I’m shocked you handled those spiders like it was nothin’! Ain’t you scared of ‘em?”
“I was more scared of getting caught.” Ren responded before suddenly feeling a sharp pain on the back of his hand. “Ah!” Quickly turning it over, he saw that a spider had made it onto him. He quickly swatted it away.
“Oh shit dude! Did one get you?” Ryuji asked his friend.
Shoving his hands back into his pockets, Ren turned away. “It’s nothing, let’s go.”
However, as both boys followed their class into the lobby, they failed to notice the spider that Ren had swatted away, got up and began to climb the nearest wall. Reaching the nearest vent, it entered through the grate and began building a web.
Present Day:
“Aigis huh?” Futaba asked before tapping the glass container in front of her with her knuckles. “Wanna see what makes this baby tick?” She asked, turning back to Ren.
“We’ve got to let her out.” Ren responded, his attention never leaving the robot’s sleeping face.
“‘Her?’ Ren, I know this thing looks like a girl, but it’s a machine. And I’m pretty certain that you can’t fuck it.” Futaba replied, maybe a bit too much venom dripping from her voice.
“Futaba.” He looked at her, his expression dead serious.
“Okay, okay let me see what I can do.”
A short while later, with the help of some hacking on the nearby console, the container opened. Almost as soon as it was, the blonde android inside opened her eyes, revealing her blue irises. She stepped out of the container, slowly taking in her surroundings before stopping on the boy in front of her.
“Um, hello?” Ren asked, unsure if the robot could even understand him. He gave an awkward wave to make sure she could see him.
“Hello.” The android replied monotonously before raising her own hand and mimicking Ren’s wave. “I am Aigis, one of three prototypes for the Silver Centurion model armored robots. My fellow prototypes are SS-01: Metis, and SS-03: Labrys. As you can see…” She turned around to introduce them, only to find two empty containers next to her own. “I do not understand. They should not have left containment…I should not have left containment.” She turned back to Ren with a curious look. “Who are you?”
“I’m here to help.” Ren replied simply. “The other prototypes…they’re gone, and you will be too if you don’t leave here with us.”
The android took a moment to compute what he was saying, at least that’s what Ren hoped she was doing. If it turned out that she was actually setting off some kind of silent alarm, then they were screwed.
“Hold on a second,” Futaba interrupted, joining in on the conversation. “Since when did this become a rescue mission? We’re here to collect data! This adds a whole new level of danger to the mission! She-it isn’t even alive Ren, it’s a computer!”
“She’s a prisoner here Futaba! And they’ve got her on death row! I’m not going to stand by and let them kill her while I can do something about it!” Ren shouted back, images of his uncle’s death flashing through his mind as he did so.
“We don’t even know if she’s on our side! Right now, she could be getting orders from Shido to kill us!” Futaba countered. “We can’t let our guard down, otherwise we might be inviting even tragedy into our lives.” Images of Futaba’s mother as Ms. Negative, flashing through her mind.
“I have decided.” Aigis spoke, interrupting the argument. “I wish to avoid termination. I will come with you.”
“Huh, that was easier than I thought it would be.” Ren stated, turning to the robot in surprise. Looking her up and down, he saw an immediate problem in just sneaking her out the front door as her mechanical body would draw a lot of prying eyes. “Here,” He said, removing his jacket and handing it to the robot. “Put this on.”
“This is ridiculous.” Futaba commented. “We’re going to get caught and arrested and-and-”
“Futaba.” Ren stopped her, grabbing the smaller girl by the shoulders. “If we’re going to get out of here, I need you on my side, we need to be a team. Please, Can you do that for me?”
The redhead stared at him with wide eyes, a large blush slowly creeping onto her face as her mouth tried to form words.
“Futaba?”
“Have I put this on correctly?” A voice asked from behind Ren. He turned around to see Aigis wearing his jacket, however it was on inside out and backwards.
“Okay, this might be a little harder than I thought it’d be.”
Meanwhile upstairs, the Yoshizawa twins were following their tour group through the various research centers throughout the Shido Sciences building. The latest room they had visited was the cross-species genetics lab where some fascinating research into hybridization was taking place.
Kasumi Yoshizawa let out a yawn as the tour guide droned on and on about DNA, RNA, and something called CRISPR. It was beyond her why her sister was even into any of this stuff. Didn’t they get enough lectures at school? Not that they had school for at least the rest of the semester. A very small silver lining to the constant villain attacks going on.
“Hey Sumi, you don’t think we’re going to have to repeat freshman year, right?” Kasumi asked, turning to her twin whom she had thought was next to her until just now. Looking back, she saw her sister standing at a nearby window overlooking the workfloor with an empty look in her eyes.
Sumire looked out at the scientists on the workfloor beneath her. All of these talented, driven people working so hard to make the world a better place.
What was her drive? What was her motivation? What was she talented at? Lately she couldn’t seem to find an answer to any of these questions. Sure it had been difficult before, always standing in her more talented sister’s shadow, but she had managed to carve out her own small corner in the world. That had been all thanks to…him.
Even before she had met him, she’d heard the rumors of the infamous transfer student with a criminal record. But she hadn’t realized who he actually was until after they’d met, but by then he’d already charmed his way into her heart. It took seeing him with someone else to finally realize it, but Sumire Yoshizawa had been head over heels in love with her senpai. And she’d lost the race before she even knew she was running it.
“SUMI!” Her twin sister’s voice finally snapped Sumire out of her musings.
“Huh? W-What is it Sis?” She asked, startled by her sudden appearance.
“C’mon, the rest of the group is already heading back to the lobby. Let’s hurry up before we get lost.” Kasumi replied, grabbing her sister’s hand and pulling her along. As the two began to move, Sumire suddenly felt a jolt of pain in the back of her neck.
“Ah!” The girl cried out, immediately reaching behind her.
“You okay Sumi?” Her sister asked, concerned.
“Y-Yeah, just…” She felt a small bump on the back of her neck, but not what caused it. “It’s nothing.” She assured Kasumi and the two followed after the rest of their group.
At the same time, Ren, Futaba, and their new android friend were riding the elevator back up to the main floor. If their timing was right, they could join up with the next tour group and exit the building like nothing ever happened.
Thankfully, they had managed to give Aigis a passible disguise to get past security. Wearing coveralls and a pair of work boots that they’d found in someone’s locker, as well as Ren’s jacket and glasses, she looked like a (poorly dressed) ordinary teenage girl.
“So…Aigis,” Futaba began, breaking the silence in the elevator. “Why is it that you look human while the other Centurions don’t?”
“When the Silver Centurions were first being designed, our creators wanted us to have a more human appearance to make us appear more friendly. They believed that if the people saw us as one of them, they would more readily accept us.” The android explained. “However, this idea was later dropped in favor of making Centurions larger and able to carry more weapons, however this had the unintentional side-effect of lowering their intelligence to basic functions. This has made my sisters and I-correction-This has made me the last remaining prototype of the project commissioned by Dr. Kuon Ichinose.”
“Huh.” Futaba nodded, finding it most odd that Aigis had referred to the other prototypes as sisters.
“Let’s just be glad we aren’t sneaking out one of the newer models,” Ren added. “I don’t think my jacket would fit a 9-foot tall murder machine.”
Just then, the elevator opened early, one floor below the ground floor, revealing two guards in Silver Sentinel armor on the other side. Both parties looked just as surprised to see each other, but the guards were the first to speak.
“Who the hell are you three!? You shouldn’t be here!” He yelled, reaching for his gun.
“Oh um, hello sir!” Ren stepped forward. “We were just…”
“...”
“...Okay, I’ve got nothing.” He stated before leaping out and tackling the two men to the ground. Turning back to Futaba and Aigis, he shouted. “Get to the next floor and get out! I’ll meet you back at the hideout!”
Futaba looked hesitant, but Aigis didn’t question the order, grabbing the elevator doors and slamming them shut with her bare hands. Turning his attention back to the guards beneath him, he saw one of them about to radio for backup, reacting quickly he kicked the radio from the man’s hand and it shattered against the wall.
“Sorry, three’s enough of a crowd as it is!” He quipped before his spider-sense went off. Turning his head, he saw the other guard swinging a baton directly at his face.
*CRACK!*
It hit with enough force to bend the baton and give Ren a serious headache. Stumbling back, he unintentionally released the men from his grip, allowing them to stand back up.
The guard who had hit him with the baton turned to his now damaged weapon, then looked back to him with what Ren could only assume was a look of bewilderment under his helmet.
“What the hell are you?” The man asked, as he and his friend brought out their guns.
They were only slightly too slow however as Ren leapt out at one guard, landing a knee to his face and, while midair, touching the other guard’s helmet and activating his venom blast. Both men were instantly knocked out as Ren landed next to them. Turning to the now unconscious guard who had asked him the question earlier, he answered.
“I’m the guy who’s gonna save this city.”
Meanwhile, on the top floor of the building, Masayoshi Shido sat in his office chair, watching the events unfold on his tablet. He couldn’t help but chuckle as he heard this boy believe he had any chance of stopping what had already been long in motion. Even the real Spider-Man couldn’t stop him, and this pretender was half the threat that the original had been.
“Sir, everything you have requested is in place. Would you like to commence with the plan?” Shido’s personal A.I. asked him.
“Not yet Samael. Just a moment longer and the last piece should fall into place.” Shido smiled, looking over to the four mechanical limbs sitting on his wall.
Waiting.
“Just another moment.” He repeated, smirking as he turned back to his tablet.
Back in the lobby, Sumire felt sick. She was struggling to stay on her feet, let alone keep up with the tour group.
“Sumi, what’s wrong? You look pale.” Her sister commented, examining Sumire’s face.
“I…I’m not sure. I-I feel sick. M-My body is-urgh!” She bent over in pain, unable to continue moving.
“O-Okay just…” Kasumi looked around for a place for her sister to rest. Spotting a bench nearby, she helped Sumire over to it before laying her down. “Just lay down here, I’m going to go find someone who can help.”
“S-Sis…Don’t go…I’m c-cold.” The girl held out her hand to her sister.
“Don’t worry Sumi, I’ll be right back.” Kasumi assured her twin before taking off to find help.
As she watched her sister leave, Sumire began to feel weaker by the moment. At this point, she was struggling to even keep her eyes open. What had caused this sudden sickness? And why did it hurt so much?
Lying on the bench in pain, she almost didn’t hear the door next to her open. She would’ve thought nothing of it had she not heard a name that she was all too familiar with.
‘Ren.’
“C’mon, c’mon Ren, where are you?” Futaba mumbled to herself, looking around impatiently as she and Aigis stepped into the lobby.
“I believe he told us to meet him at ‘the hideout’ did he not? Is this ‘the hideout’?” Aigis asked the smaller girl curiously.
“No, it’s not.” Futaba replied, annoyed by the machine next to her. Her worry was suddenly alleviated however, as the man in question stepped out from another hallway. “Ren!” She called out excitedly.
“Shh!” Ren silenced her as he approached the pair. “We need to get out of here, now. I knocked out the guards but I’m sure they’ve woken up and called us in by now. We have to go now.”
That would’ve been it, the group would have left then and there had a weak voice not sounded from behind them.
“Senpai?”
All three turned to the source and saw a pale and weakened Sumire lying on the bench behind them.
“Sumire? What are you-?” However, Ren was cut off by a voice calling out from across the lobby.
“Sumi!” The group turned again and saw the other twin approaching with security in tow. “I brought help!”
“Shit!” Futaba grabbed Ren by the arm and began trying to pull him toward the entrance. “We need to go! Now!”
“R-Right.” Ren nodded. “We should-AGH!” He suddenly fell to his knees, clutching his head.
On the bench, Sumire clutched her head as well, crying out in pain.
Up in his office, a smile crossed Masayoshi Shido’s face as he saw all of the pieces fall into place.
“Samael…Do it.”
*BOOM!*