Andromeda

"During the latter half of the Second Machine War worldwide public opinion had begun to shift. The war that had started out as a righteous cause to eliminate a threat to the peace of humankind turned to a horrible genocide so one-sided that the media displayed the war as a massacre. The public could not continue to watch the machines being destroyed and regretted their decisions.

"The fighting, what little there was, had been going on for only two months. The terrorists' attacks that the machines had launched in full force quickly stopped only a week before the first deployment. During the heat of the moment no one took notice, but time had now passed and it was becoming clear that the machines had no means to fight back anymore.

"The two month silence from the machines did not stop the war machine of man from hunting down the locations of the machines and wiping them out. The weak resistance put up was shown by the media to the world bringing sympathy to the machines. They were fighting the only way they knew how. The thousands of humans that were dead no longer seemed to matter.

"Justice had been served and protests across the world rose up against the war. The smaller countries in the united front pulled out their support unable to maintain the war. This quickly left only a few nations in the war that was quickly being labeled as The Second Holocaust. The military leaders that continued to fight were called War Criminals for acts of mass murder.

"The images that this conjured up sat badly with the remaining nations that the only way to save their political careers was to pull out of the war and end it quickly. The final orders to wipe out what they believed to be the remaining hideouts were bombed. No order was given to investigate or confirm the destruction. The military pulled out so fast that much of their equipment was left behind.

"The history of man is built on mistakes, but it is not only man that can error…"

Flesh is for Gods – Episode 7 – Lay Me Down to Sleep

'What am I doing here?' It was the early afternoon at the street corner of their favorite restaurant for lunch. By 'their' meaning that Satoru and Kiyoshi were having lunch. The quiet hum of traffic and people passing by beyond the cast iron fence that enclosed the open dining kept a serene calming field through the atmosphere. Kiyoshi was sitting down having been waiting on a hesitant Satoru for not quite an hour. 'I should be…no I can't.' Even though he had made a decision to finally leave his apartment again since that fateful incident with Asami he was still uncertain about staying. 'She's a machine, but…it shouldn't matter.'

"I'm glad that you finally answered my calls, Satoru," Kiyoshi said trying to gain Satoru's distracted attention. He had not minded waiting for him. It had been a long enough time before he would agree to this to begin with that a few more minutes flew by quickly. However, the distant look that was so clearly painted on Satoru's face concerned him. There was something more than just what the company was doing that was bothering him now.

Satoru jerked his head up from staring at the ground. "Huh? Oh, yeah, well I've had a lot on my mind this last few weeks." It was truer in more ways than one. For him seeing Kiyoshi sitting there seemed to be enough to give him a little grounding. Yet Satoru remained standing at the table unable to do more than hold the top of the chair with his two hands. His grip on the chair back nearly made his hands white as though it was the only thing keeping from falling.

"I know, that's why I wanted to talk to you. You've been away from work. I've recorded it as a personal vacation, but it's been three weeks already. The company is already becoming suspicious. I can't keep them-"

"I didn't ask you protect me!" Satoru pressed against the back of the chair forcing it into the table rattling the metal and glass placed across it's top. It was enough to startled Kiyoshi as well as those nearby. The scene that was beginning to develop at the table made Satoru self conscious of his actions pulling himself back to the chair.

The outburst from Satoru was enough to make Kiyoshi reconsider his approach. He knew that Satoru would be on edge, but the reaction only confirmed for him a deep seeded issue that was beyond simply the direction that Qintech was taking now. "I'm sorry. I'm only doing this because I know how much you care about the work you've done. I know this is difficult for you. You feel betrayed, but you have to understand-"

"No!" Satoru said nearly shouting through his teeth as they tried to keep his volume in check. "You don't understand. You don't know what it is like being betrayed." The chair was not enough anymore for him as he released one of his hands and roughly placed it on the table. "No. I've been betrayed more than I want. I'm not going to set myself up for that anymore. I shouldn't even be here." He should have listened to himself when he was saying this was a mistake. If this continued anymore he would end up regretting it even more. Satoru turned away walking from the table.

"Satoru! Wait, where you going?" Kiyoshi jumped up from his chair rushing after Satoru. He reached out in time to take his arm before they were out of the restaurant. Kiyoshi had to work slower with him seeing how easily agitated he was at the moment. 'This can't be a coincidence. What's the real reason he is here?'

Satoru pulled at his arm, but Kiyoshi's grip was too tight for him to break. "Where does it look? I'm leaving and going home."

"You can't leave, we haven't even ordered lunch yet."

"I'm not hungry and I'm not interested in talking." His captive arm finally came free allowing him to resume his exit. However, Kiyoshi shouted out to him bringing him to an uncertain stop. There did not seem to be a reason behind it, but he could not move either.

"Satoru! Listen to yourself! You came out here. You set up the meeting and the place for lunch. All I did was leave fifty messages with you. I didn't force you out here. This was you. I'm here because I'm your best friend and you wanted to talk." Kiyoshi finally took a breath looking for a response from the Satoru. All he saw still was his back. 'So much for going slow.'

"Kiyoshi…"

"I won't try to make come back to work." Kiyoshi knew that he could not take back what he said, but it was enough to make him pause. He pulled himself back in trying not to be so forceful. "Will you stay?"

The silence remained between them as those that were distracted by their troubles resumed eating. A car horn honked loudly and a woman shouted at a man that almost knocked her down. The world was not stopping. Satoru found a piece of the resolve that he had had when he first had called Kiyoshi a few hours ago. "Fine…"

Kiyoshi walked ahead of Satoru not wanting to look as though he was escorted him back to his seat afraid he would offend him again. Once they finally sat down for the lunch that was planned Kiyoshi looked up at Satoru. If he had been wrong about the reasons for Satoru's call he needed to work to find out what the truth was. "If it was not work that you wanted to talk about then what else is troubling you?"

'I can't talk about this. I shouldn't have come. This is my problem to deal with. I shouldn't be involving him.' Satoru's hand was clinching the side of the chair as he casually looked at Kiyoshi. The wish to leave was not dissipating even being in one place. He did not like being like this, it was normally so much easier to push problems aside for him. The feelings that he was having weighed him down until he felt as though he was crawling through mud just to reach the door. "Can we order lunch first?"

"Sure." If it meant that Satoru would not be leaving, he was willing to let things be drawn out. He would eventually understand what was going on. Kiyoshi raised his hand a little to the waitress passing by.

"May I help you?" the waitress said pulling out an electronic pad assuming that they were going to be ordering something finally.

Kiyoshi looked up at the waitress having spent the time waiting for Satoru figuring out what he was going to get to eat. "Yes, we're ready to order. I'll have the cook's special. Satoru?"

The waitress turned to Satoru expecting a quick answer only to find silence. It took Kiyoshi knocking on the table to alert him from the distraction that fogged his mind. "Hmm? Oh, right." Satoru fumbled for the menu that was placed in front of him. His eyes scanned down the food looking briefly at it picking the first thing his eyes stopped on. "Right…uh…this. I'll take this. Fourth down." He barely made contact with the waitress as she pulled up the menu.

"You can get something more than a bowl of ramen you know?" Kiyoshi said hoping to lighten the mood a little. Unfortunately, the grip of tension on Satoru was too great for Kiyoshi to snap so simply.

Missing the joke, Satoru seriously answered the question. "Its different enough from the rice and instant I've been eating." He let his hands push against each other under the table trying to sort through his thoughts. The wrestling feelings were making it difficult for him to focus even hunger was absent. His meal that he ordered seemed more obligatory than desired.

Kiyoshi looked at the table quickly noticing the need for more drink. "Alright and more tea please." It had been a long time since he had seen Satoru this troubled; it was not going to be an easy talk. 'This could take some time…'

"Right away," the waitress said as she neatly placed the menus under her arm while finishing entering the order in the pad. She walked away shortly after leaving the two alone again to resume their silent staring.

The air between them grew thick as Kiyoshi pondered his next move. He had seen and dealt with Satoru in the past like this knowing how this could easily go on for an hour without so much as a word. It was difficult the first couple times since Kiyoshi was more cautious and inexperienced in dealing with him. However, their years gave him some leverage that otherwise would have shattered everything. "You going to say something soon?" It was abrupt and straight to the heart of the matter. Kiyoshi knew the dangerous game he was playing, but Satoru was wound too tightly to be gentle this time.

Satoru flipped his eyes up with his head soon following a little surprised at the brashness that he was showing. It seemed a little insensitive, not that he was concerned about how sensitive another guy was with him. "Kiyoshi!" Even still, he could not help but act shocked by the piercing thrust.

Kiyoshi paused reading Satoru's face for a moment before continuing. "I know you well enough, Satoru. You're troubled, but you don't really want to talk about it. You're going to try to internalize it and get around it. I've seen you do this before. Hey, I'm your friend who else can you tell if you can't tell me?" He managed pulled back from directly confronting him to approaching his friendship. It seemed like a cheap cliché card to play, but if it worked that was all that mattered.

"I know, but that doesn't make it any easier to talk about." The light was focused on him again making him shift around in his chair. The sweat that was building over his skin only made his nervousness more apparent to him. 'What would he think if I told him? He is my friend, but still he is human…why can't I trust him?' The images of the rabid people that attacked him entered his mind. They were twisted with fear of the unknown and not understanding. His shoulder shot a dull pain through his arm making him remember the suffering that he endured at the opposite end of the sword of fear.

The world was going crazy around him and it seemed that sanity was quickly being lost. He could not even make heads or tails of what was happening anymore. It was all spinning to fast out of control for him. Ever since the first war humans have hated machines. 'He's human…I've known him too long not to trust him.' Satoru looked at Kiyoshi carefully hoping to find the answer that he was looking for, but failing. The answer he needed was not to be found simply by staring blankly. He had to take a step. "How should I say this?"

"Start with what is easier and it'll become easier to reach what you don't want to say," Kiyoshi said glad to see that Satoru was starting to open up. His curiosity was growing the longer that Satoru held out. Satoru was his friend, but there was still the human desire to know that had him almost excited to know what it was troubling him. It was a feeling that he suppressed the best as possible.

"That is not very helpful." If there was actually an easy way for him to talk about it he would have much sooner than this. Nothing that he did could possibly make it any easier for him. This was not the sort of thing that could ever be said lightly. He knew how much it would change things; it already did for him more than he wished to admit. "There is no real easy way to approach it."

"I can't be helpful without knowing the situation." He was trying to be honest and helpful, but all he could do was be vague until Satoru started giving him something to work with. The first steps were always tricky and Kiyoshi preferred to think that he was through the worst of it. However, he knew that there was still the chance that Satoru could bolt for the exit. He worried that if that did happen if he would be able to talk him down again.

"That is even less helpful. I thought you were supposed to be my friend," Satoru said not sure if he was actually complaining or just feeling like he was being put on the spot by someone that he knew too well. It did not make his sweating any better as he could feel his shirt moistening from the heat.

"I am your friend, but I am also going to be honest," Kiyoshi said with a small grin as he transitioned to his next sentence. "Would you rather I agreed with everything you said?"

"Smart-ass." Satoru did not even hesitate, but he could not help but have a slight grin as well. This was his best friend. They had been through plenty together and knew how each worked.

"Guilty."

'Lightening the mood…I do feel a little better.' The sweating had suddenly disappeared in the brief moment relief that Satoru had. It was not enough to make him laugh, but the passing smile removed the doubt in his mind. He was ready to talk and just hoped that it would all turned out fine. "You ever do something not thinking much about it, but discovered later that it was forbidden?"

"That's rather vague," Kiyoshi said pleased to see Satoru making progress, but honest in his confusion. Starting with a question was always a way to try to redirect focus from the real problem that was affected the person while still distantly keeping on track. Kiyoshi knew this, but he also knew that he would have to go along with it to get closer to the truth. "I think we all have at some point. It's human nature to explore the unknown and the taboo. Its our curiosity."

"I guess you're right about that." A slightly comforting thought for Satoru, but it felt more like he was accepting it as an answer to minimalize the trouble that he was in. This spurred conflicting thoughts in his mind rekindling the fire that had been burning since this all began that night. Satoru's hands tightened around each other trying to come to an answer that he would never have.

Kiyoshi was not going to allow it end so simply though knowing that this was part of a larger issue. It was a time to push a little more and watch the results. "And what about you? Have you done something that is forbidden?" He knew that Satoru still wished to avoid the matter even if he was talking now. Whatever was troubling him would be let out eventually.

His hands stopped suddenly at the question from Kiyoshi. He had watched Kiyoshi walk around the question while still providing a meaningful answer. Satoru was not ready yet. "Well like you said everyone has." Their eyes crossed paths remaining locked on the other watching and burrowing into the soul for answers. Neither could pull away.

"You're evading the question," Kiyoshi said coldly almost expecting this to happen. An indirect question answered with an indirect answer. 'Should expect an indirect answer back. If I didn't know that he was being evasive, I'd think he was mocking me.' He could not let Satoru off so easily. The fact that he asked such a question was enough to get him thinking. If he had truly done something so forbidden all his actions up till now made sense. "Even if it is forbidden, I'm not here to judge you. I'm here as your friend."

"But…" The feeling of being cornered pervaded him so well that it seemed as though he was in a crowded intersection unable to cross. Satoru knew that this was the reason that he came, but that did not make it any easier for him. Knowing did not change the fact that this had to be the most difficult thing to say to his best friend. 'No, he's right…I can't keep making excuses. If I don't tell someone I'm going to explode.' Eye contact was broken by Satoru needing to hold a moment longer to prepare. Unfortunately, there was no preparation to make this better and no words that he could find to prevent him from stumbling through this. "Y-you remember our last lunch that we had?"

Remembering the lunch took Kiyoshi a moment since it had been more than a month ago since their last lunch. It did not take him long to recall that the lunch had a similar issue with Satoru being troubled by something. "Yeah, you told me that you meet someone. It sounded like it was serious. You still seeing her?" There had to be a connection with the woman and what was troubling him. 'He would not bring it up otherwise. What he get himself into, espionage or something? I thought it was a simple relationship.'

'It is or was…I don't know what anymore…' Satoru shook his head around trying to stop the internal arguing. His hands wrapped around his head praying for some peace for a moment. An image of Asami appeared to him when he tried to find the words of saying what she told him. Seeing her in his thoughts gave him a moment of weakness that caused him to pull back. 'I should be protecting her not throwing her to wolves.'

His hand dropped from holding his head to the tablecloth protecting the iron weave top. The cloth intertwined with his fingers as he drew away into renewed indecisiveness. She hung in his thoughts putting a wall between Kiyoshi and him. However, then the image of a metal machine version of her appeared to him. There was a frightening emptiness over her that cracked the wall. "Yeah, about that…she's…s-she's got a secret."

"All women do, I guess that's what makes it interesting." Kiyoshi watched as Satoru struggled to confront his fears. He tried to reach out to Satoru as a stable force, but before he could Satoru grew erratic. 'Confirmation, but not a reason yet. What is it about this woman that has Satoru so conflicted?' The wall was almost down. He just needed to go a little further. "What's so special about hers'?"

The push from Kiyoshi made him pull back. The two images of Asami stared at him waiting to see what he would do. It felt like they were both judging him and he would be found guilty no matter the outcome that he picked. "Promise me. Promise me, that no matter what you won't tell anyone." He felt like some child or teenage girl spreading gossip about who slept with whom. It was a sour bitter taste, but he was committed. Kiyoshi was his friend, best friend; there was no one else that could trust more.

'A promise…this is getting worse…' Kiyoshi looked at Satoru narrowing his eyes for a moment. It was a difficult spot to put him in knowing that it was important enough to affect Satoru. He still did not know what was going on, but blindly promising to something did not feel right. "But I don't know what it is. How can I promise you?"

"Kiyoshi!" Satoru said knowing the position that he was putting him in. There was no other way. He had to try to protect her even if he gave out her secret. "Please, just promise me. You can't tell anyone else." A promise, it could be broken like anything else and that worried him. Satoru needed to trust Kiyoshi.

Kiyoshi remained silent sitting in his chair. His empty stare said that he was no longer part of the world around him. All his thoughts were focused inward trying to decide if he could do as Satoru asked. In college and high school he had promised Satoru in a similar manner, but it was just the usual things of youthful times. Keeping a night of drinking and other things secret was simple and expected. However, he could sense serious danger in Satoru voice. He could not lightly accept this promise. Silence continued in an awkward void for Satoru until Kiyoshi finally looked up. "I understand. You have my word that I won't tell anyone."

There was a reluctant sigh exhaled from Satoru's lips upon hearing Kiyoshi decision. 'I almost wish he hadn't agreed. Then I could get out of this now.' He was committed to telling Kiyoshi now. There would be no backing out after coming this far. "Thanks…well about her. She's a…" His fear choked his throat making him cut off what he was trying to say. The words whispered through his mind wishing to speak for him.

An image of Asami flashed back to him. She was standing in the middle of the sidewalk with only darkness around her. There were tears running down her face as she tried to speak to him. She was choking on the words like he was now. 'Is this how she felt when she told me? Its so hard to say…it changes everything…' Asami was shouting, but nothing was coming out. All he could see was the pain that was pouring out of her. It rained cold water through his spine drawing all of the warmth from his body.

Her words finally came out from the void around her out of sync with her lips. "I'm…I'm a machine…"

"S-she…she's a machine…" Satoru drew silent as the words faded out from his lips. He had wanted to shout it out, but knew better in a public venue. The words were just loud enough to carry to Kiyoshi's ear before dissipating to the myriad void that surrounded the restaurant. There was no comfort in being released from the weighing burden that had been pressing on him. It actually felt heavier now almost to a crushing point.

Kiyosh knew what he heard, but the instinctual reaction of disbelief made him question it. "What did you say?" He tried to let it sink in, but this was much larger than he could have possibly imagined. Only a little while before he had been joking about something as serious as this to himself.

"Don't make me repeat myself," Satoru said in a wavering voice. His entire body was shaking uncontrollably from the feeling that was going through his mind. 'Who's the betrayer now…Asami…' All he could see was images of her walking away from him. She was lost, gone from him forever now. He would never have the chance to hear her voice or see her smile again. Satoru hung his head between his shoulders imitating the heavy weight that he felt.

Kiyoshi drew back a little surprised by the reaction, but understanding what must be going through him as well. He was no longer sure what he should be saying to him anymore. It made him hold his tongue until he could collect his thoughts. "I'm sorry, I just was not expecting this sort of secret. I understand now…" Kiyoshi took a pause working to finish his collection of thoughts. "What are you going to do?"

"Huh?" Satoru said staring blankly at Kiyoshi completely dumbfounded by the question that he asked. It was nothing like he was expecting from him. A human reaction would have been more of anger or rejection telling him that he was stupid for falling for a machine. Satoru did not know if he actually wanted to hear that from him. While it seemed natural, he did not want to be told that he was doing something wrong either.

Kiyoshi gave Satoru a small smile seeing his confusion from his last question. He closed his eyes resuming talking to explain himself. "I assume since you are telling me this you have not decided your feelings about this." For Kiyoshi, he was not here to be Satoru parent putting him back on the right path. Although, it would often feel like that was his duty at times, but he knew that eventually Satoru would come to realize the truth.

What Kiyoshi was saying was making partial sense to him now, but it still left him at a loss for words. The stuttering voices in his head that were constantly debating the issues began to creep through his lips. "I don't know. I just don't know." He tried to pause himself to find the words that he actually wanted, but his emotions were running with images of Asami. It felt like he was feeling all of the torture that she had that day. "So many things are happening. Things that I didn't want. Why can't things be normal for once?"

Having heard those words made Kiyoshi want to laugh a little. "You can't have both." Kiyoshi slipped a grin out seeing the frustration that was across Satoru's face. The fact that he had to choose and was allowing himself the opportunity was a good sign. Even with him as confused he knew that Satoru was already reaching an answer. There was a turbulent maelstrom spinning in his head, but once it calmed Satoru would have his direction that he was lacking. All Kiyoshi needed to do was push him to bracing the winds. "What is it that you feel?"

"Huh?" He was asking him again about his feelings. "I feel…" Satoru did not want to listen to his feelings anymore. The path that he was on now came as a result of his feelings. If he continued to listen to them where would he end up? "But that's already gotten me in this much trouble…"

Kiyoshi closed his eyes with a smile across his face. He knew that Satoru knew how to follow his feelings and listen them. There would never have been any previous relationships if he had, but for as passionate as he was about his life and work he was still too logic at times. 'Though maybe he's been out of a relationship for so long he has forgot to block the thoughts from his brain…' He was trying to figure it out rationally when there was not a rational answer, especially not anymore. The place he was in went far beyond rational. "You've been following it this far. Do you regret it?"

Satoru wanted to punch Kiyoshi for asking so many questions that he could not answer. They were things that he had been asking himself for as long as this had been going on. Even with all of that time he did not know if he actually regretted what he did. If he were asked a couple weeks ago he would have quickly said no. He had no regrets, but knowing now what he did. There was no quick response anymore to the question. Satoru delayed his reply to Kiyoshi even more as he hoped that he could muster an answer. "I don't know…I don't have an answer…why you think I'm here now?"

Kiyoshi narrowed his brow for a moment knowing that it was going to come to this when this meeting was arranged. He had just hoped that he was not right. "You either made your decision, however subconscious it maybe, and are here to have me justify it for you or you are wanting me to decide for you. Regardless of which it is this is something for you to figure out. I might be your friend, but I'm not going to tell you how to live your life. That is for you to discover. Trust your feelings though, they won't lead you wrong."

"My feelings…" Satoru said thinking to himself for a moment. It sounded as though he had heard similar words before. Then he remember his last lunch with Kiyoshi and the advice that he had gave him that time. It almost made him laugh in realization of what was happening.

'I know so. Everyone deserves to have love and with all the stress in your life you need something good. Don't let it get away and don't doubt yourself. Deep down you know what you should do without asking. Its been guiding you all this time, you just don't realize it yet.'

Hearing the words again made Satoru smile slightly. "I'm sorry, Kiyoshi. Seems like you're always giving me the same advice." He knew that Kiyoshi was right. This was something for him to decide on his own and he would find an answer even if it took a little longer for him to realize the answer.

"Well you'll remember it one of these days," Kiyoshi said with an eased smile. The stress that had been chaining Satoru down was being released. He could see the change in him immediately. It would still be some time before he found what he already knew, but Kiyoshi was assured that Satoru would get there eventually.

"Here are your lunches," the waitress said making her appearance almost planned like she had been watching him. She carefully placed their meals on the table and replaced their tea with a fresh kettle. The drained kettle was returned to the serving tray as she politely bowed slightly and walked away.

"Thank you," Satoru said as the waitress stepped away from the table. He looked down at the food feeling the grumbling in his stomach. There was truth in the words that he had told Kiyoshi. It had been a while since he had a decent meal, even if it was just a big bowl of ramen. His hands played with the wooden sticks trying not to look too eager in front of Kiyoshi.

Kiyoshi could see the hungry look in Satoru's eyes and made a move for the food in front of him. "All this talk has made me hungry." Satoru was quick to begin eating as well no longer standing on formalities.

Satoru felt like he should be at some sort of bar sitting on a stool eating this food, but that strange sensation quickly passed as he dove through. The sudden calm in the air made him feel a little odd as though it was too simple. 'This went better than I expected. I guess I was worried about nothing. I'm a little surprised that he took it so well given what is happening at the company. Hmm…maybe he doesn't really like what they are doing either.' He tried to not to allow it to bother him very much, but the uneasiness was difficult to ignore completely.

"Something still bothering you?" Kiyoshi said having noticed that look of gears turning in his head. He was fairly certain that he had pushed Satoru through the worst of what he was going through, but there was always the chance of a relapse. This was no simply relationship or infatuation for Satoru. He knew how serious Satoru was by just seeing the wreck that it was putting him in.

He had forgotten how difficult it was to hide things from Kiyoshi's observant eyes. However, he was not going to trouble him with his groundless worries. "Hmm? Oh, no." Satoru went back to eat his noodles pushing the thoughts out of his mind.

Darkness was at home in the poorly lit room. There was no need for light at the moment. All of the energy was being focused on the center of the room of the room where Asami's lifeless body was lying on the metal table. The faint lights that were illuminating the room came from the wires that were running from the back of her head. Countless wires were attached to her chasing themselves over the floor connecting to the array of computers against the wall.

In the neighboring room, separated by one-way glass, meant for observation and diagnostic analysis was a lean man of aged appearance. He had almost graying hair combed straight back. The man wore a white coat with devices stored in the few pockets and gloves on his hands. His hands were lightly tapping on the console in front of him waiting on the computer to finish with its last command. It had been running for almost a week leaving him with little to do, but stare through the window.

The computer suddenly blinked and let out an audible sound as though it had done something. At that moment as though on cue General Oshiro walked through the doorway. The General quickly approached the man with demanding intentions in his eyes. "Is it finished?"

The man narrowly looked forward not wanting to confront the General eye to eye. He spoke to the glass while he continued to work with the computer to finish the last processes before Asami could be released. "Yes, the download is completed."

"What took so long? This should have been completed days ago." The General had been visiting the room once a day trying to force the procedure to be sped up. There was a strange urgency that seemed to puzzle the man. He had not known Asami for more than a week while she was sleeping a room apart from him, but he could tell from her electronic neutral pathways that she was a beautiful piece of work. In all his time he had never seen a machine designed in such a way as her. She was a prototype after all. The amount of work that had gone into her was startling.

His hands ran over the console's keys quickly at inhuman speeds handling much of the processes manually that the computer would do otherwise. It was the General's impossible timetable that was forcing him to such extremes. "We don't usually use long-term embedded agents for these type of missions. They contain far more data and information than the average machine. We can't afford to lose the work, especially her, even if we are scraping her."

"Don't lecture me," Oshiro said gruffly to the man. His gaze was taken into the room where Asami slept quietly accepting her final mission. He turned away as the technician began blathering again.

"I didn't mean-"

"Upload the mission operation and make the final modifications to her body," he said cutting the man off. The General had no interest in hear the mindless babble of a science machine.

"Yes, sir," he said holding his tongue until the General walked out. Once the door slid closed the tension in the air dropped. "It's a shame that such fine work is going to end up as a weapon like the rest. Well I guess I can't be dragging my feet anymore. Let's get it over with now." He increased the speed that he was working at almost reaching the limits of the stress that the joints could handle. There was little time left for him.

The minutes passed quickly as the elemental and material modifications to the internal make-up of Asami were brought to completion. The technician stopped his work as the words 'Completed' appeared on the screens of the computers. He walked out of the room unlocking the door into the dark room that Asami was held. The small area lights were slowly activating giving depth to the space.

He walked over to table where the wires were be ejected out of her body. The remaining wires connected to her head were still plugged in while the basic functions began to run. Asami's operating system started to boot verifying the condition of her body. The final wires were pulled out by the technician as he helped her up with life being breathed back in her. All the color returned to her face and her eyes opened with the warmth returning to her body. She was fully awake now. "Wha…" she said faintly trying to take in her surroundings.

"You're awake," he said feeling like he was stating the obvious, but knowing that she was still loading up all of her memory. Most of it had been extremely compressed during the process for faster transfers. She was going through everything that was stored and it was taking up much of her power. "Do you know what your mission is?"

After a moment of Asami scanning all the files and memories that were stored in her she looked at him. "Yes, my mission is…"

Their meals were almost finished, but the last portions were taking a while to disappear. Kiyoshi was telling Satoru about people from work distracting him from eating. He was clearly trying to keep it light and entertaining rather than remind him of other problems. It allowed Satoru to laugh and relax not having to worry about the world around him. They were in bubble while in the restaurant not having to see what was beyond it if they did not want. "Can you believe she said that?"

"Sounds like Natsuko," Satoru said trying not to laugh while he was sucking up noodles.

"Yeah, you've dealt with her more than me. I don't know if I'll ever get used to it."

"I don't know about that. You just have to- huh?" A call was coming in sounding off from beyond the table bringing a halt to their conversation. Satoru looked at Kiyoshi a little confused by the fact that there was someone calling him.

"You have a call," Kiyoshi said trying to not give Satoru the chance to ignore it like he was appearing.

"I know, but I haven't had it accepting calls for weeks. There should be nothing getting through." Satoru looked down in the area where the noise was coming from passing the thought of answering through his mind. He had left it 'Off' for a reason. There was no one that he wanted to talk to or hear from at the moment. But there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind telling him that he should not letting it pass.

"Well see who it is, it might be her," Kiyoshi said trying to give him some encouragement to answering the phone. He wanted Satoru to start opening back up to the world; this was the next step.

An image of Asami grew in his mind suddenly. It made the feeling that he had increase until it was impossible to ignore or push away. 'I doubt it. Not the way she left. But maybe it is her.' The thumping of desire from his heart became too much and he quickly grabbed the device from his coat and pulled it out. He looked at the screen to see who it was that was actually calling him to know if he would actually need to answer it. "Huh, no name?"

Kiyoshi became equally confused entering into Satoru's territory as he looked down at the device in Satoru's hand. He could not see the screen, but there was something strange about it. "What do you mean?"

"Its anonymous, is that even possible anymore?" There was no number or location that the call was coming from. Everything that normally ran across the screen was blank with question marks or symbols that held no meaning other than to say that it was being encrypted.

"I didn't think so, must be a very secure line." Kiyoshi tried to think of anyone that could be sending such a call, but all it did was make him curious to know that he had no answer. "You better answer it."

Satoru was still hesitant to answer the call but knew that Kiyoshi was right. If he was going to get an answer to whom it was that wanted to talk to him he was going to have to answer it. He pushed the button accepting the call after having annoyed everyone surrounding him by not answering the call for a minute. The device was slowly brought to his ear drawing out the anticipation of the identity of the caller. "Yeah…hello?"

"Mr. Korumura," an unfamiliar man's voice said. The man's speech was in appearance of familiarity with Satoru and not a question. It was as though he knew Satoru.

Satoru's confusion on his face grew at the familiarity the man was showing. For someone that he did not know he was being very forward. "Who is this?" he said hoping to get an answer to the identity of this person.

"I have a message for you," the man said completely ignoring the question and moving on. It was clear that he had a purpose and was not going to be easily revealing extraneous details.

"Who are you?" Satoru said still hoping for an answer even though he knew from the way the man was approaching him that it was a futile attempt.

"This concerns someone of your acquaintance, a Miss Asami Ichihana."

The man had Satoru's attention now. He was not sure if this was just a ploy to get him interested in something else or actually about her. Satoru could not ignore it either way feeling hope returning to his body. "Asami! What do you want? Do you know where she is? Who is this?"

Kiyoshi pulled back a little in surprise to Satoru's reaction. He could see that the person calling Satoru knew something important about the woman that Satoru told him about. "Satoru, what's going on? Who are you talking to?"

Satoru eyes widened in disbelief at what he had just heard from the man. "What?! You can't be serious." He did not want to hear it. If this was some sort of joke that the man was getting at his expense he was going to make him regret it for the rest of his life. Anger was quickly building up in him against the caller not wanting to listen to him anymore, but knowing that he did not have any choice.

"I'm not lying to you. It's your choice if you wish to believe me. I'm simply giving you the choice to change her fate." The call ended at the last word leaving Satoru holding the phone unable to release it. His face almost frozen as he began to accept what he was told.

"Satoru? Your face…what did they say to you?" Kiyoshi said trying to shake Satoru out of the trance that he had entered. He had no idea what Satoru heard, but whatever it was had him completely paralyzed. It had him worried by what it could possibly be that turned him white as a ghost. Unfortunately, all of his efforts were wasted on Satoru requiring him to physically grab him to shake him free of the hold it had on him. "Satoru!"

"Kiyoshi…it's her," Satoru said slowly still having trouble digesting it. He put away the device and stood up looking back down at Kiyoshi. There was no time he could waste now. "They said that Asami is going to…"

"My mission is to destroy the Qintech Corporation Building," Asami said back to the technician with a blank emotionless face.

To be continued…