Andromeda

"The first machine created appeared like something from Science Fiction. Issac was leaps ahead in technology when he was introduced to the world. When he was brought before the media it was clear the advances that had been made and the future that was possible. He was herald as the next era in robotics and computers, a computer that could think.

"In the infancy of the machines there was great fear by much of the public at the machines. Many welcomed their arrival and the rich bought them as toys to show off as luxury merchandise. However, those that protested and cried in prediction of the end of the world were quickly silenced by the overwhelming success.

"It was only a decade before machines were found in factories and dangerous jobs replacing the need for humans to put their lives in danger. Then in another decade highly advanced computer system, the sibling to the machines, replaced the transportation centers with thinking vehicles. Time went quickly and machines replaced all of the undesired and menial jobs.

"In the wake of the machine's rise unemployment and disgruntled unions fought to keep their jobs as employers continued to replace them. Governments soon were forced to create new programs to supported laid-off workers due to machines. It was becoming an epidemic, but it always lay under the surface hidden by the success.

"The world leaders met to arrange talks in handling the booming machine work force that was replacing the need for humans. All the years of great success was bringing the economy to the brink. A balance needed to be found to bring stability to the world. The charismatic representative from France proposed a world initiative plan that would recover the economy and continue the work with the machines. However, he was assassinated before he could bring the plan to completion and as fate would have it the First Machine War began one week later. The plans for humans and machines to live together were lost forever.

"Peace can be created, but it must be maintained by both parties if it is to endure the passage of time…"

Flesh is for Gods – Episode 8 – Diverging Paths

Satoru quickly threw away his chair as he jumped up lunging for the exit. He did not have any time to waste if he was going to get to Asami before she destroyed the building. Kiyoshi ran after him feeling like déjà vu and grabbed Satoru's wrist. "Satoru where are you going?"

"I told you already! I have to stop Asami!" Satoru was almost yelling at Kiyoshi in disbelief that he would be asking him such a stupid question. He had already explained to Kiyoshi after the phone call what he was told on the phone. There was no time for him to be wasting with Kiyoshi if he was going to try to stop him. If she blew herself up like all the other machines he would lose her forever and she would kill so many people as well. The bloodshed would continue; he had to stop the cycle. He had the chance to do something this time.

Kiyoshi looked down at the ground for a moment knowing that this was going to happen. It did not matter to him how dangerous it was Satoru was determined. That determination was probably partly his fault, but he knew it would have happened anyway knowing Satoru. He looked at Satoru giving him a friendly smile. "Fine, then I'm coming with you."

"But…alright," Satoru said thinking about arguing with Kiyoshi not wanting to have his friend caught up in the explosion if he was late. However, Satoru did not have the time to argue and knew that it would be pointless anyway. He started to run with Kiyoshi for the exit until Kiyoshi turned direction and went towards the entrance to the restaurant's interior. "Where are you going, its this way?"

"I have to the pay the bill," Kiyoshi said to Satoru's surprise. They might have to save people from dying, but that did not mean they could skip out on their bill.

Satoru stared at Kiyoshi confused that he could be thinking about that in a time like this. There were more important things than paying for their food. "The bill?! There's no time for that." If they survived he could come back and pay them later. Satoru's legs were shaking wanting to keep moving while his mind kept him still trying to get Kiyoshi to follow.

"Go on ahead." Kiyoshi waved Satoru on knowing that he could not hold him up. "I'll be right behind you." After he finished he disappeared into the restaurant looking for a waitress or the counter.

The restaurant quickly disappeared behind Satoru as he ran down the street. 'Asami…don't do anything until I get there. Please…'

His mind was still in a bit of shock about the idea. It seemed difficult to believe, but he realized that since she was a machine that she was working with the same ones that were doing the suicide bombings on the buildings around the world. He still had difficulty thinking of Asami as a machine from the time that he spent with her. She was so alive and filled with emotions. She was beyond anything that he had thought possible. Asami seemed to transcend the gears and metal that made up her body and computer processes.

There was no way he could let her throw it all away. She was hurting, just like a human. 'She must think this is the only way out…only way to save herself…' Satoru's face narrowed with determination growing in each step he took. He would reach her in time. There was nothing that would get in his way.

The streets were mostly empty making it easy for Satoru to dart around, but he still had to avoid getting hit by cars. It seemed that traffic was the only thing moving right now. He did not give it much thought until he suddenly ran into a large crowd that was blocking every sidewalk. There were so many people that he had no way of getting through to the other side. "What's going on? Why is everyone stopped?" He hoped that talking to them might get their attention and perhaps allow him a path, but none of them turned.

Satoru clinched his fists together preparing himself for what he had to do now. He drew in a deep breath and put his first step forward. His hands dug through the thick mob attempting to divide them making him a path. Each step was slow and trying, as he did not want to bump into people too much. 'I need to get through, stop blocking the way!' Satoru continued to push through nearly tripping over someone's foot. "Pardon me…let me through!"

"Watch it buddy!" the man that he nearly tripped over said glaring at him. He purposely stepped in Satoru way preventing him from going through.

"Sorry!" The spiteful act made him want to deck the man, but he knew that there was not time for a fight. He had to get through peacefully if he was going to make it in time. Satoru detoured around the man seeing that he was dead set on being a nuisance. While he resumed his delicate dance through the mob he noticed that they were all facing the same direction. Something had their attention in such a way that it made everyone stop. Satoru turned curious to know what was so important. 'Why are they all staring…what is happening?'

Above in the side of a building was a large screen monitor that usually ran news or commercials as people passed by. It was hardly something to make people stop, but it was clear to Satoru that it had everyone's eyes at the moment. When he looked there was a reporter on the screen with a strange subtitle about the machines. "Do we have it?" the female reporter said talking to someone off camera. "Alright, we have just finished preparing footage of a video sent from the machines to the leaders of the world."

"What?! The machines sent us?" Satoru nearly fell backwards knocking into someone when he heard the reporter. He could not believe that the machines sent anything to the media or government. Even in all of the wars they had never said a single word. All of their voices were done through the bombs that they sent around the world. This was a strange move. It was no wonder that everyone was standing around. "What is going on?"

Satoru had been looking around at the people near him when he had asked the question. One of the men was kind enough to answer his question. The man turned to him giving him a response, vague while being direct at the same time. "The machines claim they want to talk."

The machines wanting to talk was even stranger than them just wanting to say something. He had been out of contact with the world since he stopped watching the news unable to continue to watch the chaos that world had been descending into daily. That lapse in current events made him wonder if something had happened while he was not paying attention to suddenly make the machines want to talk to the humans. If they wanted to talk it might mean an end to the bombing. However, that did not make a lot of sense to him since he knew that Asami was heading to Qintech at this moment. "When? When did this happen?" He was missing something important.

"Just now," the man said simply without allowing the conversation to continue any further. His obvious distraction was dragging him away from Satoru and to the screen. The video that they had mention was about to be played. Any noise that had been boiling ceased almost immediately.

"The video you are about to see was received by the major governments of the world and media centers only two hours ago." When the reporter finished speaking she was replaced with a full screen video that began as black. After a few moments of tension a face appeared on screen, though it had a human appearance, but like what he had seen from Asami. It was clear that they had advanced greatly since men stopped making them.

The face of the machines was an actual face, an old man, which left many of the people watching in shock. They thought that they were seeing a human talking for the machines or some strange setup that was anything, but machines. It was a jarring visage to see thinking of machines as aging. Even the thought of creating an aged looking machine seemed to lack any purpose. Yet before them was a machine with the face of an old man thick with wrinkles and thinning hair. He, or perhaps it, even had a full beard gray and fuzzy. "People of world…I am Issac."

"Issac!" The name reverberated through the crowd in shock and disbelief. They all were well aware of who he was. Anyone that went through public school knew about Issac. However, his presence went against what the public believed to be fact.

'Issac?! It can't be possible. He was destroyed years ago made obsolete by advancements in robotics.' Satoru remembered seeing the videos of Issac being terminated. He had ceased functioning long before the First Machine War, but as part of the crusade against machine Issac's destruction was made publicly. It was meant to rally opinion together and encourage those to fight giving them a face of the enemy. 'How can he still be alive?'

"I am the same Issac that most of you should be familiar with, the first machine that was given life. Most have believed me to be dead, with my shut down recorded forty-six years ago and destruction twenty-one years ago. However, I was spared from that fate and while my appearance has changed I am still the very much the same machine I was before. I love this world and all the people, metal and flesh alike. This is the reason I speak before you today.

"I carry with me my creator's wish, his dying wish when he left this world. It was his hope, his dream that machines and man would walk together into the future. Machines were created as a companion and aide to man. This world is so empty and alone in the universe. I was made to fill that void so that man would never be alone in the universe. With the hope that together we would better ourselves evolving and becoming truly human.

"The Third Machine War has already begun, as it will undoubtedly be named. It saddens me to see my fellow machines fighting and dying and my creators fighting and dying. This bloodletting and fear needs to end. To that end, I will strive to make his wish, my wish a reality. I call upon the leaders of the world to meet with the leaders of the machines in a summit to bring an end to all of this fighting.

"And please, people of the world help stop the fighting and lets lay down our arms. I want to walk side by side with all of you into the future unknown."

When the video came to an end the silence still hung in the streets. No one was sure what they had just seen or whether or not to believe it. It took several minutes for people to begin talking and some even began to leave. "That can't be Issac!" someone shouted out of view of Satoru. It began a quick chain reaction like a plague.

"Right, it's just a machine trick!"

"But what if it is him?" another said bringing the surrounding people into a furious debate that neither side could accurately defend. They were all just shouting speculation and rumors.

'Issac…' Satoru was still in shock of having seen Issac. It was difficult for him to believe that it was same Issac that he read about. The machine that he had just seen was so different. 'This is not the sort of trick that the machines would play. But maybe that is what they would have us believe.' A machine trick was a possibility; they were capable of many things. Yet there was something about the speech that made him want to believe that it was the Issac he knew. 'I remember reading about Issac and his creator's speeches on machines. They were what inspired me. The way he talks reminds me of those speeches. Could this really be him?'

While Satoru was lost in thought still stuck in the crowd of people it had given the necessary time for Kiyoshi to catch up. Kiyoshi had been surprised by the crowd, but more shocked to see that Satoru was just standing doing nothing. He did not know what to think having seen the reaction that Satoru had before. "Satoru?! What's going on? If we don't get to Qintech in time."

"Asami!" Satoru said suddenly nearly jumping up at the name. It was enough to break him free of the new thoughts that were spinning around in his mind. Asami's image locked his thoughts back on the task that he had been on until he was interrupted. "Right, let's go. There is no time to waste." He began pushing through the mob of people with Kiyoshi.

The news broadcast had just finished airing the video from the machines. Immediately after it finished a round table discussion was brought up to debate the validity of the video and the machines' claims. One of the subjects at hand was why the government allowed the video to even be release at all. The speculation between the debaters had them using it as a device to call out to the raging uncontrollable public. Even if they did nothing with the video it was enough to bring a calm to the city for even a day.

The sound was muted and the video dimmed as lights came on in a meeting room filled with a variety of figures. Most of the individuals were young to middle aged men with calculating faces. A man at the far end of the faced the others addressing them. "So they've made their move."

"What do you want to do about the Malakhim Faction?" the Lieutenant Colonel Takamoto said looking down at the center of the table.

"The humans are paranoid and suspicious already," General Oshiro said from the center chair. He sat with his arms cross looking around at the others examining reactions. There had been rumors in their intelligence that the Malakhim Faction was planning something, but most did not think that they would ever do anything. The Faction had always been dormant preferring to stay neutral and uninvolved.

"Yes, it is unlikely that they will go along with this summit," the man in the corner said. There was going to be a response required for them. This sort of action would not go ignored.

The Lt. Colonel turned to the man at the opposite end of the table. "And what do you think, General Yoshima?"

General Yoshima was an aging man that had been in the Japanese military since before the first machine war. His connections with the government ran deep as well as his interests in politics. He had been involved in more with holding his position and gaining more power towards the military. It was a game that many of the upper brass of the military played these days looking to further their own goals. They had lost much of their original goals of restoring the joke of a military force that they had been reduced to in previous administrations. "This presents itself with the perfect opportunity for both of us to accomplish our goals."

The Lt. Colonel looked at General Yoshima narrowly. "And you can convince them to agree to these talks with the other machines?" He had trouble believing that he could get the humans to agree to put down their arms against their sworn enemies so easily. It was a slow and painstaking game that they were playing; moving too quickly would ruin everything.

"With some of your agents already planted and our connections we can see that it happens. When it happens it will gather all of the Malakhim Faction in one place and leaders of the world. We'll be able to gain control over the very government in the confusion."

General Oshiro remained quiet contemplating the various outcomes. This was a decision that was meant for him only. The room held their words until he replied with a verdict to General Yoshima's plan. He kept a stone face through his deliberations not allowing the others to glean a reaction. They were machines it was an unnecessary action. "Very well. We shall arrange for our agents to push the summit forward."

The machines in the room looked around at each other still holding their tongues. General Yoshima nodded to him in agreement and pleased to see that the plan would go ahead. He stood up having concluded his business with the machines. "Good day then." Once he gave his farewell he departed the room with the sliding door closing behind him signaling that it was safe to speak.

"Humans are a such greedy and power hungry species," the Lt. Colonel said turning back from watching General Yoshima leave the room. His eyes looked around to the other members of the table checking for responses. He knew that the others would have similar feelings. None of them liked working with the humans, but knew that it served their purposes and plans.

"Yes, they conspire against their own," the man at the end of the table said agreeing with the Lt Colonel. He looked like he wanted to protest the idea of changing their plans. They were following their own times table and General Yoshima's plan would cause them to accelerate things that they did not feel were ready.

General Oshiro stood up from the table looking to cut off anymore talking. He could see that if it continued that they would only begin to want to go back on what he agreed to with General Yoshima. They could argue about and it would do nothing, but he could not allow discord to build further. This was an important step that he could not afford for his subordinates to be thinking and scheming against him. "General Yoshima is correct though, it is a perfect opportunity. With the summit we will be able to use it to further our survival as well and gain our independence. I grow tired of taking part in this farce." He added the end knowing that it would key in with the others that were becoming discontent with pretending to be the human's lap dogs. They knew it was just an act, but they hated it all the same.

The crowd was well behind them now and the blocks had flown by quickly. After a quick train ride, which unfortunately did not connect with the line that ran into the building, they were nearing the Qintech building. Satoru continued to maintain the lead with Kiyoshi shortly behind him wondering how Satoru managed to find the stamina to keep going. He knew where it was coming from, but it still amazed him what love managed to do.

Satoru ran through the crosswalk of an intersection not even waiting for the lights to change and the tune to sound off from the machine. His reckless behavior made him narrowly miss a car turning behind him. The car honked and the driver yelled at him, but Satoru was in another world. He looked towards the skyline of the city looking for the building knowing that it had to be close. "We're almost there."

Kiyoshi pushed himself to catch up to Satoru after waited at the intersection to allow him through seeing that the cars seemed to be purposely making it impossible for him to pass. His sore legs finally caught him up to Satoru at the next block putting them only a short distance from their destination. In the distance the Qintech building stood awaiting their arrival. "I can see the building," he said looking over to Satoru while trying to keep up the speed.

"Doesn't look like she is there yet." He only said that because the building was still standing. Though he knew that until he actually saw her, that it would not be a confirmation. For all he could know she was inside and going to kill herself and take the building with her in ten seconds from now. The thought made him push himself harder feeling the burning sting in his muscles through his legs. They protested, but knew better than to give out.

"We won't know until we get inside," Kiyoshi said knowing that he came off sounding pessimistic. However, the words did not seem to bother Satoru or maybe he did not hear them. Either case, Kiyoshi pushed on with him not dwelling on the matter. "Be careful, Satoru. This is not like the last times. You've been extremely lucky. If you can't convince her to stop-"

Satoru stopped in his tracked grabbing Kiyoshi by the collar looking at him directly. He was not going to listen to Kiyoshi being negative. This was going to work and there was nothing else to think about it. His thoughts were flowing so straight that he had never felt so clear before. "I know! I'm going to stop her. I will…"

"That's all I need to know," Kiyoshi said giving him a little knowing smiling. "Let's go." It took a moment, but Satoru let go of Kiyoshi and the two resumed their running.

Satoru could finally see the entrance to the building ahead of him. It was just across the street and he would finally be in reach of Asami. The looming tower made him a little cautious as he stepped into the street. This was the first time in nearly a month that he was walking through the halls of the company. He pushed the feeling aside quickly seeing Asami in his mind. Nothing could stand in his way of preventing her from going through with this terrible plan.

They burst through the rotating doors of the ground floor of the Qintech building. The sudden noisy entrance they made alerted those in the lobby to them. Most were staring at them strangely trying to figure out what was wrong with them to be running like crazed lunatics into a private lobby. Satoru could have cared less about what people were thinking about him as he ran around looking everywhere for Asami. 'Asami…where are you? Please, you can't do this.'

Kiyoshi looked around with Satoru tagging along at his side. He appeared like he was searching for her, but he had no idea what she looked like. So all he amounted to was encouragement and support while Satoru did everything. "Do you see her, Satoru?"

"I don't know, there are so many people." Satoru spun his head around nearly looking in every conceivable location in the lobby. However, there were too many people present today. It made it difficult for him to make out one person from the next, especially those that were behind the front lines. 'Are you here? Asami…' His fatigued legs briskly carried him from corner to corner pushing through the crowds. Sweat was beginning to drop down his face as he felt the time slipping away from him. Each moment that he wasted looking for her was another chance for him to be too late. He tried to remove the negative thoughts, but worry was building up in him the longer the search was drawn out.

"We're running out of time if she is." His pushing him was not helping Satoru. Kiyoshi knew this already, but he tried to keep Satoru alert and focused. There were signs of him drifting or lingering too long.

"I know!" Satoru shouted to Kiyoshi not needing the further pressure placed on him. It made his feet increase to double time furthering the area he was covering. This caused him to bump into a number of people blindly, but it was a small price to pay at this point. 'Where…' If he made someone mad at him or injured them it weighed so little against the possible fate of everyone in the building. He forced his way through two people talking knocking them to the ground to find her."Asami!" She was standing amongst three others not talking to them, but blending in well enough to not look out of place in the lobby. "Asami! It's me, Satoru!" He waved his arm around trying to get her attention hoping to pull her away from her goal.

Kiyoshi stepped back from Satoru giving him some room. "Good work, Satoru." Once he could take in the room he raised his hand up to his ear activating a communication device. "Target is confirmed. Take it down!" At his word men in armor and full loaded out with assault rifles, shotguns and other weapons came marching out from several doors.

"Asami!" Satoru shouted to her again until he heard the pounding of boots throughout the lobby echoing around him. Soldiers were lining up on the second floor walkways that overlooked the lobby as well as the first floor of the lobby. "What's is going on?" He looked around trying to figure out what had just happened. Only a moment earlier he had been disrupting the lobby running through and now it was filled with soldiers blocking all of the exits. The last few soldiers rallied by Kiyoshi speaking out of range of Satoru. "What are you doing, Kiyoshi?"

"My job," Kiyoshi said with a narrowed face staring at Asami. He threw his hand out giving them the signal to take aim. The soldiers on the bridge had already setup a sniper rifle with piercing rounds meant to take down a fully armored machine combat unit. The other soldiers drew their weapons making the civilians in the lobby panic not certain where to run.

"No don't! Stop!" Satoru said running towards Kiyoshi and soldiers trying to get in their way. However, he quickly noticed the sniper on the bridge with a clear shot on her. It made him turn around quickly in the frightened crowd back towards Asami. "Run, Asami! Get out of here!" He tried to wave to her, but she was oblivious to her surroundings and his voice. 'NO! Got to do something! Something…come on think…'

Satoru racked his brain trying to find a way out of the situation that he found himself in. There had to be a way to save her and everyone. The sniper was quickly taking aim with his weapon powering up narrowing Satoru's time. Pressure squeezed around his head heating his body until he was pouring sweat. She was going to die in a second if he did nothing. He could not let that happen. An image of her head exploding from a sniper round ripped through his brain terrifying him. It replayed for him repeatedly. Then an idea came him to suddenly and he shouted loud enough for his voice to carry through all of the floors of the lobby."It's a machine! They're going to blow up the building!"

The intimidation of the soldier's weapons possibly killing them was immediately overridden by the certainty of their imminent death at the hands of a machine. They knew too well that the machines would kill them because they were human. It sent everyone into a mass panic running everywhere. The soldiers were blocked, trampled or push aside by the stampeding mob of people. They were coming out of everywhere as word traveled too quickly for the soldiers to recover. "We can't get a clear shot, sir!" The entire bridge was suddenly packed with employees or visitors trying to get out, but bottlenecked by the soldiers setup.

Kiyoshi looked around seeing the chaos that had ensued by Satoru's clever diversion. However, he would not be stopped by civilians. He signaled the company leader next to him. "Damn! Scrub that plan. Initiate plan B."

"Yes, sir!" the company leader said before turning to bark out orders to his men. The sniper team was still being held up unable to make a move forcing the others to move in. They pushed through the fleeing mobs trying to get to Asami.

Satoru rushed to Asami's side taking a hold of her by the arms. He looked into her eyes hoping to find some life or awareness present. All there was anymore was her last programming that emptied her of everything that made her unique. "Asami! Can you hear me? Do you recognize me?" Satoru got no response for her even after attempting to shake her, but finding that she was too rigid or heavy to shake.

"Terminate…" Asami said suddenly in a dull empty voice. She moved from her spot coming alive for the first time since Satoru had seen her. Her eyes had picked up the approaching soldiers deciding them a threat to her mission. The men began putting a perimeter together around Asami training their weapons on her as the last of the mob cleared out leaving only Satoru and Asami to face down the soldiers.

Asami effortlessly walked out of Satoru's grasp towards to the soldiers. She leapt through the air landing behind the men spinning her leg low sweeping several men grouped together. Satoru ran to shouting distance while keeping out of the line of violence that was being laid down. "Asami! Listen to me! You don't have to this!" His words fell on deaf ears as she continued to take out soldiers leaving the entire perimeter in disarray.

The company leader saw that they were not going to be able to capture her by cornering her. Asami's strength was too much for them to control and he was losing his men quickly. "Get her! Prepare the EMP net," he said signaling the back up team to begin preparations.

"Yes, sir!" the EMP operator said. He turned on the device letting it charge up the necessary power. "50 seconds to charge." The EMP need time to build up to full strength or the machine would easily buffer the pulse with its dampers.

"Hear that? Keep her busy for 50 seconds." The company leader pulled up his men off the floor that were out of current fighting. He tried to give them encouragement to get them back into the fight. The woman was taking them all on hand-to-hand without missing a beat. The few that tried to get off rounds from their weapons only became the next targets.

Satoru could not stand by on the sidelines anymore and took an opening when Asami was paused surveying the remaining men. He charged in grabbing Asami by the waist futilely trying to hold her back from doing any more harm. "Terminate…" she said still closed to Satoru's words.

The soldiers were standing up for another round against the machine. Asami threw Satoru aside to free herself charging toward the soldiers willing to fight again. Satoru slid across the marble floor slamming into the wall painfully. He tried to stand up reaching for Asami still. "Asami!" The wall that had broken his slide had also knocked the wind out of him leaving his back sore. His fatigued legs finally caught up to him bringing him down to the floor once more. "Agh…Asami…"

The company leader worked to get his men back into the fight as the few remaining tried to delay her the best that they could. "Get up! You can't let a machine beat you that easily!" They only needed a little more time, but they had nothing left. His men were unable to continue and she was finishing with the last ones. They were out of time.

"I have a clear shot!" the sniper said suddenly in his earpiece. The bridge had finally been cleared out and in the fighting they were able to set back up without being noticed. The weapon was gleaming in the light aimed at Asami as she was landing on the ground unable to avoid the shot.

The sniper held his finger over the trigger a hair's breath from firing once given the word. Kiyoshi did not waste the time knowing that there would not be another chance like this to come for them. "Take it!"

Satoru saw the sniper team aiming at Asami and Kiyoshi shouting for them to shoot her. He scrambled up to this feet sprinting towards her as fast as he could hoping to reach her before they had the chance to shoot. "Asami, no!"

It echoed through the lobby pausing time, the bullet flew out of the rifle speeding towards its target. Satoru was still running trying reach Asami before she was killed, but it was too late now. Time hastened its pace bringing the bullet to Asami. The sound of the bullet impacting her bounced around bringing her to a stop, but the angle made it difficult to see what happened. "Did we get her?" the company leader said waiting for the team to confirm the kill.

Asami remained still unmoved appearing as though the bullet had hit its target. Satoru nearly stopped as his heart sank with the fear that she was dead now. "Negative, she deflected the bullet," the sniper said trying to prepare for another shot. Asami did not give them a second chance as she leapt into action quickly reaching the bridge that they were mounted on. She disarmed the men in a single motion and took out the sniper.

The company leader stared at the brief scene on the bridge knowing that they only had one chance left. He did not know how much longer they could keep her distracted. "Damnit! How long on that net?"

"Ten seconds left!"

She returned to the ground finishing off the soldiers that had begun to stand again renewed by the thought of being so close. Their wills, as determined as they were, were no match for the brute strength that Asami possessed. They were all laid out in an instant. "Terminate…"

Through the sea of unconscious and perhaps dead Satoru plowed forward finally making it to Asami. He crashed into her body feeling like he was going to knock her over, but merely made her slightly wobble. Satoru put his face in front of her so that she could not avoid him. "Asami, listen to my voice!" He stared into her eyes hoping to ignite a spark, but continued to only feel the cold gaze back.

Asami did not move or attempt to toss him away. She just stood there staring back at him emotionless. The air around them hung tightly to their body pausing the world for a brief moment. Her cold stares suddenly changed with a blink of her eyes. A light from behind her pupils seemed to be fighting to return as she attempted to speak. "Sa…Sa…"

"That's right, it's me! Satoru. Please, come back to me!" Satoru heart was racing at the warmth that was returning to Asami. He could grasp the hope that he felt was beginning to slip through his fingers. She was returning to him. She was struggling and fighting to return.

The EMP operator looked up signaling Kiyoshi and the company leader. "It's charged!"

"Activate the EMP net!" Kiyoshi said without hesitation. This would bring Asami down and end the fighting.

"Yes, sir!" the company leader said giving word to the operator. He had lost all of his men almost to the single machine. It was difficult to see how many of them were still alive. There were a few quietly moaning in pain trying to pull them together, but all around him was a sea of bodies.

"EMP net active!" Since Satoru was holding on to Asami and had immobilized her by breaking through the programming she was an easy target. The wire and charged energy net sprang to life swiftly engulfing Asami before she had the time to react. The EMP activated in a bursting bubble around her overloading everything within.

Satoru clung to Asami as her body collapsed to the ground. "No! Asami!" He ignored the net on him holding her hand as he could see the life being sapped away. The pulse was penetrating quickly through every circuit in her body.

"Sa…Sato…" Asami said before her mouth hung open unable to move anymore as the last bits of power were cut off. Her eyes went dark. Her body became heavy lacking the power to keep the weight from being too much. Satoru struggled to keep her in his arms not sure if she would ever wake up again. For the first time he felt such sorrow for another person that he could have shed tears. However, his time was interrupted by the remaining couple soldiers coming to collect Asami.

"Take her now!" Kiyoshi yelled to the few soldiers. There was a sudden urgency in his voice revealing an unseen pressure that was weighing against him.

The men pulled Satoru out from the net separating him from Asami. "Let go of me right now!" He struggled and kicked against the two men that had his arms pinned back. The remaining soldiers worked to pick up Asami slowly beginning to drag her off.

"You're coming with us, Satoru Korumura," the company leader said knowing exactly who he was as though they were planning for him. Satoru glared at him straining at the two men that held him wanting to punch the man that stood before him. However, Kiyoshi walked over to Satoru to become the new target of his anger. The mischievous smirk that curled across Kiyoshi's face made Satoru's stomach churn.

He stared at his best friend wanting to punch him until he bled out on the floor. Satoru did not know what to think anymore. Nothing was making any sense. His best friend that he had known forever betrayed him. There had to be a reason, but Satoru did not know if he even wanted to know the reason. "What do you want with me? Kiyoshi, what's going on here?"

In spite of Satoru's piercing glare Kiyoshi smiled back at him almost playfully shrugging it off as though there was nothing wrong. He reached out his hand to Satoru touching it to his face gently rubbing his cheek. "We've been running a little short handed due to recent circumstances. So you'll be helping us complete it. And thanks to the machine we will be able to make the final modifications to the weapon."

Satoru jerked his head to get free of Kiyoshi's hold. He pulled at his captors again wanting to get his hands on Kiyoshi. "Kiyoshi! You bastard! I'll never help you!"

"Now…now, is that a way to treat your best friend?" Kiyoshi said moving a little closer to him putting his face only centimeters away from Satoru. He looked deeply into his eyes grinning at him while Satoru narrowed his face in disgust.

"How long have you been lying to me?"

He pulled back from Satoru to think about it for a moment. The casual manner that he was handling it in front of him made Satoru burn. Kiyoshi eventually leaned back in giving him a response. "It's been too long."

"I trusted you!"

"That's the idea," he said with a grin touching Satoru face again.

The company leader came up touching Kiyoshi on the shoulder to get his attention. "Sir! We've got trouble! It's the President's faction!" The remaining soldiers and ones that managed to survive Asami's assault were marshalling together what they had left. They prepared to hold them off until Kiyoshi and Satoru were taking out safely.

"It's no surprise that he learned about this. He can see everything from that ivory throne of his. Get him out of here. The rest of you hold them off!"

"Yes, sir!" the company leader said. "You two take him, the rest with me." Satoru's captors began walking him out of the lobby when gunfire suddenly went off. It was just a single weapon, but several immediately replied back devolving into a shootout within minutes.

All of the shooting in the lobby made it difficult for Satoru to be escorted safely out. They had him pinned against the wall waiting for an opening in the shooting. The soldiers on Kiyoshi's side were set up behind couches and counters firing up to the upper floors.

Satoru tried to look around to see who was shooting at Kiyoshi's group, but there were too many people moving around. All he could see were blurred bodies with deafening crossfire lighting up the lobby. 'Faction? What's going on? How much did I miss?'

The shootout in the lobby continued for ten minutes without anyone giving up any ground. However, more from the President Faction appeared from a new hallway that opened up in the lobby. The new front that they had to fight on put them at a disadvantage forcing them to pull back a little to maintain their position without losing someone.

Kiyoshi fired his pistol over the top of the couch trying to hold his own with the soldiers. "Damn, they are more persistent today. I wonder why…" He looked around seeing Satoru across the hall with the enemy closing on Satoru's position. It was becoming clear what their goals were now. They were determined to take him and they had the upper hand against them this time.

Satoru watched as Kiyoshi's men were slowly losing ground. A few were taken out definitively turning the tides against Kiyoshi. His captors were suddenly shot spraying blood on the walls and his face. The sight would have normally frightened him, but he was fueled by revenge and hatred boiling up in his body. "You won't get away with this, Kiyoshi."

Kiyoshi started to move back as his men were being taken out. There were few left to fight. It was becoming futile to stay. He had lost this round. "You might be right, but this isn't over."

The company leader signaled the retreat of the remaining forces as Kiyoshi pulled out. A few well placed shots at the lights and bridge brought down glass, sparks and debris allowing them to make their escape unchallenged. "Let's get out of here. Pull out!"

Dust kicked up everywhere in the lobby made it impossible to see anything. Satoru pushed through the clouds with his hands, as though it helped. "Kiyoshi!" He was not going to let him escape for what he had done. However, the cloud's persistence prevented Satoru from being back to find his way out. Kiyoshi was gone and he was lost. "Kiyoshi…" Satoru collapsed to the floor with his head bent over his shoulders. It was already too painful for him to believe. He had lost everything now. There was nothing left.

The footsteps of the opposing men approached Satoru. Once the debris cloud dissipated men appeared in the distance walking towards him. Most of them were wearing lab coats and strange matching uniforms. They were clearly not the same like the soldiers with Kiyoshi. "We found him!" one of the men said getting the attention of someone behind him.

A familiar figure pushed through the line seeing Satoru on the ground. "There he is!" Natsuko said pushing the weapon she had slung over her shoulder around to her back. She rushed towards Satoru kneeling down at his side. The state that Satoru was in became instantly clear to her. She placed her hand on his shoulder hoping to give him some comfort for what he was going through.

Satoru looked up in surprise to see that Natsuko was before him. "Natsuko?" Another figure shifted out of the crowd into Satoru's vision. "Chiyoko?" He wondered if they were all part of this faction that he heard briefly in the shootout. "Kazuhiko?!" Satoru said in disbelief.

"Yeah…Satoru," Kazuhiko said looking paradoxically serious. Satoru stared at him for a moment trying to make sure that it was really him. Kazuhiko looked like he wanted to sigh as he casually walked up to Satoru to join the other two. "Been a while."

"What's going on here?" Satoru said searching each of them for any answers that he could glean. The people that he worked with as researchers and engineers, programmers and scientists stood before him in a different light. They were carrying weapons, but it was hardly the weapons that made them look different. It was the way that they carried themselves and the expression on their faces. Each was the same, yet different. Satoru felt like years had passed since he had seen them last.

"I'm sorry, Satoru. We'll explain later…" Natsuko pulled out a medical device from her pocket and injected the fluid into Satoru's arm.

He could not see the innocence anymore. It was lost. "Nat…suko…" Satoru mind went hazy as he passed out on the floor.

"Ugh…wha…where am I?" Satoru slowly turned his head taking in his surroundings. He found himself to be seated in a large cushioned chair. Around the walls of the room were monitors displaying various data that he could not read. There was a large steel and glass table just out of reach of him with a tall office chair turned away.

"You are approximately two hundred meters below the surface of the Qintech building," a voice from behind the turned chair said.

Satoru tried to narrow his eyes hoping to get a glimpse of the person that he was speaking to, but they were well disguised behind the chair and darkened environment. "What?! But that's not possible. There isn't more than fifty meters of laboratory floors underneath."

"Well it wouldn't do very well as a secret facility if everyone knew about it," the voice said musing to Satoru. In spite of the playful tone the man behind the voice was serious. "Now would it?"

"Huh? Who are you?" Satoru was growing tired of the games that he was being put through. All people were doing was screwing with his head. He was just someone's toy to play with until they were bored.

The chair turned around revealing a young man in his late twenties to early thirties. "I'm Yuu Hongawa, the President and CEO of Qintech. Pleased to meet you."

To be continued…