Eri Kamei vs. Morning Musume

[meowchi]

JFC just solved one of the hints of what the answer is *not*:

… there were ants in the little …
… the ants in the film were stinging/killing the helpless spider that had been dropped into the bucket….
… Aya could be the spider as her life is the one currently in danger…
…  is the "ant switch" the trigger to do kill her like the film footage shows …

It’s certainly a 50/50 (in regards if the ant switch could release or kill Aya), but since the film actually showed the spider being stung/eaten to      - it’s safe to say Aya will die; so the ant switch is out of the picture… great observation!

Sukoshi and niigaki_risa made some really good valid points too!

[niigaki_risa]

^Okay, screw my answer earlier

Maybe airplane...?

[Sancho]

Ahh, Updates. Great. And for the interaction. Well. The puzzle looks familiar . If I'll be on the the same position like Eri. I don't know what will I do as well. No clues nor hints. Just the damn console. If my IQ level doesn't help, Then I have no choice but to use my game instinct. So I pick both Gun buttons. They didn't say we can't pick more than one right?? 

[meowchi]

Eri Kamei
Rockfort Prison, Courtyard Mansion
October 9, 8:47 AM

They weren't all different, there were two guns, a
semiautomatic handgun and a revolver, the switches labeled
"C" and "E." Nothing else matched, and her first
thought was that it was like one of those grade-school
tests, which two are alike. Without questioning her reasoning,
Eri reached out and flipped the two switches,
the two boxes lighting up—
—and to her right, a display case slid out from the
wall. The buzzing alarm stopped, and a blast of dry, baking
heat expelled from the opening, washing over her.

A half second later, Aya stumbled out and dropped to her
knees, her arms and face beet red. She was holding a slim, powerful looking katana.
…Guess I picked the right boxes.

Eri leaned over her, trying to remember what the
signs of heatstroke were—dizziness and nausea, she
thought. "Are you okay?"
Aya gazed up at her. With her flushed cheeks and
vaguely embarrassed expression, Aya resembled nothing
so much as a little girl who'd had too much sun. Then
she grinned, and the illusion was lost.
"What took you so long?" she cracked, pushing herself to her feet.

Eri straightened, scowling. "You're welcome."
Aya's grin softened and she ducked her head, pushing
shining bangs away from her forehead.
"Sorry ... and I'm
sorry about before, too. Thanks, seriously."
Eri sighed. Just when Eri'd decided Aya was a total
jerk, she decided to be nice.

"And check this out," Aya said, snapping the sword
up and aiming the tip at one of the display cases. "It
was hanging on a wall back there, looks sturdy and
everything. Nice, huh?"

Eri had to resist a sudden urge to grab Aya's shoulders
and shake some sense into her. She had nerve, Eri'd
give her that, and Aya obviously had at least a few survival
skills ... but did she not understand that she would
have died, if Eri hadn't heard her calling for help?
What’s her deal?

This place is probably full of booby traps, too; how
do I keep her from running off again?
She watched Aya pretend to be a samurai; posing with the sword,
and Eri wondered absently if the whole macho tiling was just her
way of dealing with fear—and a different approach suddenly
occurred to Eri, one that she thought might actually
work.

Aya wants to play Mr. Tough Guy, let her. Appeal to
her ego.

"Aya, I understand that you're not looking for a
partner, but I am," Eri said, doing her best to look sincere.
"I... I don't want to be alone out there."
She could actually see Aya's chest puff out, and felt a
huge sense of relief, knowing that it had worked before
Aya said a word. Eri also felt a little guilty for manipulating
her, but only a little; this was for the best.
Besides, it's not lying, exactly. I reallydon'twant to
be alone out there.
"I guess you could tag along," Aya said expansively. "I
mean, if you're scared."
Eri only smiled, teeth gritted, aware that if she
opened her mouth to thank her, she didn't know what
would come out.

"And anyway, I know how to get us out of here," she
added, her bluff manner slipping, her youthful enthusiasm
spilling out. "There's a little map under the counter
at the front desk. According to that, there's a dock just
west of here,and an airstrip somewhere past that.
Which means we have a choice, but my piloting skills
are a little iffy, so I vote cruise. We can go right now."

Maybe I’d underestimated her a bit…

"Really? Great, that's..." Eri trailed off. Risa, she
couldn't forget about Risa,between the two of us we
could probably get her to the dock...
"Would you come with me to the tower, first?"
Eri asked. "My friend Risa, the girl I think you met earlier- you said she was up
in the ... tower right? "
"You got in contact with her?" Aya asked, perking up.

Uh-oh. Eri could lie, but Aya would know the truth soon
enough.
"Urn, I don't think so ... but she's my friend,
and I kinda feel like we should get her—"

Aya was frowning, and Eri quickly added, "—and it
seems like the, uh,honorable thing to do, to at least get
her a first-aid kit, you know? In case she's hurt or something.."

Aya wasn't buying. "Forget it. If she wasn't able to
do what she needed to do, she deserves nothing. It's not like
I didn't offer her to come with me; Besides, they'll
be sending troops in soon enough; it's their problem, let
them deal with it. Now, are you coming or not?"

Eri met Aya's gaze squarely, reading anger and hurt
in her dark eyes, surely caused by whoever caused this mess. She
couldn't blame her for how she felt, but she didn't agree
with her, either, not in Risa's case. And there was
no question in her mind that Risa would die before anyone
showed if Eri didn't get help.

"I guess not," Eri said.

Aya turned away, took a few steps toward the door
and then stopped, sighing heavily. Aya turned back,
clearly exasperated. "There's no way I'm risking my
neck to save someone who ventured into the tower BY
CHOICE, and no offense, but
I think you're totally stupid for wanting to ... but I'll
wait for you, okay? The CR room is on the 47th floor.
Go give the girl a Band-Aid or
whatever and then meet me at the dock."

Surprised, Eri nodded. Less than she'd hoped for
but more than she'd expected, particularly after Aya's
weird people-will-let-you-down rant—
—oh!

For the first time, it occurred to her why Aya might
have said those things, why she was denying the trauma
of what had happened, what was still happening. Aya
was here by herself, after all... how could she not have
abandonment issues?

Eri smiled warmly at her, remembering how
angry she'd felt as a child upon learning her grandmother had died.
Being snatched away from one's family couldn't be
much better. "It'll be nice to go home," Eri said gently.
"I bet your parents will be glad—"

Aya's sneering interruption was immediate and extreme.
"Look, come to the dock or not, but I'm not
going to wait all day, got it?"
Startled, Eri nodded mutely, but Aya was already
striding out of the room. She wished she hadn't said
anything, but it was too late ... and at least now she
knew whatnot to say. Poor Aya, she probably missed her
parents like crazy. Eri would have to try to be a little more
understanding.

With a last look around the strange little den, Eri
started back toward the front door, wondering what to
do about Risa. Aya was right, some organization might already
have a team on the way, they could tend to her if she was in fact hurt,
but Eri meant to get her off the island completely. She
needed to find a vial of a clue as to where in the tower Risa was; she didn't
know jack about the tower itself besides that her friend is searching for the
communications room, and Risa had seemed to
think it would help, since she chose to go that route instead of going with Aya- well, at least from what Aya claims.

Eri opened both of the other doors in the hallway
on her way back to the lobby, stopping briefly at the
first to gaze in at a number of portraits, some kind of
pictorial history room for a family called Tomoko.
There was a shattered urn on the floor, but nothing
else of interest. Behind the second door was an empty
conference room, only a few scattered papers and silence.
Eri stepped back into the front hall, deciding that
she should probably try the upstairs before retracing her
steps; just above the bridge to the prison—and wasn't
she looking forward to crossing that creaking nightmare
again—there'd been a door she'd bypassed in order to
keep up with Aya's trail...

A creak on the floor surprised her, suddenly realizing
she wasn’t alone. Eri turned around to face the noise and reached
for her weapon which was tucked safely in her pocket and-

“ Nngh! “ Eri yelped, the pistol being tossed out from her hand,
as a pair of arms reached out from behind the nearest pillar,
and slammed Eri’s back against the hardened marble.

It happened so quick- Eri’s eyes burned form the impact, her limbs fighting back
against the assailant.

can’tsee can’tsee

The person’s arms were covered with padding, but due to the muffled grunts,
Eri knew it was a woman.

“ Where is it?! “

The person screamed into her ear, pushing Eri’s throat harder into the pillar.

“ Ugh- “ Eri gagged, closing her eyes- giving up on trying to correct her blurry vision.
Her body couldn’t handle the trauma, but still, Eri resisted; gripping the females forearms
in an attempt to free herself.

“ Where is it, da~mn you! “
The person throws Eri onto the ground,

getaway your chance-

-and Eri rolls, using the momentum she’d gained as an advantage to get away.

She crashes into something wooden, probably a table, and coughs violently
as she stands, her lungs burning- but at least my vision is coming back.
Eri expected another assault, but it didn’t come; just footsteps, mind numbing footsteps,
slow and heading in another direction.

get out- get out-

Her eyes now corrected, Eri dashes towards the nearest door, which were the main
mansion doors, leading outside-

-and a tiny red light on the floor caught her attention, like
one of those laser pointer things, her geometry teacher had
used one. The small light jerked toward her and Eri
looked up, followed a pencil-thin beam to—

Gah! She dove for cover as the first shot bit into the
tiles mere inches from where she'd stood, ceramic
shards flying. She crashed behind one of the ornamental
pillars as the second shot thundered through the lobby,
shattering more tile.
She scrambled to her feet, trying to make herself as
tiny as possible, wondering if she'd actually seen what
she'd thought she'd seen—a woman with long black hair, tied in a pony tail, holding a rifle
with laser sight, wearing what looked like a black, soft-padded uniform
 from a typical action movie, deep black, complete with matching padded black pants and
with a small Japanese flag patch, sewn on her right shoulder. Like a kids idea of
what special ops should wear.

"Going somewhere?" a pinched, snobby
voice called out, and Eri spotted her pistol laying blissfully in front of her, and she picked it up,
relieved. "My name is Niita Tomoko- the head researcher of this
facility, and I demand you return what rightfully belongs to me!"

What? Eri wished she had something brilliant to
say, some snappy comeback, but she couldn't get any
further than that.
"What?" Eri asked loudly.

"Oh, there's no point in your feigned ignorance," Niita
continued, her jeering voice moving a little, as though she
were descending the stairs. "Miss Eri Kamei. I
know what you've been planning, I've known from the
start—but you're not dealing with just anyone, Eri.
Not when you're dealing with me."
Niita actually tittered, a high, girlish giggle, and Eri
was suddenly absolutely positive that she was a whacko,
Eri was talking to a whacko.

Yeah, and keep her talking, you don't want to lose her
position.

Eri could see the tiny red light flicker on the
wall behind her, as Niita worked to keep the pillar in her
sights.

"Okay, ah, Niita-san. What is it that I'm planning?" She
jacked the action on her semi as quietly as possible,
remembering what Hitomi had told her on how to check
if there was a round in the chamber.

It was as though she hadn't spoken. "Our legacy of
profundity, supremacy, and innovation is beyond question,"
Niita said haughtily. "We can trace our heritage
to Japanese royalty, my sister and I, and to some of the
greatest minds in history. But then I don't suppose your
masters told you that, did they?"

My masters? "I don't have any idea what you're talking
about," Eri called out, watching the flickering red
dot, deciding that she could dart a glance out from behind
the pillar's other side, maybe get off a shot before
Niita could target her. The longer Niita talked, the more
strongly Eri felt that meeting her face-to-face would be
a bad idea. Dangerously mentally ill people were unpredictable
at best.

She'd mentioned a sister... the children in that
movie, with the black widow? Eri didn't have proof, but
her instincts shouted a resounding yes. It seemed Niita
stayed the course, from creepy kid to creep.

"Of course, if you were willing to surrender yourself
to me now," Niita purred, "I might be persuaded to
spare you your life. Providing that you and I are so much—"
Now!

Eri ducked her head around the pillar, gun up—

—andbam, wood and plaster exploded next to her
face, the shot splintering the pillar's molding as she pulled
back. She leaned heavily against the pillar, her breathing
fast and gulping. If Niita been a hair more accurate ...

"Aren't you the fast little rat," Niita said, her
amusement unmistakable. "Or should I say Musume? That's
what you are, Eri, a Musume. Just a Musume in a cage. "
Again, that insane, unnatural giggle ... but it was receding,
following the crazy lady back up the stairs. Footsteps, and
then a door closed, and she was gone.
Well, doesn't that round out things nicely? What's a
zombie disaster without a crazy or two?

It'd almost be funny, if she wasn't so totally weirded out.

This Niita was a fruit loop.
Eri waited a moment to be sure she was gone, then
exhaled heavily, relieved but not relaxed. She wouldn't,
couldn't relax until she and the others were well away from Rockfort,
leaving the zombies and monsters and insanity far behind.

God, but she was tired of this. She was an idol,
she liked dancing and singing and a
good cup of hot chocolate on a rainy day. She wanted her other family- Morning Musume, and she
wanted to go home... and since neither of those
seemed likely at the moment, she decided she'd settle
for a good, solid nervous breakdown, complete with
screams and floor-pounding hysterics.

It was almost tempting, but that would have to wait,
too. She sighed inwardly. Niita had gone upstairs, so
she thought she'd better check out that other door she'd
passed back near the bridge, see if she could find something
for Risa there, since it was on the way to the tower entrance.

At least things probably won't get any worse,she
thought dismally, feeling a strange sense of deja vu as
she opened the front door. It felt so much like the hijacking on the plane ...
but that had been a quick ordeal, rather
than an isolated, monster filled disaster.

Big, fat difference. All of it bites.

Eri had no way of knowing that compared to what
lay ahead, things hadn't even started to get bad.

[meowchi]

Risa Niigaki
Rockfort Tower, Floor 47
October 9, 10:51 AM



Risa had just reached the communications room when the
huge main console at the back of the room crackled
to life. She slammed the door behind her and ran to
it, words spitting out through a haze of static.
"... is Hitomi ... shore ... were cut off...
... where ... safe ... if you can hear... respond
..."

Risa snatched up the headset and hit the only blinking button- the words 'transmit' imprinted on it. "Hitomi!? This is Risa- You're not coming in very clear, please repeat—
where are you!? Do you read me?!"

She strained to hear something, anything—

-static and than-
" ... Risa ... where ... how ...  "

Risa was ecstatic. Though the transmission was low- she'd made contact with the others. But it didn't seem plausible that the console was going to call for international help- it looked like it was running out of juice. Which sucks-
However, Risa was relieved on a geometric level to hear Hitomi's voice, because it probably
meant that they were ok after all.

The last contact she'd had with the others was with Sayumi, Eri and Koharu- just after we crashed, Risa thought. Koharu and I were able to fight off that hijacker lady, but not before she was able to radio in for help.

At that point, we knew there were more hijackers on board, but no one knew what to do-
we were desperate- I was desperate; Ai, Reina, Hitomi and Miki were still somewhere on the plane. We didn't know if they were dead, captured, or alive...

It was a risk, but the three of us decided someone should go out and search for help, and that someone was me. With the help of Sayumi, Eri and Koharu, I snuck out the plane, carrying the hopes of the others on me.

From than on I've wondered if they've been caught- had there really been other hijackers on the plane, not to mention if Hitomi, Miki, Ai or Reina had even survived the plane crash...

" You're not coming in very clear, please repeat! " Risa reiterated herself, more forceful this time.

No response. Risa grips the console, hoping her strength would motivate the bulky machine to work. " Hitomi! " Risa frowns, almost ready to cry out in anger.

She waits. Seconds feel like hours, her heart pumping faster but- still, no response.
" Argh! " Risa shouts in fury and disbelief- slamming her hand down against the console by reflex-

-" Can you hear me? Risa! " Hitomi's static-filled voice engulfs the room; filling Risa's ears with harmounious flavor she'd craved for since the night began.

" This is Risa- boy am I so, so so glad to hear your voice!! "
The sporradic static bursts seemed to be gone, but Risa knew it was only temporary; at the rate the machine was broadcasting- the thing didn't have long, she had enough experience with electronics- namely her Nintendo DS to know that.

" Thank god you're still alive! It's Hitomi- We've gotten your transmission earlier! Hey people- Risa's still alive!!  "
She could hear voices in the background, excited cries from her other friends- she couldn't tell who was who since it was very faint- but one thing stuck in Risa's mind;

She choked. Still alive? What would make Hitomi think otherwise?
She didn't feel like asking.

" Stay on the plane, " Risa abruptly said. Images of bloodied human beings of deterioting flesh popped into her mind. Images of her friends, corpse to corpse, emotionless facial expressions subdued on each soul. " it's dangerous out here- stuff you wo- "

" We aren't broadcasting from the plane, " Hitomi interrupted.
Risa choked again. Why? Why would they leave the plane? That would mean that they've been rescued, or, god forbid-

" The h-hijackers- " Risa stammered aloud.

There was a static burst, screaming into her ears which made her flinch.

" The what? " Hitomi paused. " Oh, the hijacker? Uh- that's old news. "
Old news!? Risa glanced at her watch; it's been over 14 hours since she'd left the plane, how could it possibly be old ne-

" Look, long story short- " Hitomi continued. " We're taking refuge in some sort of medical compound by the shore- not too far from where we crashed- " She paused. " -and from the looks of things outside, this ain't Hawai'i. "

" No, Rockfort- this place, Rockfort Island- it's Japanese governement territory; there's a prison in the center of the island, marked by a huge tower- which I'm in- "

Hitomi interrupted. " And I gather you're surrounded by flesh eating zombies? "

All questions of whether or not Hitomi was able to find help was thrown out there door.
" How did you...? "

" Just call it an educated guess. " From the tone of her friends' voice, Risa could tell she was smirking, if not ironically smiling. The situaion was laughable, something you'd expect out of a movie, but not in actual real life. " Were you able to find any help? "

The question struck a chord. Help?, she thought. I can barely find anyone left alive, much less standing.

She thought about Sekai, the first survivor she'd met; the dying man in literally his last breaths told her the way to the weapons room, even going as far as telling her the secret code to get in. Than there was Julia, the beautiful girl who told her about the communications room; and probably thinking that Risa was crazy since I'd turned down her offer to team up. She had different agendas than I did, and getting off this island without the others is useless to me.
Julia said she'd wait for Risa in the courtyard if Risa managed to do what she needed to do, but it's been more than four hours already- I doubt she's still waiting there.
And finally there was Randy, an American prisoner who had no idea what he was being imprisoned for, and despite the language barrier, he'd saved Risa's life numerous times; fighting off wards of undead, putting his life in line so she wouldn't have to- if it wasn't for him, I'd be dead...
Risa shoved the thought away in sadness- also remembering, despite the obvious language barrier; how enthusiastic Randy was when he talked about finally seeing his wife and newly born daughter back home in America, speaking in the little Japanese he knew.

His daughters' name was 'Lisa', Risa thought, smiling a little. Isn't that a coincidence?-

Her smile faded away. Too bad Lisa won't be seeing her father anytime soon- you aren't cut out to be a hero, Niigaki, and you never will be.

" ...Risa? " Hitomi's static voice interrupted the harsh voice in her head. " Can you- can you hear me... ? "

" No- ...no survivors. " Risa sighed. " Not one crazy enough to stick with me anyway. "

There was a pause. " ...You mean Eri hasn't met up with you yet? "

" ERI? " Risa practically jumped. " Is... she alone? "

" Yes. "

There was the agreement. Risa was to be the only one to search for help- no one knew what was out there, and for that particular reason came the agreement of having Risa, and just Risa, conduct it solo. If anything, she'd expected Hitomi, or even Miki to be the second person to go out, but no, not Eri.

" Why is she out here, " Risa demanded- probably wondering if Eri is still alive, and if she were still alive, if she'd been devoured by man eating dogs, or worse- had an encounter with that Mr. Sweat. " and why did you let her go by herself?! "

Her defined brows stiffened, feeling a little anger and disbelief. If Hitomi let Eri go solo, there's no way Miki would've given Eri the chance, she'd stop her- even if it means holding her down physically.

" She left by herself- in the middle of the night, worried about you. I care about Eri as much as you do, but what's done is done; all we can do now is keep a look out on her, and pray that she's safe. "
 
A pause. " It... it took me a few hours to get past the mountains until I reached the city, so she- "

" City? " Hitomi spurtted out. " Jesus, there's a whole CITY of those things? "
Risa didn't say anything, fighting the urge to tell her about Mr. Sweat and the zombie dogs- that'll just lessen morale... if they still had any, but somehow her leader knew the answer already.

Hitomi cursed aloud, causing Risa to pull the headset speaker away from her ear until she was done. She could hear voices in the background try to soothe Hitomi, and it helped, but just a little.
" We need to regroup, " Hitomi finally said. " If you're in the center of the island, that wouldn't be too hard to find- since you're in a tower. Not to mention we might spot Eri on the way. "

While Hitomi was outlining the plan, Risa was already shaking her head.
" Definately no- I've been through the city, and managing a group in the middle of that is like swimming through quicksand with alligators. "
And what if Koharu gets lost? She's the youngest- and I know for a fact she can't survive in this situation alone.

" ... What do you suggest than? "

" Just stay put. I can retrace my steps and find her; search around if I have to. Knowing Eri- if she did make it to the city, there's no doubt in my mind that she went straight for the tower- it's kind of hard not to, considering the state this city is in... "

There was another pause. Risa hadn't noticed it before, but the faint voices in the background were talking about the situation amongst themselves. " Wait a second. " Hitomi says.

Risa figured she'd joined the others, probably to discuss the plan in further detail- knowing the outcome is 50/50, and only one of that half is good.
Why did you leave Eri? Risa didn't know whether to feel flattered; Eri did leave for her after all, and she appreciates the initiation, but at the same time, Risa felt angry- Eri is putting herself out there, We specifically agreed that no one leav-

Risa heard faint footsteps get louder on Hitomi's side.
" Risa? "

It was Ai.

Her voice was as just how Risa always remembered it to be- soft, sweet and casual- and it was uplifting in some crazy way that given their situation, she spoke the same.

" Ai-chan! " For the first time, Risa actually smiled, a real smile, not a smile because of the unusual circumstance, or a smile because of remembered sadness, but a smile smile; a smile of happiness, friendship.

" Hi, Risa-chan. "

" How are you? "

" A - O.K. You are too? "

" Yup! Always... " But Risa was lying, and she knew Ai was lying too.

After a brief moment-
" Well, we all miss you- Please come back safe. "
" Stop, stop- don't worry, ok? " Risa laughed and tried her best to stop her voice from quivering.

" Thank you very much! " Ai proclaimed.
Risa nodded her head, as if her friend can see her.

" K-bye "

Before Risa could respond, Ai was already gone, she could hear her footsteps fade away into the background- some unknown background Risa couldn't see.
She knew her fellow Musume left abruptly because Ai didn't like it when she got teary in front of her friends, even the ones close to her, like Risa.
Goodbye Ai, she thought. Don't you ever change- stay sweet and keep dreaming big...

" Ok… Risa? "
Hitomi.
" Everyone agrees we should go with your plan, " she continued. " you know that place better than anyone here, but the question is; ... can you do it? "

Risa opened her mouth to respond-

" Make sure you look between tight spots too Risa! " Sayumi's voice chimed in.
Risa smirked. " I'll try. "

A pause. " You'll try? " Hitomi states. emphasizing her tone.

" I mean- I will. .. I will bring her back. "

" Indeed. Good luck. Oh- and if you come across a walkie talkie or some sort, we'll be on frequency 125.23 ... Contact us once you do what you need to do, and we'll set up a place to meet."

" Gotcha. " She etched the numbers into her head. " Risa, out. "

[niigaki_risa]

I love this chapter. <3 Too bad that Gaki-san doesn't know about Miki... 

" Make sure you look between tight spots too Risa! " Sayumi's voice chimed in.

  Ah Sayu. lol

[JFC]

Eri Kamei
Rockfort Prison, Courtyard Mansion
October 9, 8:47 AM

*ERI FLIPS SWITCHES*

Okay, did I skip over the part that said that 2 switches had to be flipped? Usually it's only one.  The only situations when I've personally seen multiple switches needing to be flipped was when it came time to launch some insanely powerful weapon, and even then they were located and set up in a way that you would need 2 people doing certain actions at the same time to activate them. 

Anyway....so it was the guns?

A half second later, Aya stumbled out and dropped to her knees, her arms and face beet red. She was holding a slim, powerful looking katana.

Ooooooooooooo...guess the katana came from somewhere in the mansion?

She watched Aya pretend to be a samurai; posing with the sword,

Awwwww...that's cute. 

Aya wants to play Mr. Tough Guy, let her. Appeal to her ego.

"Aya, I understand that you're not looking for a partner, but I am," Eri said, doing her best to look sincere. "I... I don't want to be alone out there."

...

"I guess you could tag along," Aya said expansively. "I mean, if you're scared."

Smart move there Eri!  She knew that they would both be safer if they stayed together, so to do that she gave Aya a reason to stay.

Eri asked. "My friend Risa, the girl I think you met earlier- you said she was up in the ... tower right? "

...

I kinda feel like we should get her—"

Aya was frowning,

Uh-oh. Aya's not gonna go for this. She's singularly focused on getting off of that island ASAP. In her mind, going back for Risa would totally counterproductive.

I'll wait for you, okay? The CR room is on the 47th floor. Go give the girl a Band-Aid or whatever and then meet me at the dock."

Well, it's better than nothing, though...how long will Aya wait? And what about the other members that we've lost track of here?

Eri opened both of the other doors in the hallway on her way back to the lobby, stopping briefly at the first to gaze in at a number of portraits, some kind of pictorial history room for a family called Tomoko.

Owners of the mansion? Residents of the island? The people behind the experiments that were being conducted here?

A creak on the floor surprised her, suddenly realizing she wasn’t alone. Eri turned around to face the noise and reached for her weapon which was tucked safely in her pocket and-

“ Nngh! “ Eri yelped, the pistol being tossed out from her hand, as a pair of arms reached out from behind the nearest pillar, and slammed Eri’s back against the hardened marble.

Another survivor? Perhaps a member of the Tomoko family?

The person’s arms were covered with padding, but due to the muffled grunts, Eri knew it was a woman.

Padding? Either the woman's crazy or it's some type of armour/protection against the zombies.

“ Where is it?! “

The person screamed into her ear, pushing Eri’s throat harder into the pillar.

...

“ Where is it, da~mn you! “ The person throws Eri onto the ground,

Definitely leaning more towards the "crazy" side right now. Question is, what is the "it" that the other woman mentions and why is she so intent on finding it?  5 bucks says it's the katana that Aya took.

Eri dashes towards the nearest door, which were the main mansion doors, leading outside-

-and a tiny red light on the floor caught her attention, like one of those laser pointer things, her geometry teacher had used one. The small light jerked toward her and Eri looked up, followed a pencil-thin beam to—

GUN!

"Going somewhere?" a pinched, snobby voice called out, and Eri spotted her pistol laying blissfully in front of her, and she picked it up, relieved. "My name is Niita Tomoko, I'm the head researcher of this facility- and I demand you return what rightfully belongs to me!"

Same woman, or another one? She must have been the one who sprung that trap on Aya.  If that's indeed the case, then my guess as to what the item is is probably on the money, and she probably thinks that Aya and Eri are in cahoots.

"Our legacy of profundity, supremacy, and innovation is beyond question," Niita said haughtily. "We can trace our heritage to Japanese royalty, my sister and I, and to some of the greatest minds in history. But then I don't suppose your masters told you that, did they?"

Okay, so for sure we know that we've got 2 new people here, they're probably involved somehow in what was going on here, and that they're completely full of themselves (as well as off their rockers). 

Now who exactly are "the masters" that she's rambling on about?

She'd mentioned a sister... the children in that movie, with the black widow? Eri didn't have proof, but her instincts shouted a resounding yes. It seemed Niita stayed the course, from creepy kid to creep.

Makes sense. That footage had to come from somewhere, and from it's short description earlier, it would appear to be more likely home-video type footage than something professionally done.

Eri had no way of knowing that compared to what lay ahead, things hadn't even started to get bad.

Well, that's encouraging.

...


...


...


 



Risa Niigaki
Rockfort Tower, Floor 47
October 9, 10:51 AM

Risa was ecstatic. Though the transmission was low- she'd made contact with the others.

The others are okay?

" Stay on the plane, " Risa abruptly said. Images of bloodied human beings of deterioting flesh popped into her mind. Images of her friends, corpse to corpse, emotionless facial expressions subdued on each soul. " it's dangerous out here- stuff you wo- "

" We aren't broadcasting from the plane, " Hitomi interrupted.
Risa choked again. Why? Why would they leave the plane? That would mean that they've been rescued, or, god forbid-

" The h-hijackers- " Risa stammered aloud.

" Look, long story short- " Hitomi continued. " We're taking refuge in some sort of medical compound by the shore- not too far from where we crashed- " She paused. " -and from the looks of things outside, this ain't Hawai'i. "

" No, Rockfort- this place, Rockfort Island- it's Japanese governement territory; there's a prison in the center of the island, marked by a huge tower- which I'm in- "

Hitomi interrupted. " And I gather you're surrounded by flesh eating zombies? "

All questions of whether or not Hitomi was able to find help was thrown out there door.
" How did you...? "

" Just call it an educated guess. "

Oh boy. Let's just hope the medical compound is secure. 

Eri hasn't met up with you yet? "

" ERI? " Risa practically jumped.

Well, now that Risa knows, she'll hopefully be keeping an eye out for her, if not outright looking for her.

" We need to regroup, " Hitomi finally said. " If you're in the center of the island, that wouldn't be too hard to find- since you're in a tower. Not to mention we might spot Eri on the way. "

Oh hell no! Having a single person trying to make their way through the city was hard enough. Trying to do the same with a group would just slow everyone down and decrease the chances of making it.

" Just stay put. I can retrace my steps and find her; search around if I have to. Knowing Eri- if she did make it to the city, there's no doubt in my mind that she went straight for the tower- it's kind of hard not to, considering the state this city is in... "

Now THIS plan has a much better chance of success. Risa already has an idea of the layout of the compound and city.  It will be much easier for a group of 2 to escape than it would be for all 9 of them.

" Make sure you look between tight spots too Risa! " Sayumi's voice chimed in.

Good point!

" Indeed. Good luck. Oh- and if you come across a walkie talkie or some sort, we'll be on frequency 125.23 ... Contact us once you do what you need to do, and we'll set up a place to meet."

" Gotcha. " She etched the numbers into her head. " Risa, out. "

Nicely, and SMARTLY done. Once Risa finds Eri, Eri can let them know about Aya and the escape route!

[meowchi]

Hitomi Yoshizawa
Rockfort Shore, Medical Compound
October 9, 11:15 AM



" Gotcha. Risa, out. "

And then Hitomi saw that the light over the transmit relay switch turned off.
Once again, Risa was on her own.

Hitomi didn't have the heart to tell Risa that Miki was dead, and that Reina had some, 'memory complications'.

But all for the greater good, Hitomi thought. If Risa found out about Miki, she'd be devasted, losing hope.
It was bad enough Eri was out there.

And then there was Reina, who seems to be suffering from amnesia from a concussion- according to Ai anyway, but she seems to be taking it in pretty well. They were able to convince her that she was part of their S.W.A.T team, and that they were sent to this island to rescue, in Sayumi's words, 'their comrades from illegal cannibalism'.

Reina always liked action films, so they figured, what the heck- we'll see if Reina believes it- and thanks to Sayumi's logical skills; one lifes story as a special ops member provided.
Koharu protested, saying it was wrong- we were lying to her- but on account of the informal situation; she quickly changed her mind.
Besides, it worked surprisingly well- it gave Reina a boost confidence in holding a gun.

Hitomi snapped the radio receiver to her back pocket; making sure it
was properly adjusted so it wouldn't fall off.

Someone sneezed in the background, and Hitomi realized it was Reina and she felt sorry for her- she'd sustained the most injuries; a sprained muscle in both her legs being one of them, but nothing some rest can't cure-

After the booby trap blast in the other building, it took them a while to regroup; Ai being the first one to regain consciousness, and then successfully waking the others.
Not wanting to be sighted by the squads of 'deltas', we'd immediately took refuge in the nearest building, leaving most their weapons and gear behind in the rubble- and when it started to get light out, Sayumi found a 2-way radio, and it was than they heard Risa's transmission.

Well, at least we know we're not the only one up Cold Creek
without a paddle...
Sighing, Hitomi dusted herself off and turned to look
at the rest of the office. Other than a few loose papers
scattered on the floor, it looked the same as the other one- despite us blowing it up, you mean. Hitomi sighed, inadvertantly blowing a few strands of hair aside. That's strike two captain- three strikes an' you're out.

Hitomi glances around- maneuvering her eyes across a few desks cluttered with files, PCs, and personal items,
some overloaded shelves, a dead fax machine—and behind
the door, the tall, reinforced steel gun safe that she
hoped to God wasn't empty. The others, Ai, Reina and Sayumi had been trying to decipher
the lock while Koharu, once again, looks for information on the PC, furiously typing and clicking the mouse.

" Any luck with the lock? " Hitomi asks aloud.
" No- " Reina and Ai answer in unison, one a bit more annoyed than the other.

Hitomi walks over to the youngest Musume, sitting awkwardly in front of a glimmering PC monitor, data sprawling up and down. " How about you? "
Koharu tsked. " ...I'm just- sh!! ...I'm trying to concentrate- retrace what I did before... "
Hitomi nods, quickly averting her gaze on something she catches on the screen. " hold on- click that directory, "

Koharu and Hitomi absorb whats on the screen-

" Waitasec- " -and in the background, Reina abruptly pouts. " Can I just shoot the dumb ol' thing off'? This is really starting to annoy me. "

" Shoot it? " Sayumi replies. " You can't shoot it because, A: we don't know what's in here. "

Reina's expression lights up. " THANK you- so how do we know if this is worth it? We've been doing this for hours now! "

" We haven't been doing it that long... And anyway, there could be explosives inside. So if we do it your way we all say bye bye. " Ai adds on, raising her voice a little so everyone can hear. " On the other hand- Reina might be proving a point- it might be empty, so- "

Sayumi lets out an interrupting, enforced sigh. " Sheesh, wouldyou- just quit whining, both of you!! "

There was a pause.
" Uh-oh, " Reina rasped sarcastically, emphasing herself with a lisp. " The shige hath spokenth-"

Ai smirked- and nudged Sayumi.

Reina sighs, backing away- crossing her arms. “ Maybe I should scold the lock in Hakata dialect. Scare it away. “
“ Your face will scare it away. “ Sayumi scoffed.

“ ‘yourfacewillscareitaway’ “ Reina mocked, and she started to imitate a crying baby, getting up and close to Sayumi’s ear- making sure she heard every whimper.

“ hey, “ Ai began, “ – stop argu- “

" Those zombie death squads out there aren't going to die easy, " Hitomi interrupted, wishing she'd said something sooner."  We want use anything we can get our hands on- empty or not, I expect that thing to be opened. Now. "

No one said a word- and Reina was already reaching back to tend to the lock as Hitomi retracts her attention back onto the computer, the three Musume's were silent with the exception of Reina- whom was still smiling.

With all the noise we're making, it's a miracle how we're still alive-

She shivered, feeling the knot of fear in her lower belly
clench and grow heavier. Why hadn't they broken down the
doors and killed them, she didn't know; they easily had the firepower which was easily strong enough. Just thinking about it made her want to crawl
into a dark place somewhere and hide.

But no, she couldn't do that- there was work to be done. While Risa searches for Eri, we'll be doing the work that puts the people who did this in jail- we've got to get enough evidence. I don't want to see the population of Earth turn into a muck, hellish travesty.

Time to get to business. She stepped to a nearby desk, randomly
thinking there might be another booby trapped rigged somewhere, they'd
gotten lucky that time; it seemed like a lifetime
had gone by since then. She opened the top drawer and
started to dig—and there, behind a box of paper clips,
was a set of keys wrapped in thin fabric.

Yes! She lifted the small cloth bundle and unrolled it,
looking over the six separated, man made metals, with a detailed
eye.

" What'd you find? " Ai asked, seemingly knowledgeable to Hitomi's discovery.
The others looked on.

Without saying a word, Hitomi clasps the keys forming a bundle in her grip, raising her hand in small victory.

" Wait- this is good, " Sayumi backs away from the lock, dragging Ai and Reina with her. " If she doesn't say anything- it's good. "

Reina scratches her head. " So she's that type... " She adds, amused. " Meccha kakkoii! "

Hitomi gave her best yankee cool look as she brushed past them and
she stood in front of the locker, inserted a key with the most logical size,
and gently felt for the tumblers.

The key slides in perfectly and Hitomi smiles, pointing proudly at her accomplishment. " Boys an’ Girls, this is why patience is vir- "

It doesn't turn.

" Crap. " She says.
A little dishelmed from the revelation, she quickly stuffs the un-matching key into her back pocket.

" 'this is why patience is crap? '" Sayumi reiterated.

Maybe this one- and she tried anew, but this one wouldn't even go in.

Reina scratches her head. " So she's that type... Meccha samui! "

Hitomi ignored the chuckles and in less than a
minute, she was rewarded for her efforts; the heavy
door swung open, and there, in plain sight, was the
stainless steel answer to at least one of her recent
prayers.

"Bless your soul Tanaka Reina," she breathed, lifting the
heavy revolver off the otherwise empty lower shelf. There was an inventory sheet
taped on the wall of the locker-

" A Colt Python .357 Magnum, six-shot with a swing-out
cylinder. " Hitomi read aloud, and by the sheer weight of it, she knew this thing packed a
wallop. Whoever left it behind, either by mistake
or on purpose, seemed like a miracle ... as did
the twenty-plus rounds in a box on the floor of the
safe. Besides office debris, there wasn't much of anything else, but there was
one magazine's worth of 9mm rounds loose in one of
the drawers.

Ai knelt down, and started gathering the loose bullets and Reina and Sayumi surrounded Hitomi, inquiring looks gathering on their faces.

" Wow, it's a gun that looks like all the other guns I've ever seen in my life- AMAZING! " Reina says, leaning against Sayumi. " I’m sure this’ll scare away the zombies! Right. "

Sayumi glances at her, giving a weird look, than back to Hitomi. " Is it powerful? "

" Feels like it, " Hitomi props the magnum up, and aims at a nearby desk, but doesn't fire. " Won't know until we use it, I guess. "

" -whoa, look at this- " Ai stands and starts to unwrap something crumpled, it was paper, and she centers it in the middle of the group:

" A map! " She adds.
Reina and Sayumi call Koharu over, but she was too busy typing and clicking to take notice.

Hitomi looks closer, hoping to get a detailed outlook on things.
The map was of the stretch of coast just south of a city, an aerial sketch of the cove itself.

" Is that the city Eri and Risa's in? " Sayumi points.
Hitomi nods. " Most likely. "

There were a few handwritten facts about the area, written below:

" The rather isolated stretch had been government owned for several
years, bought up by an anonymous group." Ai read aloud. " There was a defunct lighthouse on the northern rim of the inlet, sitting atop a cliff that was supposedly riddled with sea caves. "

The map showed detailed, several structures behind and below the lighthouse, leading down to a small pier on the southern tip of the open crescent. There was a notched border that ran the length of the cove on the inland side, presumably a fence. ROCKFORT COVE was written across the top in bold letters.

In smaller type, just beneath were the words RESEARCH AND TESTING.
According to that, Hitomi figured this was the place where they were at- determining the distance they'd snuck in from the pier and shore.

There was another piece of paper that had fallen out from Ai's grip, and Sayumi picked it up; glancing over it and redeemed a look that she didn’t understand the written content so she handed it to Hitomi;
 
There was a short list of names at the top, seven in all:
KEN MATSUURA, RYOKO YOKOHARA, LEO ATHENS, LOUIS THURMAN, NIITA TOMOKO, XIAOLIN WONG, JESSICA CHIN.
Just under it was a somewhat poetic list of sorts, set into the center of the page in curling font.

Hitomi handed it to Reina and she was reading it carefully. She looked up at Hitomi, a half-smile on her face.

“A list? People who like to have banquet parties?”
“Har har. Any idea what it means?” Hitomi asked, ignoring Reina's joke.

Sayumi sighed heavily. “I don't think these are random names, so I’m willing to
bet these people also work for the government. I mean- remember Hirokane? ”
Hitomi nodded, cringing as her mind remembers the corpse nailed to the door. “I'm thinking that too. And check out what else is written- Remind you of something?” Sayumi glanced back at the
paper Reina held, frowning as she read it aloud:

" Matsuura’s message received/blue series/enter answer for key/letters and numbers reverse/time rainbow/don’t count/ blue to access. "

Sayumi faintly gasps. " This is what was written on the note we found on- "
-"Mr. Kenshi Hirokane. " Hitomi finishes the sentence. “ Cept’ Hirokane’s note didn’t have that Matsuura part. “

" 'Matsuura's message receieved?' " Reina pointed at one of the names on the list. " As in, Ken Matsuura? "
Sayumi nods slowly. " Has to be a researcher- "

Ai finished studying the map and handed it to Hitomi, and took the 'Matsuura' note from Reina as Sayumi looked back at Hitomi thoughtfully.
“The whole place is rigged with puzzles; probably locks and more traps. " Sayumi sighed. " This is basically our only clue to get past all that —“

“Oh, sh**.”
They all turned to Ai who was staring at the top of the page, her face drained of color. She looked at Hitomi with an expression of anxious despair. “Niita Tomoko is on this list.”
Hitomi nodded. “So? We've heard that Niita name before-"
" Yeah but I didn't consider it to be Niita Tomoko. "

Sayumi chimed in. " Why?”
Ai looked around at all of them, her young face openly distressed. “Because I thought she was dead. She was one of the greats, one of the most brilliant women ever to work in biosciences.”
She turned back to Hitomi, her gaze heavy with dread. “If she’s in on this, we’ve got a lot more to worry about than zombies. She’s a genius in the field of molecular virology—and if the stories are true, she’s also totally insane.” Hitomi looked back at the list, her stomach a leaden knot.

“What can you tell us about her?” Hitomi asked. Ai’s mouth felt dry. She reached for the bottled water attached to her belt and drained it before looking at Hitomi.

“How much do you know about medical research?” she asked.
Hitomi smiled a little. “Nothing. Not everyone had the privilege to get accepted into Hinode y'know.”

" Yuck! You went to Hinode? “Reina cleared her throat. “ As in the private school? "

Ai nodded, trying to think of where to start. “Okay. Viruses are classified by their replication strategy and by the type of nucleic acid in the virion—that’s the specialized element in a virus that allows it to transfer its genome to another living cell. A genome is a single, simple set of chromosomes. According to the Osaka Classification, there are seven distinct types of viruses, and each group infects certain organisms in a certain way."

“In the early eighties, a young scientist at a private university in Japan challenged the theory, insisting that there was an eighth group—one based loosely on dsDNA and ssDNA viruses—that could infect everything it contacted, initiating several instances of psychic  telekinesis anomalies. It was Dr. Tomoko. She published several papers, and while it turned out that she was wrong, her reasoning was brilliant. I know, I read them. The scientific community scoffed at her theory, but her research on telekinesis-specified inclusion bodies in the cytoplasm without a linear genome ...”

Ai trailed off, noticing the blank expressions on their faces. “Sorry. Anyway, Tomoko, stopped trying to prove the theory, but a lot of people were interested to see what she’d come up with next.”

Sayumi interrupted, frowning. “Where did you learn all this?”
“In school. One of my professors was kind of a science-history buff. His specialty was defunct theories ... and scandals.”

“So what happened?” Reina asked.
“The next time anyone heard from Tomoko, it was because she’d gotten kicked out of the university. Dr.Vachss —that was my prof— told us that Tomoko was officially fired for using drugs, methamphetamines— but the rumor was that she’d been experimenting with drug-induced behavior modification on a couple of her students. Neither of them would talk, but one of them ended up in an asylum and the other eventually committed suicide. Nothing was ever proved, but after that, no one would hire her— and as far as the facts go, that’s the last anyone heard of Niita Tomoko.”

“But there’s more to the story?” Hitomi asked.
Ai nodded slowly. “In the mid-nineties, a private lab in Osaka was broken into by cops and the bodies of three men were found, all dead of a filovirus infection—it was Marburg, one of the most lethal viruses there is. They’d been dead for weeks; neighbors had complained because of the smell. The papers the police found in the lab suggested that all three men were research assistants to a Dr. Ken Matsuura, and that they had allowed themselves to be deliberately infected with what they understood to be a harmless cold virus. Dr. Matsuura was going to see if he could cure it.”

Ai stood up, crossing her arms tightly, explaining the agony those men must have endured; she’d seen pictures of Marburg victims.
From the initial headache to extreme amplification in a matter of days. Fever, clotting, shock, brain
damage, massive hemorrhaging from every orifice—they would’ve died in pools of their own blood...

“And your professor thought it was Niita?” Sayumi asked softly.
Ai looked like she had to force the images away and turned to Sayumi, finishing the story, probably the way Dr. Vachss had.
“Niita’s mother—her maiden name was Matsuura.”
Reina let out a low whistle, as Sayumi and Ai exchanged a worried look. Hitomi was studying her intently, Ai's gaze cool and unreadable. All the same, she thought. She knew what was going through her mind.

“ So- telekinesis- “ Sayumi shook her head, recounting what Ai had said earlier. “ Like psychic powers? What was she trying to prove with that? “

“ That viral substances can trigger a lapse in the brain- creating mutation or- “ Ai paused. “ – evolution. “

Another pause-
" Well that was worth the trip, " Reina said, breaking the silence, saying the first half of the sentence slowly. Sayumi and Ai nodded.

Worth the trip indeed, and amazingly, the thought made her smile. Add an impending explosion and some bad weather to the mix, she'd have herself a party.

"You can say that again," she said softly and started to load the Magnum with hands that weren't quite steady, and hadn't been for a long time.

[JFC]

Hitomi didn't have the heart to tell Risa that Miki was dead, and that Reina had some, 'memory complications'.

But all for the greater good, Hitomi thought. If Risa found out about Miki, she'd be devasted, losing hope.
It was bad enough Eri was out there.

Indeed. Risa needs to have her full concentration on finding Eri and getting out alive, and neither of them will be able to do that if they know about what happened to Reina and Miki-sama.

And then there was Reina, who seems to be suffering from amnesia from a concussion- according to Ai anyway, but she seems to be taking it in pretty well. They were able to convince her that she was part of their S.W.A.T team, and that they were sent to this island to rescue, in Sayumi's words, 'their comrades from illegal cannibalism'.

Hey, whatever works, right? Besides, it's actually not that far from the truth! 

After the booby trap blast in the other building, it took them a while to regroup; Ai being the first one to regain consciousness, and then successfully waking the others.
Not wanting to be sighted by the squads of 'deltas', we'd immediately took refuge in the nearest building, leaving most their weapons and gear behind in the rubble- and when it started to get light out, Sayumi found a 2-way radio, and it was than they heard Risa's transmission.

Considering where the explosion took place, they're hella lucky that they didn't get found by any zombies while they were knocked out.  Finding that 2-way was also a massive stroke of lucky, but considering that it probably came off of the body of one of the prison workers, they still need to keep alert just in case.

behind
the door, the tall, reinforced steel gun safe that she
hoped to God wasn't empty. The others, Ai, Reina and Sayumi had been trying to decipher
the lock while Koharu, once again, looks for information on the PC, furiously typing and clicking the mouse.

" Any luck with the lock? " Hitomi asks aloud.
" No- " Reina and Ai answer in unison, one a bit more annoyed than the other.

They'd better hope that the lock doesn't require something like a handprint or a verbal code.

Hitomi nods, quickly averting her gaze on something she catches on the screen. " hold on- click that directory, "

Koharu and Hitomi absorb whats on the screen-

Oooooooooooooooo...what'd they find?

" Waitasec- " -and in the background, Reina abruptly pouts. " Can I just shoot the dumb ol' thing off'? This is really starting to annoy me. "

" Shoot it? " Sayumi replies. " You can't shoot it because, A: we don't know what's in here. "

Reina's expression lights up. " THANK you- so how do we know if this is worth it? We've been doing this for hours now! "

" We haven't been doing it that long... And anyway, there could be explosives inside. So if we do it your way we all say bye bye. "

Well done Aichan.  Couldn't have said it better myself.

Sayumi lets out an interrupting, enforced sigh. " Sheesh, wouldyou- just quit whining, both of you!! "

There was a pause.
" Uh-oh, " Reina rasped sarcastically, emphasing herself with a lisp. " The shige hath spokenth-"

Ai smirked- and nudged Sayumi.

Reina sighs, backing away- crossing her arms. “ Maybe I should scold the lock in Hakata dialect. Scare it away. “
“ Your face will scare it away. “ Sayumi scoffed.

“ ‘yourfacewillscareitaway’ “ Reina mocked, and she started to imitate a crying baby, getting up and close to Sayumi’s ear- making sure she heard every whimper.

'kay, I must just be warped, but I found that rather funny; especially the "shige hath spokenth" part.

“ hey, “ Ai began, “ – stop argu- “

" Those zombie death squads out there aren't going to die easy, " Hitomi interrupted, wishing she'd said something sooner."  We want use anything we can get our hands on- empty or not, I expect that thing to be opened. Now. "

No one said a word- and Reina was already reaching back to tend to the lock as Hitomi retracts her attention back onto the computer

Way to take command Yossi.

While Risa searches for Eri, we'll be doing the work that puts the people who did this in jail- we've got to get enough evidence. I don't want to see the population of Earth turn into a muck, hellish travesty.

Time to get to business.

Excellent point. All evidence so far has pointed to the fact that there is some big money and power behind what's been going on here. If they make it off the island, yet say nothing, chances are those same powers will simply resume the experiments at another location, putting even more people through potential suffering. Wanting to save themselves is good and important, but so is doing what they can to prevent anyone else from having to potentially go through it themselves.

She opened the top drawer and started to dig—and there, behind a box of paper clips, was a set of keys wrapped in thin fabric.

Yes! She lifted the small cloth bundle and unrolled it, looking over the six separated, man made metals, with a detailed eye.

You're kidding me!

They actually leave spare keys in places where random people could find them?

" Wait- this is good, " Sayumi backs away from the lock, dragging Ai and Reina with her. " If she doesn't say anything- it's good. "

Reina scratches her head. " So she's that type... " She adds, amused. " Meccha kakkoii! "

It is, isn't it? 

Hitomi gave her best yankee cool look as she brushed past them and she stood in front of the locker, inserted a key with the most logical size, and gently felt for the tumblers.

The key slides in perfectly and Hitomi smiles, pointing proudly at her accomplishment. " Boys an’ Girls, this is why patience is vir- "

It doesn't turn.

" Crap. " She says.

Oh well, there are 5 more to try.

" 'this is why patience is crap? '" Sayumi reiterated.

Hitomi ignored the chuckles and in less than a minute, she was rewarded for her efforts; the heavy door swung open, and there, in plain sight, was the stainless steel answer to at least one of her recent prayers.

...

" A Colt Python .357 Magnum, six-shot with a swing-out cylinder. " Hitomi read aloud, and by the sheer weight of it, she knew this thing packed a wallop.

Oh yeah baby.


Ummmm...is it just the one weapon in there?

Ai stands and starts to unwrap something crumpled, it was paper, and she centers it in the middle of the group:

" A map! " She adds.

Nice, but is it a map of the whole island? Does it show them the way to the places that Aya told Eri about that could be potential points of departure/escape? If it's just a map of a small part of the city or of the prison, then it's pretty much useless.

Reina and Sayumi call Koharu over, but she was too busy typing and clicking to take notice.

Hmm...what IS it that Koharu's looking at?

Hitomi looks closer, hoping to get a detailed outlook on things.
The map was of the stretch of coast just south of a city, an aerial sketch of the cove itself.

" Is that the city Eri and Risa's in? " Sayumi points.
Hitomi nods. " Most likely. "

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrr...I guess it's better than nothing. And at least it shows where the coastline is.

*DISCUSSION OF WHAT'S WRITTEN ON THE MAP*

The list of names is particularly interesting, by the looks of the names it's either some type of co-operative between multiple. Can't help but wonder what relation that "Ken Matsuura" is to Aya (because you know that he has to be, a story like this can't leave something like that to mere coincidence ).

" Matsuura’s message received/blue series/enter answer for key/letters and numbers reverse/time rainbow/don’t count/ blue to access. "

Why do I get the feeling that this has something to do with the computer systems?

“Oh, sh**.”
They all turned to Ai who was staring at the top of the page, her face drained of color.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
 

“Niita Tomoko is on this list.”
Hitomi nodded. “So? We've heard that Niita name before-"
" Yeah but I didn't consider it to be Niita Tomoko. "

The crazy woman who was shooting at Eri!

Sayumi chimed in. " Why?”
Ai looked around at all of them, her young face openly distressed. “Because I thought she was dead. She was one of the greats, one of the most brilliant women ever to work in biosciences.”
She turned back to Hitomi, her gaze heavy with dread. “If she’s in on this, we’ve got a lot more to worry about than zombies. She’s a genius in the field of molecular virology—and if the stories are true, she’s also totally insane.” Hitomi looked back at the list, her stomach a leaden knot.

I'm actually amazed here that Aichan's a science geek. 

“What can you tell us about her?” Hitomi asked. Ai’s mouth felt dry. She reached for the bottled water attached to her belt and drained it before looking at Hitomi.

“How much do you know about medical research?” she asked.
Hitomi smiled a little. “Nothing. Not everyone had the privilege to get accepted into Hinode y'know.”

" Yuck! You went to Hinode? “Reina cleared her throat. “ As in the private school? "

*AICHAN TALKS ABOUT NIIDA'S THEORY AND EXPERIMENTS*

Looks like she didn't give up after all. She could have found some private financial backers and continued her research here using the prisoners and residents of the island as her test subjects. 

“In the mid-nineties, a private lab in Osaka was broken into by cops and the bodies of three men were found, all dead of a filovirus infection—it was Marburg, one of the most lethal viruses there is. They’d been dead for weeks; neighbors had complained because of the smell. The papers the police found in the lab suggested that all three men were research assistants to a Dr. Ken Matsuura, and that they had allowed themselves to be deliberately infected with what they understood to be a harmless cold virus. Dr. Matsuura was going to see if he could cure it.”

...

“And your professor thought it was Niita?” Sayumi asked softly.
Ai looked like she had to force the images away and turned to Sayumi, finishing the story, probably the way Dr. Vachss had.
“Niita’s mother—her maiden name was Matsuura.”

So then, Ken Matsuura was Niita's uncle? Cousin?

...

HOLY F**K SHE COULD BE AYA'S AUNT!!!

What was she trying to prove with that? “

“ That viral substances can trigger a lapse in the brain- creating mutation or- “ Ai paused. “ – evolution. “

All of a sudden I'm worried that Aya might have been experimented on without her knowledge or she just doesn't realize it.  That could explain why Eri found Aya in that oven-trap earlier. If Aya is one of Niita's test subjects, she could have been captured and thrown into that oven-trap to try and force her body to change/evolve so that she could survive or even escape under her own power.

* JFC strokes his chin in a pensive manner.

[meowchi]

Sheesh- JFC; you can start a fic based on your comments alone...

lol, appreciate it. it's actually fun to read your in depth analysis which by the way, i had to censor that F bomb you dropped back there!

[Sancho]

Why does every time I finished reading and about to reply to what I think is the latest chapter, Another chapter comes along. I guess I'm having a hard time to catch to my favorite fics.

Well anyway. The new chap was cool although my brain got twisted a little bit with it's details and stuff.

Hitomi with .357 Caliber Magnum ( My fave weapon). Now tell me why would I stop reading this fic? 

[meowchi]

Aya Matsuura
Rockfort Prison, Dock
October 9, 12:00 PM



THE ALLEGED DOCK WASN'T REALLY A DOCK
at all, much to Aya's disappointment, and there wasn't
a boat in sight. She 'd expected a long pier with pilings
and seagulls, all that sh**, and a half dozen ships to
choose from, each of them stocked with full pantries and
soft beds. Instead, she'd found a tiny, grungy platform
that sat over an unpleasantly gray lagoon-ish area, protected
from the ocean by a ridge of jagged rock that he
could barely make out in the dark. There was a pulpit
kind of thing with a ship's steering wheel stuck on it at
the edge of the platform, probably some dumba** "monument
to the sea" or whatever, a decrepit table with some
trash on it, and a ratty, moldy old life jacket heaped in a
corner, the once bright orange stained to a murky mustard
color. Nothing bigger than a canoe was ever going to
dock at this particular pier; in a word, lame.

Great. So how did all those people get off the island,
backstroke? And if there's an air strip, where the heck
is it?
Bad enough that now she had to find another escape,
she'd also told Eri that she 'd meet her here. She
couldn't just take off, but she didn't want to stand around
waiting, either.

You could still ditch her.

Aya scowled, irritably kicking at a rusted-out hunk
of random machinery. Maybe Eri is a little nosy, a little
naive ... but Eri'd saved her a**, no question, and
her wanting to go back to help Risa just because she was her friend—that was ... well, it
wasnice, it was a nice thing to do. Leaving Eri behind
didn't seem right.
Not sure what to do next, she walked over to the
mounted steering wheel (wasn't there some kind of
sailor name for it, one of those port-starboard-ahoy
words? she didn't know.) and gave it a spin, surprised at
how smoothly it turned considering how crappy the rest
of the "dock" was—
—and with a low mechanical hum, the platform beneath
her feet abruptly detached from the rest and slid
out over the water, as giant bubbles started to break the
water's surface in front of her.

What the- Aya held on to the wheel with one hand,
pointed the tip of her katana at the rising bubbles with
the other. If it was one of their creatures, it was
about to be breathing hot lead—
—and a small submarine rose up out of the water like
a dark, metal fish, the hatch conveniently popping open
directly in front of her feet. A runged ladder led down
into the sub, which appeared to be empty. Unlike the
worn-out surroundings, the little sub looked sturdy and
well-maintained.
Aya stared at it, astounded. What was this sh**? It
was like some theme park ride, so weird that she wasn't
sure what to think.
Is it any weirder than anything else I've dealt with
today?

Point taken. The map she'd looked at back at the mansion
had been vague, just a couple of arrows and the
wordsdock andairstrip ... and apparently you had to
take a submarine ride to get there. Whoever designed this place is one messed up person.

She stepped down onto the top rung and then hesitated,
her skin still red from the last unknown she'd
stepped into. She didn't want to drown any more than
she'd wanted to get baked alive.
Ah, f*** it, won't know 'til you try.

Again, point taken. Aya climbed down the ladder,
and when she stepped off, she triggered a pressure plate in
the floor of the sub. Above her, the hatch closed. She
quickly stepped on it again, and the hatch reopened. It
was good to know she wouldn't suffocate, at least.
The interior of the submarine was very plain, maybe
as big as a large bathroom, bisected by the narrow ladder.
There was a small padded bench on one side, the
rear of the sub, and a simple control console in front.

"Let's see what we got here," Aya muttered, stepping
up to the controls. They were ridiculously simple, a
single lever with two settings—the handle was currently
next to the upper setting, marked "main." The lower setting
was marked "transport," and Aya grinned, amazed
that it could be this easy. Talk about user-friendly.

She tapped the pressure plate again, sealing the hatch,
wondering if Eri would be impressed by her discovery
as she pulled the lever down. She heard a soft metallic
fhunkand then the submarine was moving, descending.
There was a single porthole, but it was too dark to see
anything besides a few rising bubbles.
The anticlimactic ride was over in about ten seconds.
The sub seemed to stop moving, and she heard a sharper
metallic sound coming from the hatch, like it was brushing
against something—definitely not an underwater
sound.

Onward and upward. The hatch opened as she started
to climb the ladder, sheething away her katana and stancing her trusty pistol firmly in hand... and she
stepped out onto a metal platform walled in glass or
plexi, surrounded by black water on either side. There
were a few steps leading down to a well-lit hallway,
where only the left-hand wall was made out of water.

Yeesh.

It was like the displays at some aquariums,
where you could go through an underwater tunnel, look
at the fish. she 'd never liked those things, finding it way
too easy to imagine the glass breaking just as a shark decided
to cruise by ... or something worse.

Enough of that. Aya stepped down into the hall and
followed it around two bends, deliberately staring
straight ahead. It was the first time since the attack on
the island that she 'd felt really nervous—not so much
claustrophobia as a kind of primal fear, that something
would come flashing out of the dark water toward the
glass, an animal or something else—a pale hand, perhaps,
or maybe a dead, white face pressing against the
window, smiling at her—
She couldn't help it. She broke into a run, and when the
corridor met a door that apparently led away from the
water room, she called herself a wimp but was vastly relieved,
anyway.

She pushed the door open—and saw two, three...
four zombies in all, and all of them suddenly quite eager
for her company. Each of them turned and began to limp
or stagger toward her, the rags of their clothing— Japan Naval
uniforms, no question— hanging from their outstretched
arms. There was a smell like dead fish.

"Unnnh," one of them moaned, and the others chimed
in, the wails strangely gentle in a way, kind of sad and
lost-sounding. Considering what the government had put her
through, she didn't feel a whole lot of sympathy. None,
in fact.

The room was half-split by a wall, the three zombies
on the left unable to see the lone ranger on the
right... though maybe they could, she thought, peering
closer. Each of the trio had eyes that seemed to glow, a
strange dark red. They reminded her of a movie she 'd
seen once, about a man with super X-ray vision, who
saw all kinds of sh**.

Guess we'll never know what they see.
Aya took aim
at the nearest, closed one eye, andbam, right through
the ol' frontal lobe, a clean hole appearing in its graygreen
forehead like magic. The creature's red eyes
seemed to fade and go out as it dropped, first to its
knees, then flat down on its face, sploosh. Gross.

The zombie's comrades took no notice, kept coming.
The lone ranger's progress had been stopped by a desk;
he continued to walk anyway, apparently not noticing
that he wasn't going anywhere.
Aya took out the next in line same as the first, a one
shot kill, but for some reason, she didn't feel all that great
about it. Shooting them down like that. It hadn't bothered
her before, back at the prison—then it had felt
good, powerful even; she 'd been stuck in that cr**hole for
long enough to be pretty righteously pissed, and having
some control again had been like Christmas, like a great,
big, Christmas present that some little kid had been
waiting for all year, like she used to wait...
Shut up.

Aya didn't want to think about it, it was
bullsh**. So she didn't feel like clapping every time she
wasted another one of them, so what? All it meant was
that she was getting bored.

She hurriedly shot the last two, the shots seeming
louder than before, practically deafening. A quick look
around for anything useful—if paper clips and dirty old
coffee mugs were useful, she was sitting pretty—and she
was ready to move on. There were two doors on the
back wall, one on either side of the room; she picked left
on general principles. she'd read somewhere that when
given a choice, most people picked right.

After checking her ammo, she walked past a big,
empty fish tank that dominated the left side of the room
and cautiously pushed the door open, taking in as much
as she could in a single glance. Dark, cavernous, smells
of salt water and oil, nothing moving. she stepped inside,
sweeping with her pistol—
—and laughed out loud, a rash of pure joy washing
through her system as her laugh echoed back at her. It
was a seaplane hangar, and there was one big-a** seaplane
sitting right in front of her. Big to her, anyway,
she'd mostly flown in a little twin-engine private plane.
Thoroughly pleased, Aya walked toward the plane,
which sat just below the mesh platform under her feet.
She was an inexperienced pilot, but figured she probably
knew enough not to crash the thing.
First things first, board the thing and check fuel, general
condition, learn the controls...

She stopped at the edge of the platform and looked
down, frowning. She was at least ten feet above the front
hatch, which looked to be locked down tight.
There was a bank of machinery to her left, a few panels
lit up. Aya walked over and looked at them, smiling
when she saw a control to power up the boarding lift. The
system should also open the plane door, according to the
tiny diagram.
"Presto," she said, flipping the switch. A loud and grating
mechanical noise bellowed through the giant hangar,
making her wince, but it stopped after a few seconds, as
a two-man lift slid to a halt at the platform's edge.
He stepped onto the lift, studied the standing control
panel—and started to curse, every bad word she could
think of, twice. Next to a trio of hexagonally shaped
spaces were the words, "insert proof keys here." No
keys, no power.

They could be anywhere on the whole g***amn island!
And what are the chances that all g***amn three
of them will be g***amn together?
She took a deep breath, made herself calm down a little,
and spent the next few minutes figuring out how the
plane's controls were hooked up to the rest of the system,
looking for a way to bypass the keys. And after a
careful, thoughtful deliberation, she started cursing
again. When she finally got tired of that, she resigned
herself to the inevitable.

Aya turned around and started to search the area,
peering into every dark crevice, formulating theories
about where the proof keys might be as she ran her hands
over the greasy, dust-slimed machinery cabinets—and
she decided that she was definitely going to dance all over
the bones of the next zombie she gunned
down, just for working at such an unnecessarily complicated
place. Keys and emblems and proofs and submarines;
it was a wonder they ever got sh** done.

[JFC]

Sheesh- JFC; you can start a fic based on your comments alone...

lol, appreciate it. it's actually fun to read your in depth analysis

Hopefully some others can pick up the slack.
http://forum.jphip.com/index.php?topic=6950.msg492769#msg492769

by the way, i had to censor that F bomb you dropped back there!

Oops, forgot about that.



Hidden submarine that leads to a secret hanger? Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice (and not entirely surprising, considering that they probably wouldn't want to provide a prison breakout with an easy mode of escape).

Hopefully the sub is large enough to transport all the girls in one go.

Next to a trio of hexagonally shaped spaces were the words, "insert proof keys here." No keys, no power.

Another security measure, no doubt.

[meowchi]

Eri Kamei
Rockfort Prison, Courtyard (Training Facility)
October 9, 12:55 PM



The virus carrier was wearing a lab coat and its lower
jaw had fallen off somewhere, or been broken off; it gurgled
and spluttered horribly, its wormy tongue flopping
limply across its neck. Eri couldn't tell if it had been
a man or woman, although she supposed it didn't really
matter. As pitiful as it was revolting, she put it out of its
misery with a single shot to the temple and then
searched the area— working laboratory office, small
inventory room— before stepping back into the hall, discouraged
at her overwhelming lack of success.

The entrance she'd walked back to from the mansion
had opened up into a reasonably big courtyard, hard
packed dirt and totally utilitarian— more like the prison
than the palace, although even after searching a few
rooms, she still couldn't figure out where the entrance to the tower
was, not to mention where she was, exactly;
some kind of testing facility, maybe, or a training
ground for guards or soldiers.

Maybe just a building designed to destroy hope,she
thought blackly, looking toward the front door. She'd
walked in maybe ten minutes ago, hoping that Risa
wasn't already dead, that Aya had found a boat, that
Ms. Niita wasn't planning to
blow up the island— and in just ten minutes, those hopes
had been thoroughly stomped on. All she really wanted
now was a door- a door to the freakin' tower, because then
she'd be one step closer to leaving.

She'd tried the upstairs first, undergoing an exciting little
adventure that had shaved a few years off her life. All
she'd found up there was a small, locked lab with a lot of
broken glass on the floor, from what appeared to be ruptured
holding tanks. She'd seen the damage through an
observation window, and had been about to leave when
some poor, bloody guy in an environmental suit threw
himself at the glass. It had been his dying act; the suit obviously
hadn't done him much good, his head had practically
exploded, coating the inside of his helmet with gore.
It hadn't done her heart much good, either, scaring her
half to death, and the whole upstairs experience had been
topped off by an emergency shutter lockdown, apparently
triggered by the suit guy. She'd practically had to hurl
herself down the stairs to avoid being trapped.

Whee.

Nine zombies she'd had to put down so far, three of
them in lab coats or scrubs, and not even a cotton swab
to show for it. Nothing in the locker room—and she'd
looked through practically every dang one of the
lockers, turning up jockstraps and dirty magazines, but little else—
nothing in the odd little shower room, zip and zilch.

Eri walked back to the long hall that branched off
from the building's first floor, that opened into an outdoor
courtyard. She'd hoped to find a map of some sort
without having to leave the building proper, but
there was no help for it.

If I get lost, I can just follow the trail of corpses back,
she thought, walking quickly down the nondescript corridor.
Not funny, but she wasn't feeling all that politically
correct at the moment. She was starting to run low
on ammo, too, which made her even less inclined to a
positive frame of mind.

She stepped from the relative warmth of the hall into
the mist-cloaked courtyard, smells of the ocean permeating
the cold gray night. A small fire burned against
one wall. The whole Rockfort facility was strangely laid
out, she thought, an unlike mix of new and old. Inefficient,
but interesting; the little courtyard was actually
cobblestoned, definitely not a recent addition—

Eri froze.

The narrow red beam of a laser scope
sliced through the mist in front of her, swept toward her
from somewhere above. A low balcony to her right, the
stairs for it set against the east wall.
Stairs, jump!

It was all she had time to think before the little red dot
was stuttering across her chest. She threw herself out of
the way as the first shot blasted through the cold air,
burying itself in a miniature fountain of stone chips.
She rolled to her feet and sprinted for the stairs, the
red light jerking back and forth, trying to find her.

Bam, a second shot, it missed but was close enough that she
could actually hear it cutting through the air, a highpitched
buzzing sound. She caught a glimpse of the
shooter just before ducking behind the low stone
balustrade, not surprised at all to see pony tailed black
hair and a slim figure.
She was more angry than scared, that after all she'd
been through, she hadn't been more careful—and that
she'd almost been taken out by such a weird little elitist
creep.
That stops right now.Eri raised her handgun over
the stone railing and fired off two rounds in Niita's
general direction. She was immediately rewarded with a
cry of shocked outrage.
Not so much fun when the peasants fire back, is it?

Ready to capitalize on her surprise, Eri scrambled
up three steps and risked a look over the rail— just in
time to see Niita run through a door on the west wall,
slamming it behind her.
Eri leaped up the stairs and took off after her, banging
through the door and down a moonlit hall, shafts of
cool light gently piercing the shadows. It wasn't a conscious
decision to pursue Niita, she just did it, not wanting
to stumble into any more of her ambushes. She could
see what looked like a soda machine at the end of hall,
could still hear Niita's running footsteps—

—and heard a door slam just before she reached the
corridor's end, a small room with two decrepit vending
machines and two doors to choose between.
Eri hesitated, looking at either door—a nd then put
her hands on her knees to catch her breath, giving up the
chase. For all she knew, Niita was standing on the other side
of one of those doors, just waiting for her to walk through.
Score one for the nutcase. Not a big victory, anyway.

With any luck, she'd be off the island soon, Niita Tomoko:
just another bad memory.

After a moment she straightened, walking over to
check out the vending machines— one for snacks, the
other, beverages. She suddenly realized she was ravenous,
and incredibly thirsty. When was the last time I ate?

The machines were both broken, but a couple of
good, solid kicks circumvented the problem nicely;
most of it was junk, but there were several bags of
mixed nuts and a few cans of orange juice. Not exactly a
steak dinner, but considering the circumstances, a bountiful
harvest anyway. She ate quickly, stuffing a few unopened
bags in her vest pockets for later, feeling more
focused almost immediately.

So... door number one, or door number two? Eenymeeny-
miney-mo— The gray door, to the right of the
corridor. She doubted that Niita had the patience to
still be waiting, but edged up to the door carefully just in
case, pushing it open with the barrel of the pistol.
Eri relaxed.

A small, cozy room, couple of
couches, an antique typewriter on a table, a large, dusty
trunk in one corner. It seemed safe enough; Niita must
have gone through door number one. She stepped inside
to search it, drawn toward a small heap of miscellaneous
objects on one of the couches—and her breath caught in
her throat, her eyes widening.
Thank you, Niita!

Someone had dumped the contents of a fanny pack on
the couch, the pack itself crumpled next to the pile, which
included two sterile needles and a syringe, a pack of
waterproof matches, a small two-way radio- which looked broken,
half a box of 9mm rounds, some hemostatic medication— and a
small, slim pressed special ops uniform; padded pants with
a skin tight black top- not exactly what she'd been looking
for, but given the chance to change out of her oversized, rain drenched clothes,
it sounds great right about now.

Not to mention this hemostatic stuff might come in handy- just in
case Risa's hurt...
There were a few other odds and ends in the 'makeshift
survival kit', a pen, a small flat screwdriver, a foil-wrapped
condom... at the last, she rolled her eyes, grinning. Interesting,
what some people considered absolute necessities.

Eri quickly changed, and her grin faded when she noticed the blood stains on the
pack, but she still felt better than she had in days.
She reloaded the pack and strapped it low around her
hips, transferring a few things over from her own woefully
tight pant pockets; throwing her tathered clothes behind her.
She could hardly believe her luck.
Changing out of her clothes into this cool looking special agent looking thing
was one thing, but it was also an incredible relief to find more ammo.
Even a single clip's worth was a godsend.

A search of the rest of the room yielded up nothing
more, not that she minded. She felt like the end was in
sight, an end to this terrible and horrific night.
Get inside that tower, get Risa,
then see if Aya's had any luck wrangling us a ride
home, she thought happily, stepping out of the room. It
had been a hard ride, but this experience had changed her,
she felt more mature, more capable—

-the heavy rattle of the closing shutter whipped her
around, the moment of happiness blown as the corridor,
her exit, was blocked off with a thundering crash.

No!Eri ran to the metal shutter, banged it once with
her fist, already knowing that there was no chance. She
was sealed in, the only possibility of escape now the one
door she hadn't yet tried. The one Niita had fled through.

"Welcome, Eri," a voice called out, as snotty and
pretentious as she remembered, with the same snide undertone
as before. There was an intercom box above one
of the vending machines, in the upper corner of the room.
Howdy, Niita, she thought dismally, unwilling to
give her the satisfaction of her anger or fear. The whole
compound was probably wired up for sound, she'd been
stupid not to think of it, and just because she didn't see a
camera, that didn't mean there wasn't one.

"You're about to enter a special playground, of sorts,"
Niita continued, "and there's a friend of mine I'd like
very much for you to meet; I think you'll play well together."

Fantastic, can't wait.
"Don't die too soon, Eri. I want to enjoy this."
She laughed, that insane, annoying, distinctly unnatural
giggle of hers, and then she was gone.

Eri stared blankly at the door she was supposed to
go through, considering her options. It was probably the
best thing Miki had ever taught her, that there were always
options; they might all totally suck, but there was
always a choice, regardless, and thinking over her alternatives
now had a calming effect.

I can hide in the safe room, live on snack food and pop
while I wait for troops to show up. I can sit here and
pray that some friendly party will miraculously come to
my rescue. I can try to get through the steel shutter, or
through one of the walls... with that screwdriver and
some elbow grease, I can probably break out in about
10,000 years. I can kill myself. Or I can walk through Niita'splay
ground door, see what there is to see.

There were a number of variations, but she thought
that basically summed things up... and only one of
them made any sense.
Technically, none of them makes sense! Part of her
howled.
I should be in my room, eating pasta and watching dvds!

Objection noted, she thought dryly, reaching into her
new pack for a full clip, tucking another in her fresh, skin tight tee for
fast access. Time to see what Niita and her underlings
had been up to out here, see if I'm up for the challenge.

Eri stepped up to the door and paused, wondering
if she should go into battle with some profound thought
about her life, or love, wondering if she was ready to
die ... and decided that she could worry about all that
stuff later. If there wasn't a later, she wouldn't have to
worry about it, would she?
"Boy, am I smart," she murmured, and pushed the
door open before she could lose her nerve.

[meowchi]

Niita Tomoko
Rockfort Prison, Training Facility Control Room
October 9, 1:35 PM

EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT.
The cameras were set so that she could watch from
four different angles, all in full color, the "battle arena"
well lit, her chair comfortable. She only regretted that she
hadn't had time to return to her private residence, to
watch the entertainment with her sister—although
that had turned out to be advantageous, as well, a
silver lining. The training facility's control room had
cameras that could be re-angled with the touch of a button,
ensuring the clearest possible view.

Niita smiled, watching as Eri hesitated at the
door, quite pleased with how her plan had come to
fruition. Eri'd chased her as she'd hoped, stepped into
her trap with hardly a struggle. She hadn't expected Eri
to actually fire at her, but that was easily overlooked in
retrospect. And truly, it made the anticipation for Eri's upcoming
death all the sweeter, the addition of a personal
revenge aspect into the mix.

The OR1, a highly developed BOW specifically created
for field combat, was one of Niita's all-time favorites.
The An3 Sandworm was impressive, to be sure,
the standard Hunter 121s lethal and fast, but the ORls
were special—the human skeletal structure showed
through, particularly in the face and torso, giving them the
look of classic Death. Thek skull faces leered out beneath
corded ropes of real and synthetic tendon, like a neo grim
reaper. They weren't just dangerous; the way they looked
was terror inspiring, at the most basic level of instinct.
The island employees called them Bandersnatches, a
nonsense word from some poem that was strangely fitting,
considering thek unique design and function.

There were thirty of them at Rockfort, half of those in
stasis, though Niita had only been able to account for
eight of them since the attack—
—oh!

Eri was opening the door.
Elated, Niita focused her full attention on the Musume,
her left hand on the camera controls, her right hovering
over the lock functions for the storage areas.

Eri stepped onto the balcony of the large, open,
two-story bay with gun in hand, trying to look everywhere
at once. Niita zoomed in on her face, wanting to
fully appreciate her fear, but was disappointed by her
lack of expression. After surmising that she was in no
immediate danger, Ert seemed watchful, no more.
But when I push this button...

Niita snickered, unable to contain her excitement,
lightly stroking her right forefinger across the switches
for the bay's two shuttered storage closets, one on the
balcony, one bordering the freight elevator on the lower
floor. At her whim, Eri Kamei would die. True, Eri
wasn't important, her death as meaningless as her life
had surely been—but it was the control that mattered,
her control.

And the pain, the exquisite torture, the look in her
eyes when she realizes that her existence is at its end...
This isn't the rat I'm after, to my demise... Niita scorned.
Fujimoto. Only she is compatible.

Niita controlled her body as tightly as she controlled
her life, and prided herself on her ability to dominate her
sexual desires, to feel nothing unless she chose to—but
just thinking of Eri's death inspired in her a passion
that was beyond physical lust, beyond words, even beyond
the simple scope of man's awareness.

The Angel of Death knows, Niita thought, certain that her beautiful
creation was watching, too, that the angel understood what could
not be explained. In Eri's death, they would be as
close as two people could ever be; it was the wonder of
their relationship, the culmination of the Tomoko legacy.
She couldn't contain herself another moment. As
Eri took another cautious step into the center of the
room, Niita first locked the door Eri'd come through, sealing
off her escape—and then pressed the button for the
second story shutter release.

Instantly, the narrow metal shutter not ten feet from
where Eri stood slid open—and as Eri stumbled backward,
trying to distance herself from the unknown threat, a
fully matured Bandersnatch stepped out, ready to engage.

It was beautiful, the creature. Between seven and
eight feet tall, its face was that of a grinning skeleton, its
head set low and menacing. The disproportionately
huge upper body supported its primary weapon—the
right arm, as thick as one of its tree-trunk legs, longer
than half its full body length at rest, the hand span big
enough to cover an ordinary man's entire chest. Its left
arm was withered, tiny and misshapen, but a Bandersnatch
only needed the one.

Niita had hoped for some exclamation from her, a
curse or a scream, but Eri was silent as she retreated to
what she believed to be a safe distance. She opened fire
almost immediately.

The Bandersnatch roared, a rough guttural scream,
and then performed its trick. Niita had seen it a dozen
times, but never tired of watching.
The massive right arm snapped toward Eri, probably
fifteen feet away, the engineered muscles hyperextending,
the elastic tendons and ligaments stretching—
—and it slapped Eri to the ground with scarcely
any effort, the girl knocked sprawling before the Bandersnatch's
arm snapped back into place.

Yes, oh, yes!
Eri crabbed backward as fast as she could, stopping
only when her back hit the wall. Niita zoomed in
to see that a fine sheen of sweat had broken out across
Eri's face, but she still wore no expression beyond a kind
of intense watchfulness. She pulled herself to her feet
and sidestepped along the wall, moving fast, obviously
not wanting to be knocked off the balcony by the creature's
next blow.
Niita grinned, ignoring the disappointment that Eri's
apparent lack of terror had brought about. The Musume would be out
of wall in another few seconds, backed into a corner—
—and then a series of blows, beating her to death
against the wall... or a simple neck snap, a grasp of
her head and a single, solid shake ... or will it toy with
her, tossing her around like one of my ragdolls?

Niita leaned in eagerly, changing the angle for one
of the cameras, watching as the doomed girl raised her
weapon, taking careful aim in spite of her hopeless position—
—bam!
The Bandersnatch shrieked even louder than the gunshot,
shaking its head wildly, dark fluids rushing from
its moving face. It sprayed the balcony walls with
ichorous liquid, blood and other things, trying desperately
to bring its arm up, to protect or comfort its wound.
It all happened so fast, so violently, it was like watching
a fountain geyser suddenly explode from a still lake.
The eyes. She went for its eyes.

Bam!

Eri shot again, and then again, and the Bandersnatch
cried out in fury and new pain, still trying to
grasp its own injured head as it stumbled around in a
weaving circle ... and then, to Niita's shock, it collapsed
to the floor, its writhings becoming less and less
urgent, its scream becoming a hoarse, dying protest.
Stunned with disbelief, Niita could finally see an
emotion on Eri's face—pity. She moved to stand over
the creature and shot once more, stilling it completely.
Then she turned and walked toward the stairs, as casually
as if she was walking away from a ladies' luncheon.

No-no-no-no!
This was wrong, all wrong, but it wasn't over, not yet.
Furious, she stabbed at the other switch, releasing the
second creature from its enclosure, the shutter sliding
open behind a stack of storage containers on the elevator
level.
You won't be so fortunate this time, she thought desperately,
still barely able to credit what he'd just seen. Eri
had heard the second door open, but the stack of containers
obscured her point of view, hiding the new menace.
She was stopped at the foot of the stairs, holding herself
very still, scanning for the exact source of the noise.

The second Bandersnatch stepped out of its closet
and casually reached up, grasping a large metal crate at
the top of a ten foot stack of them. It pulled itself up,
seemingly without effort—and without Eri noticing,
her attention too intently fixed on the shadowy corner
opposite the stairs.

The Bandersnatch reached down for her. Eri saw it
coming at the last instant, too late to get out of its way. The
creature wrapped its muscular fingers around her head and
lifted her up, studying her as a cat studied a mouse.

Or a rat, Niita thought, some of her previous joy returning
at the sight of the girl dropping her weapon and
struggling to free herself, grasping at the OKI's steel
grip with panicked hands—
—and Niita's focus was broken at the sound of shattering
glass somewhere off screen, and someone was
shooting, the sudden flurry of noise and activity making
the Bandersnatch shriek, making it drop Eri.

What's— ?

The window, Niita answered herself, watching in
horror as her young angel of death candidate, Matsuura, threw herself
into the camera shot, firing two handguns at once, blasting
at the startled creature— startled, then screaming in
agony as Eri scooped up her weapon and joined the
fray. The Bandersnatch tried to attack, its arm whipping
out toward the new assailant, but it was driven back by
the sheer number of rounds being pumped into its body,
finally slumping against a storage container. Dead.

That sniveling maggot! Eri has what is rightfully mine!!
Without consciously deciding to do it, Niita reached
for the freight elevator controls, a part of her remembering
that there was at least one more OR1 below, as well as
a number of virus carriers. The two youths stumbled as the
floor beneath their feet began to go down, taking them to
the basement of the training facility. There were no working
cameras there, but enjoying their deaths was no longer
Niita's primary concern—not so long as they died.

Can't be, this can't be happening. The OR Is should
have dispatched Eri effortlessly,
but she was alive and her pets had suffered
and died. She tried to convince herself that the angel of death subject would
be returned to her possession, and Eri
would soon perish in the basement, which had been
locked down and isolated since the first viral leak, but
suddenly, nothing seemed certain anymore.

"Sister," Niita whispered, feeling the blood drain
from her face, feeling her very being flush with shame.
She had to make her see that it wasn't her fault, that her
trap had worked perfectly, that the impossible had occurred
... and she'd have to accept the subsequent coolness
in her gaze, the undertone of disappointment in her
sweet voice as she reassured her that she understood.
The only thing that surpassed Niita's shame was a newfound
hatred for Eri Kamei, burning brighter than a
thousand burning stars. No sacrifice was too great to secure
Eri's torment.
Until Eri had offered penitence in flesh and blood,
Niita would not rest. She swore it.

[meowchi]

Eri Kamei
Rockfort Prison, "Battle Arena"
October 9, 1:55 PM



"Aya, other side," Eri said, the instant the freight
elevator began to move. Aya nodded. Eri reloaded
and Aya clambered over two of the heavy crates, both
pistols raised. As if by silent agreement, neither of them
spoke as the lift descended, both watching intently for
what came next.

She saved my life, Eri thought wonderingly, watching
grease-smeared wall tracks slide past, blood still
screaming through her veins from when she'd realized
she would die. And Aya Matsuura, who she'd written
off as a well-intentioned but troubled, barely competent
blowhard, had kept that from happening.
Though she may only have delayed the inevitable...

Eri didn't know what Niita had in mind now, but
she wasn't looking forward to meeting any more of her
"friends." Two skull-faced, rubber band-armed freaks
had been more than enough. She'd been incredibly
lucky to get off with a couple of bruises and a sore neck.
Eri had expected the elevator to drop them into
some sort of BOW holding area, but she was pleasantly
disappointed. The massive lift simply came to a stop.

There was only one exit that she could see, and although
she harbored no illusions about how safe things would
be on the other side of that door, it seemed they were out
of danger for the moment.

"Hey, Eri, check it out-"
Aya climbed back over the boxes, holding what
could only be some kind of a submachine gun, boxy,
dark and deadly-looking with an extended magazine.

"It was behind one of the crates," Aya said happily.
She'd already stuck the twin pistols in her belt.
"Nine millimeter, just like the pistols and the guard weapons.
Oh, by the way, here."

She reached into one of the outside pockets on her
pants and pulled out three clips for the M93R. "I
searched a couple of guards on my way back from the
dock. I like the pistols better, and now that I've got
this... " She held up the new weapon, grinning, "I don't
need the extra hardware. You can have my twin pistols, too.
It matches with your new outfit anyway."

Eri gratefully accepted the clips and the weapons,
not sure how to thank her for what she'd done, determined
to try, anyway.
" Aya-san ... if you hadn't shown up when you did . . ."
"Forget it," she said, shrugging. "We're even now."

"Well, thanks all the same," Eri said, smiling
warmly.

Aya smiled back, and Eri saw a flicker of real interest
in her gaze, a sincerity there that was quite different than
Aya's previous posturing. Not sure what to do about it, for
her or for herself, she moved the conversation along.
"I thought you were going to wait at the dock," she
said.

"It wasn't really a dock," Aya said, and told her
what had happened since they'd separated. The seaplane
was terrific news; having to deal with the island's
bizarre key fetish yet again wasn't so terrific.
"... and when I couldn't find them, I thought I'd
wander over and see if you'd come across anything like
that," she finished, shrugging again, working hard to look
nonchalant.
"That's when I heard the shots. How 'bout
you, anything interesting? Besides meeting up with a
couple of Rockfort's monsters, I mean."
"I'll say. Do you know anything about Niita Tomoko?"
"Only that she and her sister are total fruitcakes,"
Aya said promptly. "And that the guards are—were
scared of her. I could tell, the way they avoided talking
about her. Niita sent her own assistant to the infirmary, I
heard. There was some whacked-out doctor working
there, I guess, a lot of prisoners got taken to the infirmary
and never came back. Doesn't take a genius, you know?"

Eri nodded, fascinated in spite of herself. "What
about the sister?"
"I never heard much about her, except she's some
kind of shut-in," Aya said. "No one even knows what
she looks like. I think her name is Kasumi... Tomoko,
maybe, I don't remember. Why?"

Eri filled Aya in on her encounters with Niita, followed
by a brief synopsis of where she'd been and what
she'd found. When she mentioned that she found some medication, Aya scowled—and then
blinked, her face clearly expressing a sudden change of
heart.
"Maybe your friend—"
"Risa," Eri interjected.
"Okay, whatever," Aya said impatiently. "Maybe she
knows something about these proof key things. Like
where they are."

Good idea.
"It would beat searching the entire island,
wouldn't it?" Eri said. "You up for a trip back to the
tower? Assuming we can get out of here, that is."
"Oh, I'll clear us a path," Aya said, not a trace of
doubt in her voice. "You just leave that part to me."

Eri opened her mouth to comment on the pitfalls
of overconfidence, particularly where Niita was
concerned, then closed it again. Maybe it was Aya's belief
in herself that had carried her this far— that by not accepting
the possibility of defeat, she was assuring herself
a win.

Fine in theory, dangerous in practice. Eri would be there
to cover her, at least.

"We were on the first floor of the training facility," Aya
continued. "Which means we're in the basement now ...
I know from my—"
Aya shook her head, flustered for some reason, but
before she could ask about it, she continued on as if nothing
had happened.

"There's a boiler room, and a sewer area... basically,
we go that way," she said, gesturing at the door.

Eri decided not to point out that since it was the
only door, she'd already come to that conclusion. "I'm
right behind you."

"Stay close," Aya said roughly, walking to the door
and looking back over the shoulder, trying to look
fierce, her jaw set and her eyes narrowed. Eri was torn
between irritation and laughter, finally choosing to think
of it as endearing.
Then Aya was, opening the door, and
the reality of their situation came back to Eri, floating in
on the smell of gangrenous tissue. She stopped worrying
about the little things, concentrating on the need to survive.

[meowchi]

Aya Matsuura
Rockfort Prison, "Battle Arena" (Lower Levels)
October 9, 2:17 PM



What Aya knew about guns she could sum up in
about five seconds, but she knew what she liked. And she
decided immediately upon pulling the trigger of her
newest find that it was the sh**, hands down.
She stepped out of the freight elevator ready to kick
some rotten a**, and saw her opportunity less than ten
feet away. There were five of them in all—well, five and
a half, including the crawling mess on the floor over by
the shelves—and all she had to do was tap the trigger,
and then she was trying like heck to keep the weapon from
flying out of her hand.

Bam bam bam bam bam bam bam—

She swept the kicking gun left to right, releasing the
trigger as the last zombie's swiss-cheese brain parted
company with its swiss-cheese head. It was all over in
just a few seconds, so fast that it seemed unreal—like
she'd coughed and a building had blown up or something.

Eri had taken care of the floor pizza during Aya's
sweep, and when she turned around, triumphant, she was
a little surprised to see that Eri wasn't smiling ... until
Aya thought about it for a second, and then she felt a little
ashamed of herself. As far as Aya was concerned, they
weren't really people anymore. She knew that if she were
ever infected she'd want someone to plug her, to keep
her from hurting anyone else—not to mention granting
her a fast death, rather than letting her rot on the hoof.

But they were human, once. What happened to them
was entirely sh***y and unfair, no question.
True, and maybe she should be more respectful—but on
the other hand, the gun was extremely cool, and they were
zombies.It was a touchy subject, not one that she was prepared
to mess around with, but she decided she could at
least not laugh about it in front of Eri. She didn't want
her to think she was some bloodthirsty a**hole.

She pointed at the door ahead and to the right, fairly
sure that they were heading in the right direction, at
least roughly. The way she figured it, they'd come out at
least close to the front yard of the training facility.
Eri nodded, and Aya led the way once again, pushing
the door open and stepping through. They were standing
at the top of a half flight of open stairs, leading down
into the boiler room. A room full of big, battered-looking,
hissing machinery, anyway, Aya didn't actually know
what a boiler looked like. There were four zombies
milling around between them and the steps leading up
and out, on the other side of the cold, hissing room.

Aya raised the machine gun and was about to fire
when Eri tapped her arm, moving to stand beside her.
"Watch," she said, and pointed her 9mm at the zombie
group—not quite, she saw, Eri was aiming low at
something just past them—

—and pow,BOOM, three of the creatures went down,
blackened and smoking. Behind them, what was left of a
small, obviously combustible container, only jagged curls
of splayed metal surrounded by a smudge of toxic smoke.
The fourth zombie had been hit, but not as hard. Eri
took it out with a single head shot before speaking again.

"Saves ammo," she said simply, and brushed past her
to walk down the steps. Aya followed, slightly awed
by her but playing it detached, like she'd already thought
of that. If there was one thing she knew about idols, it
was that they didn't like people who mooned all over
them, acting all goofy.
Not that I give a sh** what she thinks about me, she
told herself firmly. She's just... kind of cool, is all.

Eri reached the next door first, and waited until Aya
caught up, nodded that she was ready. As soon as Eri
opened it they both relaxed, Aya could see Eri's shoulders
loosen and felt her own heart beating again. A dark stone
walkway, totally empty, open on one side. There was
water running somewhere below, and some kind of a
narrow gate straight ahead, like an old-fashioned elevator
door.

"This is starting to seem a little too easy," Eri said
softly.
"Yeah," Aya whispered back. So much for Niita's
evil playground shtick.

They were about halfway across when they heard it,
echoing up from somewhere in the black running waters
below—a strangely high, piercing trill, inhuman but not
like an animal, either. Whatever it was, it sounded extremely
pissed—and from the splashing noises, it was
coming closer.

Aya was ready to start shooting but Eri grabbed
her arm and took off running, practically jerking her off
her feet. They were at the lift in about two seconds, Eri
ripping the gate aside and shoving her into a tiny elevator
cab, jumping in after her and slamming the gate closed.

"Okay- sheesh, you don't have to push," Aya said, rubbing
her arm indignantly.
"Sorry," Eri said, pushing an errant strand of hair behind
one ear, looking as rattled as she'd seen her get.

"It's just—I'm not gonna take any chances. And whatever that
sound was, extremely bad news. Reminds me of metro Tokyo, 'yknow, at night."
Eri smiled shakily, which suddenly made Aya want
to put her arm around her, or hold her hand or something.

She didn't.

"Brings up some bad memories..." Eri said.
Tokyo ... Aya hadn't been to Japan in years. She kinda missed
the crowded stations, the stink-filled karaoke bars and
middle aged men gawking at her.
"So you're from Tokyo- which part exactly? And speaking of which-
why would a Tokyo thug like yourself want to be an 'idol'? ...Isn't your
bunch supposed to be delinquents?"

Eri seemed surprised, but then smiled a little easier,
turning her attention to the elevator controls.
"You should meet my friend Reina. I'll tell you about it when we get out of
here. So, first floor?"

"Yeah," Aya said, then changed her mind. "Actually,
maybe we should go up to the second. That way we can
look out over the yard, see what we'll be up against."

"You know, you're smarter than you look," Eri
said teasingly, punching the button. Aya was still trying
to think of a witty comeback when the elevator came
to a stop, and Eri opened the door.
"It's ok-" the Musume continued, "I've
changed tonights theme to let's annoy Aya!"

"...What a shame."

There was a shuttered lockdown door to their right, so
they went left, the short hallway empty. There was only
one door in that direction, too, but they were in luck, the
knob turned when Eri tried it.

Again, there were no surprises. The door opened up
to a cramped wooden balcony thick with dust, overlooking
a big room full of junk—a rusted military Jeep,
stacks of grungy old oil drums, broken boxes and the
like. It seemed more like a storage shed than anything
else, and though it was well lit, there were enough piles
of crap that it was impossible to see if anyone was down
there. There was, though, Aya could hear shuffling
noises.

She took a few steps to the left, trying to see the corner
beneath the balcony, and Eri followed. The boards
creaked and shifted beneath their steps.
"Doesn't seem too sturdy—" Eri started, and was
cut off by a giant, splinteringcraaack, pieces of the balcony
floor flying up as both of them went down.
Sh**-

Aya didn't even have time to tense for the impact, it
was over so quick. She landed on her left side, jarring her
shoulder, her left knee cracking against a random bit of
wood.

Almost immediately, a pyramid of empty barrels fell
over behind her, clattering hollowly to the ground—
and Aya heard a zombie's hungry wail.

"Eri?" Aya called, crawling to her feet and turning,
looking for her and the zombie. There Eri was amid
the barrels, still down, rubbing one ankle. Her handgun
was about ten feet away.

Aya saw her eyes go wide and
followed her gaze, a lone zombie teetering toward her—
—and all Aya could do was stare at it, her own body suddenly
a million miles away.

Eri said something but she
couldn't hear her, too intent on the virus carrier. It had
been a big man, leaning toward fat, but someone had
blasted off part of his gut. The open, sticky, belly
wounds were seeping, the dark shirt made even darker
by the almost uniform layer of blood that had soaked the
cloth. It was gray-faced and hollow-eyed, like all of
them, and had either bitten through its tongue or had
been eating—his, its mouth was smeared with blood.

Eri said something else, but Aya was remembering
something, a sudden, vivid flash of memory so real
that it was almost like reliving the experience. She'd been
four or five years old when her parents had taken her to
her first parade, a coming-of-age parade. She was sitting on
her father's shoulder, watching the geishas go by, surrounded
by loud, shouting people, and she'd started to
cry. She couldn't remember why; what she remembered
was her father looking up at her, his eyes concerned and
full of love. When he'd asked what was wrong, his voice
was so familiar and well-loved that Aya had wrapped
her tiny arms around her father's neck and hidden her
face, still crying but knowing she was safe, that no harm
could come to her so long as her father held her—
"Aya!"

Eri, practically screaming her name—and Aya saw
that the zombie was almost on top of Eri, its gray fingers
closing around her torso, pulling her up to its drooling,
bloody mouth.

Aya screamed, too, opening fire, the thunder of bullets
ripping into her father's face and body, tearing him
away from Eri. She kept firing, kept screaming until
her father lay still and the thunder had stopped, only dry
clicks coming from the gun, and then Eri was touching
Aya's shoulder, turning her away as Aya called out for
her father, weeping.

They sat for a while. When Aya could speak, she told
Eri about it, parts of it, her arms around her knees and
head down. Told Eri about her father, who had worked
for the government as a researcher, who had been caught trying
to unveil a dangerous formula to the world from one of their labs. Aya told her
about her mother, who had been gunned down by a trio
of government soldiers in their own home, lay choking and
bloody and dying on the living room floor when Aya
came home from school. The men had taken them away,
taken Aya and her father to Rockfort, where he was forced to
work for Niita, while Aya was kept in the prison and used as a test subject.
Than Aya admitted to lying- lying about being a guard, taking on
the name 'Julia' because she didn't know if Risa and Eri were good or bad.

"I thought he was killed during the attack," Aya said,
wiping at her eyes. "I wanted to feel bad about it, I did,
but I just kept thinking about Mom, about how she
looked ... but I didn't want him to die, Ididn't, I... I
loved him, too."
Saying it out loud made her start crying again.
Eri's arm was around her but Aya barely felt it, so sad
that she thought she might die. Aya knew she had to get up,
she had to find the keys and go with Eri and fly the
plane, but none of that seemed important anymore.

Eri had been mostly quiet, only listening and holding
her, but she stood up now and told Aya to stay where
she was, that she'd be back soon and then they could
leave. That was okay, it was good, Aya wanted to be alone.
And she was more exhausted than she'd ever been in her
life, so tired and heavy that she didn't want to move.

Eri went away, and Aya decided that she should
go looking for the proof keys soon, very soon, as soon
as she stopped shaking.

[Sukoshi]

Wow...that was insane.. Niita wanting Fujimoto....Ayaya being a test subject...and her dad....wow....just wow. 

[meowchi]

Kiyoshi Sekai
Rockfort Prison, First Floor (West Wing)
October 9, 3:01 PM

IN THE COOL DARKNESS, SEKAI HAD BEEN
resting uneasily. Now he heard a noise out in the corridor,
and forced himself to open his eyes, to get ready.
He lifted his weapon, bracing his wrist on the desk when
he realized he hadn't the strength to hold it up.

I'll kill anyone messes with me, he thought, more by
habit than anything else, glad he had the gun even if he
was already a dead man. A zombie guard had fallen
down the stairs and crawled into the room sometime
after the girl had left, but Sekai had killed it with a
boot to the head and taken its weapon, still bolstered on
its broken hip.

He waited, wishing that he could go back to sleep,
trying to stay alert. The gun eased his mind, took away a
lot of his fear. He was going to die soon, it was inevitable
... but he didn't want to become one ofthem,
no matter what. Suicide was supposed to be a particularly
awful sin, but he also knew that if he couldn't manage
to wipe out an approaching virus carrier, he'd eat a
bullet before he let it touch him. He was probably going
to hell, anyway.

Footsteps, and someone was walking into the room,
too fast. A zombie? His senses weren't working right, he
couldn't tell if things were speeding up or he was slowing
down, but he knew he had to shoot soon or he'd miss
his chance.

Suddenly, a light, small but penetrating—and there
she was, standing in front of him like some dream. A
 girl, the one from before- Risa? no-
not the same girl, but she was alive, holding a lighter up in the air.
She left it burning, set it on the desk like a tiny lantern.

"What're you doing here?" Sekai mumbled, but she
was rummaging through a pack at her waist, not looking
at him. He let the heavy gun drop from his fingers, closing
his eyes for a second or a moment. When he opened them
again, she was reaching for his arm, a syringe in one hand.

"It's hemostatic medicine," she said, her hands and
voice soft, the prick of the needle small and quick.
"Don't worry, you won't OD or anything, somebody
wrote dosage numbers on the back of the bottle. It says
it'll slow down any internal bleeding, so you should be
okay until help comes. I'll leave the lighter here ... I found it under
the pretty flowers just outside. That means it's good luck."

As she spoke, Sekai concentrated on waking up,
on overcoming the apathy that had taken him over.
What she was telling him didn't make sense, because
who is she? Why would she help me?

The realization touched him,
flooded him with feelings of shame and gratitude.
"I... you're very kind," he whispered, wishing there
was something he could do for her, something he could
say that would repay her for her compassion. He
searched his memories, rumors and facts about the island,
maybe she can escape...

"The guillotine," he said, blinking up at her, trying
not to slur his words too badly. "Infirmary's behind it,
key's in my pocket... supposed to be secrets there. He
knows things, puzzle pieces ... you know where's the
guillotine?"
The girl nodded. "Yes. Thank you, that helps
me a lot. You rest now, okay?"

She reached out and stroked his hair back from his
forehead, a simple gesture but so sweet, so nice, he
wanted to weep.

"Rest," she said again, and he closed his eyes, calmer,
more at peace than he'd ever felt in his life. His last
thought before he drifted off was that if she could survive
this ordeal, her and that other girl as they deserved it,
maybe he wouldn't go to hell, after all.

[meowchi]

(Optional Background Music)

[youtube=425,350]WhIQp4R4ncI[/youtube]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eri Kamei
Rockfort Prison, Infirmary
October 9, 3:34 PM



The man had been right about secrets. Eri stood at
the end of the hidden basement corridor, steeling herself
to open the unmarked door in front of her.

After tending the wounded man, she'd decided to put her
Risa search on hold- considering she knew exactly where
the gullotine was, compared to the vast 50+ floors of
the tower. It wasn't an easy choice to make, but given the
alternatives; this one was the most productive.

"Secrets", she thought, thinking about the proof
keys Aya was talking about.
She glances around.

The infirmary itself was small and unpleasant, not at
all what she would have expected for a
clinic—no medical equipment to be seen, nothing modern
at all. There was only a single examination table in
the front room, the splintery wooden floor around it
stained with blood, a tray of medieval-looking tools
nearby. The adjoining room had been burned beyond
recognition; she couldn't tell what purpose it had
served, but it looked like a cross between a recovery
room and a crematorium. Smelled like one, too.

There was a tiny, cluttered office just off the first
room, a lone body sprawled in front of it, a man in a
stained lab coat who had died with a look of horror on his
narrow, ashen face. He didn't appear to have been infected,
and since there were no virus carriers in the room
and no obvious wounds, Eri guessed that he'd had a heart
attack, or something like it.

The contorted expression on
his pinched features, bulging eyes and gaping, downturned
mouth, suggested to Eri that he'd died of fright.

Eri carefully stepped over him, and found the first
secret in the small office almost by accident. Her boot
had nudged something when she walked in, a marble or
stone that had rolled across the floor—which had turned
out to be a most unusual key. It was a glass eye, one that
belonged in the grotesque plastic face of the office's
anatomical dummy, propped leering in the corner.

Considering what Aya had said, about no one coming
back from the infirmary, and considering what she
already knew about the kind of insanity that this place
seemed to attract, Eri wasn't surprised to find a hidden
passage behind the office wall. A worn set of stone
steps were revealed when she'd placed the eye back
where it belonged, which hadn't really surprised her, either.

It was a secret, a trick, and Rockfort was all about
secrets and tricks.
So open the door, already. Get it over with.

Right. She didn't have all day. She didn't want to
leave Aya alone for too long, either, she was worried
about her. She'd had to kill her own father; Eri couldn't
imagine the kind of psychological damage that would
do to someone ...

Eri shook her head, irritated with her own
dawdling. It didn't matter that she was in a barren,
frightening place where lots of people had apparently
died, where she could feel the pervasive atmosphere of
terror emanating from the cold walls, trying to wrap
around her like a burial shroud ...

"Doesn't matter," she said, and opened the door.

Immediately, three stumbling virus carriers started for
her, drawing her attention, keeping her from really seeing
the details of the large room they'd been trapped in. All
three were badly disfigured, missing limbs and long,
ragged strips of skin, their putrefying flesh flayed and raw.
They moved slowly, painfully dragging themselves toward
her, and she could see older scars on the exposed rotting
tissue. Even as she targeted the first, the knot of dread
in her stomach was expanding, making her feel sick.

It was over quickly, at least—but the terrible suspicion
that had been growing in her mind, that she'd been hoping
was false, was confirmed with a single good look around.
Oh, jeez.

The room was strangely elegant, the muted lighting
coming from a hanging chandelier. The floor was tiled,
with a runner of finely woven carpet leading from the
door to a kind of sitting area on the other side of the
room. There was an overstuffed velvet chair and cherry
wood end table there, the chair facing out so that
someone sitting there would be able to see the entire
room ... which was worse than she could have imagined,
it looked like a dungeon, something you'd see out of
an American horror film.

There were two custom-built water wells, one with a
pillory built into its rail, a steel cage suspended over the
other. Chains hung from the walls, some with well-used
manacles attached, some with leather collars—some with
hooks. There were a few elaborate devices that she didn't
look at too closely, things with gears and metal spikes.

Swallowing back bile, Eri focused on the sitting
area. The elegance of the furnishings and of the room itself
made things worse somehow, adding a touch of
warped ego to the obvious psychosis of its creator. Like
it wasn't enough to enjoy torturing people, he—or she—
wanted to observe it in luxury, like some mad aristocrat.

She saw a book on the end table and walked over to
retrieve it, keeping her gaze fixed straight ahead. Virus
zombies and monsters and useless death were all horrible
things, tragic or frightening or both—but the kind of
sickness represented by the chains and devices all
around her was appalling to her very soul, because it
made her want to give up her faith in humanity.

The book was actually a journal, leather bound with
thick, high quality paper. The inner cover proclaimed
that it was the property of a Dr. Leo Athens, no title or
inscription otherwise.

"He knows things, puzzle pieces...", Eri recounted
what the wounded man had said.

She didn't want to touch the thing let alone read it,
but the man had seemed to think it might help. She flipped
through a few pages, saw that nothing was dated, and
started scanning the narrow, spidery writing for a familiar
word or name, something about puzzles, maybe... there,
an entry that made several references to Niita Tomoko.
She took a deep breath and started at the top.

We finally talked today about the details of my
preferences and pleasures. Ms. Tomoko wouldn't
share her own, but she was most encouraging to me,
as she's been since my arrival six weeks ago. She was
informed at the beginning that my needs are unconventional,
but now she knows everything, even the
small things. I was uncomfortable at first, but Ms.
Niita Tomoko, she insists I call her Niita— proved to
be an eager audience. She said that she and her sister
both strongly approve of research in the boundaries
of experience. She told me that I should think of them
as kindred spirits, and that here, I am free.
It was strange, describing aloud my feelings, sensations
and thoughts that I've never shared.

I told her about how it all started, when I was still a boy.
About the animals I experimented with early on and
later, the other children. I didn't know then that I was
capable of killing, but I knew that the sight of blood
excited me, that causing pain filled an empty, lonely
space inside with profound feelings of power and
control.

I think she understands about the screaming, about
how important the screaming is to me and

Enough. This wasn't what Eri was looking for, and it
was making her want to vomit. She turned a few pages,
found another entry about Niita and her sister, scanned
over something about a private home— and went back,
frowning.

Niita attended one of my live autopsies today,
and told me afterward that Kasumi has asked after
me, that she wants to know if I have everything I
need. Niita worships Kasumi, will let no one near her,
I haven't asked to meet her yet, and have no plans to
do so; Niita wants their private home to remain private,
and to keep her all to herself. It's behind the
common mansion, she told me, most people don't
even know it exists. Niita tells me things that no one
else knows. I think she appreciates having an acquaintance
with common interests.

She said that Rockfort has many places that require
unusual keys— much like the eye he gave me— some
new, some very old. Tomohisa Tomoko, Niita's grandfather,
was apparently obsessed with secrecy, an obsession
shared by Rockfort's other founder, according
to Niita. Niita and Kasumi are the only people alive who
know all the hidden places at Rockfort, he said. Niita
had full sets of keys made for both of them when
she took over her father's position. I joked that its good
to have a spare in case she ever locks herself out,
and she laughed. She said that Kasumi would always let
her in.

I believe that twins often have a much deeper
bond than other sets of siblings—that in a figurative
sense, if you cut one, the other will bleed. I'd like very
much to test this theory in a more literal way, regarding
pain levels. I've found that filling a fresh wound
with cut glass and sewing it closed again is a

Sickened, Eri tossed the book aside and wiped her
hands on her pants, deciding that she had enough information
to go on. She hoped quite sincerely that the
corpse upstairs was Dr. Athen's, that his black heart had
failed him and it was the thought of going to hell that had
frozen his face into a mask of terror—and Eri abruptly
realized that she'd had more than enough of Athen's atmosphere,
that if she had to be in the infirmary for one more
minute, she really was going to throw up.

She turned and
walked quickly to the door, was full on running by the
time she reached the stairs. She took them two at a time,
and sprinted through the upstairs room, not looking at the
body, not thinking about anything but the need to get out.

When she hit the outside path that led back to the
guillotine door, she collapsed against one wall and
breathed in huge lungfuls of air, concentrating on keeping
her gorge down. It took a couple of minutes before
she was out of the danger zone.

When she felt ready, Eri plugged a fresh clip in her
semi and started back toward the training facility. She
realized that she'd lost the second weapon Aya gave
her somewhere between the torture chamber and the
front door, but there was nothing on Earth that would
persuade her to step foot back inside. She was going to
get Aya, and they would find those god***n keys and Risa, and
then they were getting the f*** away from the asylum
that Niita had created at Rockfort.