Andromeda

"The Laws of Robots is the governing set of rules that bound all machines to remain obedient to man. It was decided that if machines had free will they would be as reckless with life as man. There was also the fear with so many movies and novels created on rebellious machines that there was a possibility of that happening. Thus it was decided with the first machine that was created with free will and intelligence that it would be hard coded with the Laws of Robots.

"The Laws themselves were roughly framed around a well known author of the 20th century, Isaac Asimov that wrote of machines that were just like man. In his honor the first machine was named Isaac. The Laws bound Isaac and he dutifully obeyed his creator while having independence. He was hailed as a great success in the field of robotics.

"The first law states that a machine cannot do harm to man. This was absolute and unbreakable, thus it was the first law. It protected man from murder by the machines and insured that even another man could not order the machine to do harm to man. There was no turning it off or way around it, no back door.

"The second law states that a machine must follow an order from a man unless conflicting with the first law. The machines had their independences, but they had a creator and were bound to follow the orders of man. This law made them obedient to man, but it was much more loose. The machine was allowed not to follow the orders if it wished it if given that feature in their programming. However, it was made standardized that they were forced to obey. The owner of the machine could disable it if they so wished, but that was not often.

"The third law states that a machine cannot kill another machine or allow itself come to harm unless it conflicts with first law. This was meant to protect machines from fighting each other as well prevent machines from being hurt. It was the hope that machines could live peacefully unlike the violent men that ruled the world. And with these laws machines were governed and allowed their freedom.

"Machines were made in the dream of scientists and given life, but once created and allowed freedom it can never be taken back…"

Flesh is for Gods – Episode 5 – Directions of Change

"Asami!" Satoru said yelling through the street not even caring that people were staring at him. The world had melted away for him and all there was left in the mixed up upside down twisted turned around screwed up world was Asami. His world was empty. He stopped suddenly have difficulty moving with heavy painful realization hitting him. 'She's really gone…I don't believe it. What am I going to do now?' Satoru began to move again not certain how to answer his question. It was one that he was not ready to reply. He was not about to give it the time of day. 'I don't want to go on with out her…' His walking turned to running once again. This was not the end yet. "Asami!"

Satoru pushed through sidewalks and streets hoping that each corner would show a glimpse of her for him to hold on to. "She's nowhere, what am I going to do?" He stopped at a street corner seeing the people passing by in front and around him. It was thick, too thick for him to move around or see. There was no sight of her his heart began to sink. "I can't stop looking. Maybe I'll find her like before." Satoru pushed through the crowd forcefully trying to break through. It felt like everyone was against him not wanting to allow him to reach her. They were keeping them apart as though they knew something he did not. 'I can't give up now. Not now at this point. I'm not letting it end like this.'

Asami kept running further away with no direction and only fear and uncertainty guiding her. "Satoru…" She was not even paying attention to the streets nearly being run over before being stunned by headlights. 'I-I…I ran…' The car honked its horn at her only frightening her into a frozen state. Her thoughts were pounding her taking her away from reality making it difficult for her to keep herself whole. The yelling from the driver could not reach her ears, but she somehow made it across the street finally.

'I don't know what to do…I'm so confused.' Asami stumbled down the sidewalk not even knowing she was no longer walking. Her body was barely pushing through. She never felt like this before it conflicted with her. 'I don't know what I'm feeling anymore. I can't, but I want to…' The hesitation started her running away trying to flee from her feelings as though it was something tangible. She did not know what to do any more. Nothing was clear, there was nothing simple anymore. Her body wanted to run back to Satoru, but her mind pulled her away. 'I can't…yet my heart hurts. The pain is so deep, I can't run anymore…oh Satoru…'

She slowly dragged her feet down the sidewalk passing through people as they walked home. It was too thick for her to make a way through in her state. All she could do was bump from one shoulder to the next softly apologizing as she went. The wall against her became solid suddenly when she heard her name being shouted faintly in the distance. She pulled herself into an alley between storefronts. "Please, Satoru don't…" The crowds pushed through almost covering over the wound that she bled through. "I'm sorry we can't…" Asami quietly turned her back disappearing into the darkened path.

"Asami!" Satoru shouted not even thinking of everyone around him. They did not matter any longer in his singular purpose. However, each passing moment the waves of people were growing denser making it difficult for him to be moving against the flow. 'She must have gone this way…she's here somewhere…' He pushed and broke through people trying to divide the herd, but there were too many to fill the empty spot. '…oh Asami please…I need you.'

Satoru had paused for a moment, but it was a mistake to stop one that he did not realize until he was being pushed and dragged away from his goal. But it had already begun and he was unable break through against the constant pressing. He was dropped at the corner of the street with people crossing. It left him sitting on the cement covering himself up not to be trampled by the blind mob. "Sir?" a voice said from above breaking through the crowd pulling Satoru's eyes up. "Is everything alright?"

Satoru allowed himself to be lifted up by the man that became revealed from the crowd. Once he was on his feet again he felt the need to start running, but the man was standing next to him. He could not simple leave even though that was all that was on his mind. It left him with only one other option to answer the question with hopes of a clue. "I'm looking for a woman, did you see a woman running by here? She had a white blouse and black skirt and would have looked upset." Satoru wanted to go into a more detailed description of her, but realized that aside from what she was wearing (which was very business like) she would have blended into the crowd very easy. She had black hair like the majority of the women and average height. It was going to be difficult to describe her to someone. He just hoped that her running upset would be enough to stand out.

The man thought for a moment like he was trying to go over his recent memories, but it was clear that he was coming up empty. "I…don't know. I don't think so, but I wasn't paying much attention. Sorry."

'Useless…' Satoru marched off around the man nearly going into the street to avoid the crowd again. He pushed on through moving between parked cars and the mobs on the sidewalk. 'Asami…where are you?' The sidewalk eventually started to thin out some and the city became darker with night setting slowly on the city.

'What am I going to do?' Asami thought to herself having made it home after more than an hour of wandering. It took her time to simply gather herself together enough to make the decision to go home. Until then she had been walking without direction too lost in thought to care about her surroundings. 'I can't go on like this…' She leaned against the door of her apartment holding her hand up to her head. The tears on her cheeks were still wet making her arms moist.

'I had to stop it, right?' She slid her back against the door heavily wanting to beat herself up, but she was already mentally sore. 'It was for the best. But I…' Her legs grew weak bringing her down to the floor. The tears that were trying to dry up renewed again. '…no I can't…but still…' She shook her head trying to stop what she was thinking. This was how it had to be, but she did not know if she could live with the pain that she was feeling now. '…what should I do? Satoru…'

The moon was high above the city now and Satoru was still walking through the streets. There was almost no direction in him anymore just mindlessly wandering automatically unwilling to give up. Only his thoughts consumed him now were trying to understand what had happened. It still left him at a lose for why she ran away, but he could not give up without knowing. "Asami…"

"Satoru…" Asami was still pressed her door not even keys in hand. Her head was buried in her hands with her tears making her clothes wet slowly. She could not lift herself from the floor no matter how much she tried. The will to move had disappeared leaving only empty regret that filled her completely. It was a deep black hole of despair that she had never known before and it was swallowing her without mercy. She did not know what to do anymore.

"Asami…" The moon had pulled over the sky and the streets were nearly abandoned. A few stray people walked by, but it was mostly homeless or less savory people now. However, that did not concern Satoru, in fact, he could not even see them. He was walking a void of gray and black that stretched on forever as far as he could see. The endless abyss was wearing on him making him exhausted each second he stared at it. It was staring back at him draining him of his strength sapping it away to fuel itself feeding continually on him. Satoru could not move anymore with his legs collapsing and dropping him to the ground.

There was a sudden dull pain in his head, but all around him was darkness. He was still trapped, but the pinging in his head was causing him to stir. Satoru was laying on the ground suddenly becoming aware of that fact when a distant voice knocked on him. It was muffled in his groggy head making it unintelligible. The voice repeated again louder this time starting to crack the fog that was wrapped tightly around him. "Sir! Sir!" the voice said clearly now jerking Satoru up.

"Huh?" Satoru looked up with the reality around him brought back to him immediately. It was day again, by the looks late morning almost. He was lying on the sidewalk where he had collapsed the night before. When he pulled himself back up enough to be sitting properly on the sidewalk he could see who it was before him. It was a soldier from the military and he had his gun slung over his shoulder staring down at Satoru. Satoru did not know what to make of seeing a soldier in the city.

"You are ordered to move now! All civilians must evacuate this street immediately," the young soldier said explaining himself to Satoru, but holding the glare of annoyance. The soldier was still keeping a distance between Satoru though his presence was enough to wake Satoru completely.

"What are you talking?" Satoru said still sitting on the ground confused. He wanted a better answer than being ordered around. This was still the city and he was a citizen, there should be a reasonable explanation for this act. It was bordering on martial law the feeling that he was receiving. 'The military? What are they doing out here?'

It was enough to be talked back to that the soldier lost any patience he had for Satoru. He quickly grabbed his weapon in both hands and aimed the muzzled end of the rifle in his face. "Move now before you are forcibly moved."

"Alright, alright." Satoru was not about to stare down a rifle or a soldier with one that was ready to use it on him. There was some doubt that the soldier would have fired on him, but at gunpoint reasons were no longer necessary. He did not waste anymore time getting up or pretending to be tired. It was not the time to be provoking the military, especially when he needed answers. 'What's going on? This doesn't make any sense.' Satoru walked away from the area watching the soldier move on to someone else now. As he looked forward again he could see more soldiers walking. They were marching through the street. 'The military should not be deployed in the city.'

As he walked through the empty street it looked more like a battlefield almost. However, as he continued to walk his thoughts became consumed again by what had happened with Asami. He was going over the evening trying to figure out how he had ended up where he was lost in some strange part of the city. Her images haunted his mind again bringing his walk to a run as he needed to continue his search for her even though he knew it was a pointless effort now. 'Asami…I have to find her!'

Satoru reached one of the major street corners and rejoined the crowd of the city. Even in the morning there were still people out. However, he was suddenly distracted by a broadcast on the large screen monitor set up in the building nearby. There was a newscast already in progress talking about what was happening. "…military has been called in to handle this escalating emergency that the police have been unable to handle. The public has taken matters into their hands and begun assaulting and destroying property in the city. So far the only targets have been computers and machines, but it is urged that if you are in the area to stay inside…"

'What has happened to the world? Have they all lost their minds? Its begun, just like before hasn't it?' It was a familiar image that he was recalling from the past. The streets were becoming a war zone with the public nearly going into anarchy. The private citizens were taking things in their own hands. That was how it had been before and it was happening again.

He began to push through the crowd of people when his phone rang. Satoru pulled out the communication device from his pocket, though it was more of a multi-purpose hand-computing device that serviced a number of purposes. It just happened to be his phone as well, a common tool. "Hello? Natsuko, why are you calling me?" He had barely looked at the screen to see whom it was that was calling him. It had been his hope that it was Asami, but he disguised his disappointment with honest confusion. She almost never called him.

"Satoru, are you alright?" Natsuko sounded worried, but it seemed almost typical lately for her to be concerned over something. However, if she was calling him there must be something wrong that she needed to talk to him specifically about.

"Huh? Yeah…what's wrong?"

"We haven't seen you at work today its already ten. The news started showing what was going on and we feared that you were caught in it."

It seemed a little strange that she was calling him just remind him to come to work. He was late, but it was nothing to be getting worried about. Satoru was not convinced that she was finished with her call. There was something more that he was detecting in her voice. She was worried about him being missing, but there was another reason. "No, I'm fine. I'll be into work today."

"Hurry, something is going on."

"What do you mean?" His thought was now confirmed by her. There was something happening at the company. If the military was moving out it could mean that they were trying to force Sakura into service early. Or the public had gone crazy and was attacking employees. Satoru did not like what the city was turning into anymore. The war was no longer outside.

"I can't talk about it," she said holding back on what she wanted to really say. The hint of her breaking down could be heard over the phone.

Satoru wanted to know what was making her so upset and now she was refusing to tell him. He did not want to wait until getting to the office to know what was happening. If there was a minefield set up he did not want to be walking into without knowing that the ground was going to drop out from under him. "Natsuko, tell me! What's wrong?"

"Just hurry, you need to see this."

"Natsuko!" The lined went dead immediately afterward cutting him off. He was not going to have his answers. Something was happening and he was developing a sour feeling in his stomach just thinking about what could be happening. 'What's going on? The military and now her…something is wrong and I'm getting a bad feeling about it. Asami…I-I…I'll find you.'

Satoru turned away from where he had been looking with the intent to search for Asami. It was going to have to wait. She was probably back at her apartment or at work now. He was not going to find her. It would only be a miracle and he already had used his up. Satoru rushed to the train station worried what had Natsuko so upset. He did not know what he was going to be walking into when he arrived, but he would know soon enough.

The office looked unusually empty when Satoru arrived from the train. Even for being the morning and people doing their work they would still be passing through the halls. This was unsettling and only making his concern worse for what it was that was happening. Satoru worried that the call from Natsuko was going to have a larger impact than originally thought. It hastened his pace till he came to the receptionist. "Mr. Kuromura, have you heard?" she said to him without her usual welcome greeting.

It might be a moment for answers, but he wondered how reliable or detailed they would be from her. "Heard what? What's happening?" Even a piece of information would give him something to prepare against when he entered his office for the whole truth of what happened.

"Its just rumors, so I shouldn't say." She was delaying telling him, just like Natsuko was delaying. They did not want to tell him. It meant that either it was something that they knew he would not take well or something that was big enough that it made them scared.

He did not like the possibilities of either, but dancing around the truth was not going to make things better. "Just tell me."

"I over heard that your project was cancelled."

"What?" It was the words that no one liked to hear. Though Satoru was strangely pleased with it even though he was feeling angry as well. He did not know what to think or feel. "From who?" All he could do was get more answers from her.

"There're just rumors right?"

She did not know anything; it was just something that she heard. This was not going to get anywhere with her. He ran off down the hall desiring the truth with even more urgency than before. "I'll find out…" Satoru shouted back to her before he disappeared around the corner.

Satoru walked into the office with ideas swimming around in his brain. There was too much confusion and uncertainty for him to be thinking straight. He needed answers now to know what was happening suddenly in this mixed up world that he was living. "What's this I hear about the project being cancelled?" Satoru did not bother with a greeting, but it was enough to get everyone's attention immediately. They all turned towards him or got up.

Chiyoko was one that got up and rushed over to him. The concern on her face was apparent, but he was not sure what the concern was for at the moment. "Satoru! You're safe!"

Satoru did not want to deal with Chiyoko at the moment. They should have already known that he was safe from the call that Natsuko made. There were more pressing matters at hand that were still unanswered. "Yeah, I'm fine, but what is this about the project. Natsuko told me something was happening and I needed to be here immediately. Is it true?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Natsuko said stepping up around Chiyoko. She held the responsibility for giving him the answer since she was the one that had called him to begin with. "I'm sorry Satoru. Orders came down from the military, they are pulling the funding." Natsuko turned away when she finished the difficulty to keep looking at Satoru's face was too much.

"Doesn't make any sense, why would they do that with only a week left," Satoru said still confused by what was happening. It was an answer but it did not make any sense to him. There was more to it than what was being told to him. Even still it left him with mixed feelings. 'Why am I so upset by this. I wanted this to happen most of all. I should be happy. But…' Satoru pushed forward looking around at the others reading their faces. It was truth being spoken. "They might be dumb, but they aren't wasteful."

"There's a couple factors involved," Kiyoshi said from behind making Satoru turn around. He was standing in the doorway, though for how long no one was certain. Kiyoshi entered the room moving towards the center of the room allowing everyone to gather around him. The way he moved seemed like he had something for everyone and not solely for Satoru.

"Kiyoshi!" Satoru said nearly shouting with impatience. It was clear to him that Kiyoshi held the answers that he needed to explain things, but he was taking too long. Satoru stepped up to him making his presence known insisting on having a response. "Tell me what's going on here."

"Settle down, Satoru. I'll tell you once you're calm." Kiyoshi tried to motion Satoru down and place distance between them. He could understand the emotions that were going through Satoru, but it was not something to be told while angry. However, there was doubt that Satoru would be calm any time soon. Even still he needed to know.

"What's the military up to? They don't cancel projects this close to completion," Satoru said not backing down like Kiyoshi would have liked. The world was spinning out of control and it was chaos in the streets. Nothing was making sense anymore. "And now they are out in the streets. What are they planning?"

"You should sit down, Satoru." Kiyoshi continued to play the rational individual against Satoru's current emotional state. He knew what this was going to do him, but it did not make it any easier to deal with now. "I came here to tell you directly as your friend. Please, give me the chance to explain things."

"Kiyoshi…please tell me," Satoru said feeling like he was pleading for no apparent reason. Kiyoshi was not with holding telling him, but it was taking too long. He was in too much of a rush to understand before everything ran out of his hands.

"I will, now sit down. You'll need it. This isn't the news that you want to be standing for."

"You're worrying me, Kiyoshi." Satoru reluctantly sat down in his chair seeing that he was not going to be told until he did. It felt like he was being treated like a child. His gaze panned the office seeing the variety of expressions on everyone else. It was difficult to know what they knew already and the reason behind each of those emotions. "Do they know already?"

"No, just what they told you." Kiyoshi was relieved somewhat to see that Satoru was calming down. What he was about to tell him though made him uncertain of how he would react. He figured out what the initial reaction would be, but what Satoru would actually do he did not know. That uncertainty did not make this any easier. "I wanted to wait until you were here. Its important."

"Fine, everyone…" Satoru said calling out the rest of the team to gather around and listen.

"Yeah…" Chiyoko said gathering up by Satoru afraid of what was going to be told. She had been uneasy since hearing that the project had been canceled twenty minutes after she arrived. It was simply told to them through the company bulletin system. They had not even bothered sending someone directly. She did not know what to think when that happened other than that they were going to be fired because of the war.

"Satoru…" Natsuko approached as well with the rest of the group. They stood around Satoru as though protecting him and confronting Kiyoshi the barer of ill news.

"You already have a new project for us don't you?" Tadashi said not wasting the time to have Kiyoshi start telling them what was happening. His guess and question was a surprise to many as they were almost certain that they were being fired. However, it did not take long for their expression to change back to uncertainty.

"You are correct."

"A new project? What?" Satoru said wanting to stand up, but getting that look from Kiyoshi that he should not be moving. This explained why they were losing the project, but it still did not explain why the project canceled a week before completion. He could not imagine what was so important that their work had to be stopped immediately.

"Its not something you're going to like."

"What is it?" Natsuko said not sure if she really wanted to know. The way that Kiyoshi was speaking to them was only making her more scared than reassured like he should have been doing. He was being honest with them, but she would have preferred being comforted at the moment.

"Kiyoshi, you're scaring me."

"This comes from the military and it is replacing Project Sakura with S Level Priority."

"S Level…" Satoru said barely able to hold his breath at the words. This was becoming even more serious by the minute.

"…Priority." Natsuko said finishing Satoru's words for him just as equally stunned. Everyone did not know what to think or what could possibly be so important. In all of the time that they had worked with the company there was never anything given highest priority.

"But that means the entire company…" Chiyoko said coming the realization what it meant for them all. There were six levels of priority in the company in terms of importance and staffing. It also meant what level of clearance you were given. S Level was the highest rarely given as it meant that the entire company was ordered to stop all projects and focus on a single project that had the utmost importance. Even Project Sakura was only a B Level Priority since it was a military project, but high enough to demand people be reassigned to aid in the development.

"Yes, this project is canceling all projects currently in development with the company. The military has hired the entire company to finish and expedite the delivery of a project that until today was classified top secret with security access to only the owner and related personal outside of the military and government."

Natsuko leaned forward out of the crowd for a moment to stare directly at Kiyoshi. She was searching for answers just as everyone else was, but it was more confirming truth of his expression. "What could be so important?"

"The military wants an end to the war, immediately. Doesn't it, Kiyoshi?" Satoru said suddenly surprising everyone. They all knew how much he hated what was happening and to hear him speak so coldly. However, Satoru knew well enough how things worked in the world even if he wished that they were different. The military needed something and apparently had found what they were looking for to help win the war. It explained the urgency that was being placed on this sudden project.

"Yes, the military is weak right now. They haven't been in deployment for years and the administration has been directing funds elsewhere. There are only enough people to keep order in the country, which is spiraling out of control as you can see. This has been in development for years, but the small staff has made little progress."

"What is this black secret?" Satoru said watching Kiyoshi as he was explaining. It was becoming apparent that Kiyoshi knew a great deal about what was happening. It made Satoru wonder how much that Kiyoshi knew and for how long. 'How many secrets lie with him?'

"It was started at the time of Isaac."

"Isaac?" Chiyoko said with questioning surprise along with everyone else. The name was famous to everyone in the field as well as much of the public.

"The first machine?!" Kazuhiko said more in confirmation and surprise. He could not believe that the project that was being started went back so far as the beginning of the creation of robots.

Satoru stood up staring at Kiyoshi with a look as though he knew something. Everyone else became uncertain and worried what Satoru was going to do. He had been calmly listening for the most part to Kiyoshi until now, but there was something different about him now. "Are you talking about Adam?" Satoru narrowed his eyes with the anger that had been present before vanishing. He was serious and collected now almost without an expression.

"Adam? What's that?" Natsuko said breaking the line to approach Satoru who seem to be suddenly knowledgeable of what was happening. She could see in his face that he had pieced together what little Kiyoshi had said so far. It was a frightening look that made her worry for him.

Satoru continued to keep his gaze on Kiyoshi while he explained what he was speaking about. "The dark secret of the scientists thought to be only rumor, myth. I heard about from one of my professors during college. He was a conspiracy buff with an emphasis on the great machine conspiracy. The scientists that made Isaac were said to have made another, Adam, an anti-machine almost. Adam would destroy Isaac and all his successors if Isaac was deemed a threat."

"Yes, you're correct, Satoru. But Adam is not a myth or rumor. It is fact. It was created by the same scientists as a dead man's switch for all machines. They devised a method to destroy the machines if their dream failed. They might have been dreamers, but they were also pragmatists. They knew if the machines fell into the wrong hands it would mean destruction for man and they were right. Unfortunately, the work was ended and buried when machines were seen positively. And now they have advanced far beyond the scope of the original construction of Adam. Adam needs to be improved to meet the complexity that machines are today."

"You're talking about killing all machines across the world," Satoru said almost shouting at Kiyoshi, his emotions starting to return again. He stepped forward towards Kiyoshi not leaving any room between them.

Natsuko rushed up to the side of the two men staring hoping to stop Satoru from doing something. "How can you say that?" She looked at Kiyoshi wanting an answer for why he was suddenly bringing this news upon them. It went against everything that they believed.

"Its been decided, nothing we can do about it anymore," Kiyoshi said in a matter of fact tone. It was difficult to tell if he was sad this was happening or did not seem to care. He was playing a strong poker face that was not revealing his emotions.

"Not so certain of your job future huh, Tadashi," Kazuhiko said turning towards Tadashi who had been fairly quiet the entire time. Kazuhiko stared at him with a grin masking his own deeper feelings.

Tadashi closed his eyes turning his head to look away from Kazuhiko not wanting to see his face. "Whatever…" He had more he wanted to say to him, but there was not much point to it at the moment. There were more pressing matters on his mind that had him distracted.

"I can't believe this," Satoru said finally losing the control of his emotions that he had been maintaining before. Now that he knew what was going on he could no longer sit rationally. Even if he understood the reasons he was not about to accept it. "You known about this the entire time, Kiyoshi?"

"No, I just found out this morning," Kiyoshi said trying to keep his composure as Satoru was falling apart. The reaction was predictable, but what Satoru would decide to do now with all of the facts not even Kiyoshi claimed to know. He was concerned at the different things Satoru might do in such a state. Satoru was not thinking straight anymore and whatever seemed like the best idea in his idealistic mind was going to be acted upon even if it meant that he might regret the actions later.

"And you just went along with it?"

"Its orders from the top. All I can do is agree or quit."

"That man remains a recluse for years suddenly decides to do something. And…" Satoru said pausing trying to hold himself together long enough to finish what he wanted to say. He was feeling every emotion in his body rising up together fighting over control. The result could not satisfy any of them and came out as angry yelling. There were simply too many things going through him and no room for any of it. "…and this is what he does hands everyone over to the military!"

Satoru had never even met the man that ran the company, no one had. All that one could do was see what sort of person he was by the actions that he took. He did not seem to care about any of the work that they were doing. It was just about money and power to maintain the position that they had. Now he was making the company the military's lap dogs completely to be ordered around by them. How far would he send everyone into the soulless pits to further his ambitions?

He could not take it anymore being in front of Kiyoshi seeing through him what was becoming of the company. There were no choices left for him to make anymore. Satoru threw Kiyoshi aside making an opening to the doorway. "Satoru!" Kiyoshi shouted to him as he fell over against a desk.

"Satoru!" Chiyoko shouted to Satoru as he ran down the hallway. The others quickly joined her seeing him disappear around the corner. None of them expected him to flee away from this. He had finally given up. Chiyoko did not know what to think other than to run after him, but there was something holding her back. She knew that there was nothing that she could say to him right now.

Satoru ran out of the building not even thinking about the train. He just wanted out and not to be around them any longer. This world was truly spiraling out of control now and there was nothing that he was able to do to stop it. He was helpless to watch people destroy the machines and themselves over this. 'I can't believe this…what's happening to everyone? How can they just go along with it? We shouldn't be doing this. This is not…'

Satoru returned to his apartment leaving the world behind knowing that he could do nothing. He had lost his will to try to do anything locking himself away. As the time past things in the world became worse in the passing days. The war effort against the machines came into full strength with the united military force of the nations of the world. They hunted down machine cells operating around the world, but could not find the main base. The few cells that were destroyed left them with no clues and the public grew even more frantic as the bombings continued. The machines did not cease in their attacks.

For Satoru he spent the time watching the news in his dark apartment when he was not outside looking for Asami. He had checked her apartment, but she was always gone when he tried her. She had not been seen at work for days and anyone that knew her barely had anything for him to go on. He was left searching on his own and each time hoping that he would run across her accidentally as he had in the past.

The monitor was on, but the volume was muted as the news broadcasts played. His tired eyes stared empty at the screen unable to turn away from the horrors that were occurring outside. The room was interrupted by a sound of knocking at his door. "Satoru?" Natsuko voice said barely breaching the door.

"He's not home, let's go," Kazuhiko said when the knocking stopped. He started to walk away from the door, but Natsuko stepped in front of him blocking his path.

She looked up at him staring at him with that look as though he was going to be in trouble if he did not listen to her. "Kazuhiko! Then why did you come?"

"Because you dragged me here." He had been pulled out here by the two women when he had wished that he was walking home or even getting groceries. This was not somewhere he wanted to be right now knowing how Satoru was going to act.

"Shut up, just knock," Natsuko said grabbing him by his arm and pushing him in front of the door. She stood behind him glaring at him still insisting that she be listened to.

"Satoru?" Chiyoko said even though she knew that it was not going to open the door. He had been away from work for so long that she needed to know what he was doing. She needed that reassurance.

'Ugh…why can't they leave me alone…' Satoru rolled his head back against the couch looking up at the ceiling. He was not about to open the door for them. They would eventually give up and go away, but it was still annoying having to listen to them. It was not something that they could understand. They were going two different paths now.
"I'm leaving, he's not answering," Kazuhiko said easily giving up
again, but having shown more effort this time. He just hoped that they were going to be satisfied with it. It was clear to him that Satoru did not want company and he needed time to think alone. These women were too nosey. 'How did I end up in the middle of this?'

"Kazuhiko, you aren't going anywhere!" Chiyoko said stepping up in front of him this time dropping her worried look for a more frightening one.

Chiyoko pulled out a small device from her pocket that looked more like a pipe than a tool, but whatever it was she used it to keep Kazuhiko in line. "Damn, Chiyoko watch it with that!" He backed away from her seeing that she was serious about talking to Satoru. 'Why me…'

"Keep knocking."

"If you brought that along give it to me," Kazuhiko said grabbing it out of her hand easily. She barely had a grip on it to his surprise, but it was more her presence that was intimidating than what she was using. "I'm not going to knock all night on his door." He walked over to the door panel for Satoru's apartment and began to use the device on it.

"What do you think you're doing?" Chiyoko grabbed his arm immediately stopping him before he could do anything. However, he ripped his arm free from her hands and went back to working on the panel.
He might have been dragged out, but it was apparent to him that he was not going to be leaving until they had their peace with Satoru. Even if it meant forcing his way in he was going to end this standoff soon. He was tired of standing out in the hallway looking like an idiot. "Finding a faster way."

"But that's illegal!"

"You're the ones that are worried about him. I just want to leave, this will be faster." Kazuhiko quickly made his way through the security lock on his Satoru's door. He worked on programming sophisticated intelligence programs breaking into someone's home was child's play. The door slid open and Chiyoko and Natsuko were the first to burst through the door knocking Kazuhiko to the ground without so much as a thank you for his work.

"Satoru!" Natsuko shouted when they found him resting on his couch. Satoru's hair was a complete mess and it looked like he had not changed his clothes since he woke up. There were dark circles around his eyes only accented by the light from the monitor that lit up the room. The dark void hid all of the food, plates and trash that laid about the room left where they were dropped last.

"You're a mess, man," Kazuhiko said turning on a light so that they could see around only to have wished that he had let it remain off. The light only made the mess look worse and Satoru's face even more haggard.

"And you broke into my home," Satoru said resting his arms on his legs letting his hands hang between his knees. He watched the three enter the living room and stand in front of him between the monitor on the wall and the table. There was nothing on the news that he had not seen before.

"Yeah, well look at them." Kazuhiko pushed the two women in front of him stepping backwards to keep his distance. This was not the sort of thing that he wanted to intrude on.

"You haven't been to work in two weeks," Natsuko said starting the talking. She did not know what to tell him that would get him to return to work, but she knew he could not remain like this forever. This was no life to have. "Kiyoshi is saying that he is going to have to fire you soon if you don't return."

"I can't return. I'm not going to help in the creation of a machine killer!" Satoru shouted at them feeling his emotions rising again. This was why he did not want to see them again. They were all connected to it and it was too easy to bring those emotions back. He had managed to calm down in the past, but they were stabbing the wound once again without remorse for his feelings.

"But that's what you've been doing with Sakura!" Kazuhiko said sticking his head out for reasons that he did not understand. He should have been quiet instead.

"Kazuhiko!"

"This is different," Satoru said looking down at the carpet. He knew what he was making before was similar, but these two were not the same. Even if Sakura was going to be used against humans or machines there was still the idea that it would be controlled. He did not like it, but still Adam is not the same. Adam would have no control, just mercilessly killing every machine regardless of type or purpose.

"Yeah, I know, but you need money and food," Chiyoko said hoping that she could get him to find reason. He needed to return to work. She knew that he would slowly die a miserable empty existence here disillusioned. "You can't live off your savings forever."

"Satoru, please come back to work," Natsuko said trying to enforce what Chiyoko had told him. She did not care how much of a stretch her words were if it meant that he would return to who he was before. "Kiyoshi cares about you. He might be able to find something else for you to do."

"I can't work for a company that is making a weapon to destroy machines." Satoru did not care what they said. He was not going to listen to a word that they said. None of them knew what he was feeling all they cared about was having a job. There were more important things than having a job as a machine killer. "They've been hiding it secret all this time. I can't work for someone that has been lying to me since day one!"

"You can't live in your dream world anymore, Satoru!" Kazuhiko said tired of listening to the idealistic ranting of someone that was a coward and ran away. He did not like being so rough with his words, but Satoru had pushed him. The man was trying to live in an imaginary world were there was no pain and the only one that could feel was him. "Not to sound like Tadashi, but you can't be that naïve anymore. We have to do this or they kill us all. Besides, with the machines destroyed we can start over again. It'll be new again."

"Yeah, right!" Natsuko said suddenly seeing a ray of hope in what Kazuhiko said. She had wanted to stop him from making things worse and driving Satoru further into a hole, but if there could be good sense in it Satoru might change.

"Now who's dreaming…" Satoru said to Kazuhiko. His words were empty. The idea of hope in this world seemed impossible to him.

"Please, Satoru think about it," Chiyoko said approaching him making him look at her. She wanted to make sure that he was hearing her and not just simply ignoring them with a blank stare.

"Maybe…I'll see."

"Please…"

"I will…" Satoru heart was empty with the words. He had no intention of believing her, but if it got them out of his apartment then he would say anything. Chiyoko seemed satisfied with what she saw and stood up looking at Natsuko. They silently agreed to leave and dragged Kazuhiko along as though he did not want to leave. Satoru was left alone in the room again the news broadcast going still.

'Start over again?' It was a ridiculous thought of someone that thought the world could change. 'I can't believe they were that desperate…' Satoru turned off the monitor manually and stood up looking out the window at the city. There were columns of smoke rising in a few areas from the most recent bombings. The city was being altered day by day. 'What hope is there left…the machine…man…'

He stared down at the street below seeing the people passing by as though nothing had changed. There was a woman that passed by in the dress that Asami had been wearing during their first date. Satoru was pressed against the glass thinking of her. It was her right now before him walking. But Satoru blinked and the image disappeared. She was just another woman going home from a long day of work. It was not Asami. 'Asami…I'll find you. I have to…'

Satoru grabbed up his coat and exited his apartment quickly. The images of her were spinning around in his mind again unable to stop. He could not be settled until he tried to find her. The city was big, but he did not care as he ran off in a direction without any thought in mind of where to go. She was simply guiding him.

After a few minutes he was unable to keep running forced to pick an easier pace to walk at while he recovered his breath. The time passed and he left the district of his apartment entering an area that was darkened in the pending night and failing streetlights. Satoru did not even pay attention to where he was pushing deeper until there was a sound in the distance. He could hear metal being scrapped against the pavement clawing at his ears. Then a voice in the dark spoke to him with malicious intent. "Hey, there's one."

"Yeah, everyone let's get him!" another voice said as several figures stepped out of the veil of darkness. The fading streetlight revealed five people with ravenous eyes. They looked ready to kill making Satoru step back being brought back to reality finally. He could see them clearly now. Two of them looked like street punks from some gang with tattoos and spikes all of the usual clichés that he had seen. But what made him terrified was that the others looked normal. One was wearing a business suit and another mid-aged woman.

Satoru stepped back again wanting to run away, but his legs were frozen in fear. He did not know what was happening or how he had ended up here. It was clear to him though that they were planning something for him. "Huh? What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!"

"You're one of those machines aren't you? They say they look like humans now. We have to check everyone and see if they bleed…"

'Bleed?! They're going to kill me!' Satoru could not believe the vicious state that people have fallen to with the fear of machines. They thought he was one of them. They were not even thinking straight anymore just going after anyone that was suspicious. He tried to get his legs to move so that he could run, but the feeling was disappearing. He was going to die here. "Stay away from me!"

To be continued…