The Guardians were asked to assemble in the conference room somewhere in the building. M had already recovered but he still had some bandages on so that the girls won't get suspicious. For the first time, he was able to see some of the other Guardians aside from K,S,D and H.
"Who's the chubby one?" M asked them as he pointed to the Guardian a few seats away from them. He was a bit bulky and he was eating some of the snacks he brought along.
"That's C, Nozomi Tsuji's Guardian." K answered.
"Really? Is he up to it? I don't think he can run after Wild Fans in that condition."
"Don't be fooled by his appearance. He's the only one who can almost match D's speed." said S.
"Yeah, yeah. He's almost as fast as me. But in terms of looks, I'm twenty laps ahead of him." D boasted.
"Yeah, I think it's like that because you cut off some 'weight' that was dragging you down. Har, har!" M teased him.
"I can give you another beating if you like." D answered.
"Come on boys, stop that. You're not kids anymore."
"Fine." M said. "Hey, there's H. I'll ask him to sit with us."
M dragged H to where they were sitting.
"Hey H, what happened between you and the captain? I heard that you were fighting." K asked.
"I told you kid, she doesn't like your red hair and those earrings. You should change your image." suggested D.
"If he turns out like you D, then the other girls won't like him too." M said.
"Yoshizawa-san told me that I look just fine. Shimi-chan and I aren't fighting. We just had a misunderstanding. And it's M's fault."
"Hey, Ishimura-san told me she was your girlfriend. I didn't know that Captain would get jealous. Anyway, any new news with Kumai-san?"
"What about Kumai-san?" H wondered.
"Is a PB in the works?"
"Do you want me to beat you up again?" H said as he cracked his knuckles.
"Just kidding. I already know that C-ute will get a PB in a few months. Ain't that great?"
"Don't get too close to M, H. His lewdness is contagious. Look what happened to S." K joked.
"Hey that's not true!" M said defensively. "S was the original perv even before I got here."
"Pardon? I'm not a perv." S said as he fixed his glasses. Then they started laughing.
"I don't see Fujimoto-san around." M said.
"How many times do we have to tell you, she's not a Guardian, M. What you had was just a dream." K said.
"Besides, if she was one of us, S would have known because of his glasses." D added.
"Yeah. I checked before and she was normal. Nothing unusual about her." S answered.
"See! I knew it! You use your glasses to peek on the girls!" exclaimed M.
"I used thermal vision, dumbass!"
"Pfft. No need to make excuses S. And besides, all of us are guys here. So, could you tell us some of the details?"
Just then, the dyed haired man entered the room and proceeded immediately to the podium.
"Ehem. It has been confirmed that our enemy is indeed Ichiro. He is somewhat connected to Graft but we are still uncertain if he is responsible for its distribution or if he has any accomplices. Whatever you do, if ever you encounter him, do not engage him. We cannot afford to lose another one of you. Losing A is enough. I know he did not go down without a fight and he was one of the best we had. But please, do not fight Ichiro until we get all the information we need about him. We do not know if he was still the same as before. You were called here today because you will be installed with a few upgrades."
He turned on a projector then returned back to the podium. Then it played a clip made with flash, similar to the Xiaoxiao clips in the internet, where the characters are stickmen. The clip showed one of the upgrades they were getting.
The first is called 'Active Shield'. This will negate 10,000 points of damage from any kind of attack. However, your offensive capabilities will be cut in half. If it reaches zero, you will take the next damage in full. But don't worry, once the AS is broken, your offense will increase threefold."
M raised his hand.
"Yes M."
"Aside from the fact that you stole this from some kind of Square/Enix RPG or it's a cheap rip-off of an Angel's AT field, are you saying that we have to get beat up first so we can power-up?"
"Actually no. You can break the AS anytime you want. But once it's broken, you won't be able to use it again. You'll have to go back to the lab to have it re-installed. And besides, there will be no need to power up just for Wild Fans, you can dodge their attacks anyway. I advise you to reserve it just incase you bump into Ichiro."
"Does it repair itself of do we have to go to the lab everytime it gets damaged?" S asked.
"As long has the AS has at least 1 point, it will replenish every second. You can even adjust the limit to more than 10,000. But if you do that, the lower your offense will get. The plus side to that is that the lower your set your offense, the higher it becomes when the AS breaks. Any more questions?"
Short buzzing among themselves then silence
"Okay. The next upgrade is regarding the memory erasing procedure. You won't have to tap your fingers a lot of times anymore. Now you just have to tap it once, think of the number of hours or minutes you want to erase in your mind and it's done. But it doesn't stop there. You will now also be able to manipulate their memories. For instance, you can change certain words in their minds. You can change 'Tokyo' to 'Okinawa' or 'Kyoto','JE' to 'H!P', 'Avex' to 'Zetima', 'Koda Kumi' to 'Goto Maki' and so on. You don't have to make up stories verbally anymore when they wake up. You will be able to implant stories directly in their minds. But please be careful with using this. The slightest mistake could mess up someone's personality. If possible, just use it as a last resort.
M raised his hand.
"Yes M."
"Can I use it to make Hagiwara-san and Okai-san stop calling me HG? Can I replace 'HG' with 'Takuya Kimura' or 'Gackt' or 'Hyde' or any from those guys at Johnny's?
"You can. But I don't advise you to do it. Why not let the kids be kids? It won't hurt if they have fun don't they?"
"Fine. Now, is there a way to restore erased memories in case we accidentally delete them?"
"Good question. As a contingency, you will now be able to save the memories of people before they are truly erased. The retention period is only one month though. You will be able to restore it using the same procedure you use to erase them. But this is the catch. While you have it stored in you, their memories will become part of your memory. This way, we might be able to trace where they get their supply of Graft. Any more questions?"
M raised his hand again.
"Yes M."
"Is someone already assigned to C-ute?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Just curious."
"No. There is still no one assigned to them. But we are already working on it."
"Okay. I'm just concerned with their safety."
"Safety my ass. If I know, you just want to make sure no one bothers you when you lurk around during their PB shoot." D said.
The other Guardians laughed then there was some short buzzing among themselves then silence again
"Alright. You will receive the schedule when you will get upgraded. The first ones will be in an hour. It will take only 30 minutes at most. Those who are not yet scheduled, please continue watching over your assignments. Hopefully, the upgrade for all of you will be finished within the day. We had to cut the winner of the Happy 8 Audition to one just because of this so please use the upgrade effectively and efficiently. Thank you for understanding."
Then the Guardians received the schedule in their email.
"I'm scheduled after lunch." D said.
"I'm in the afternoon." S said.
"Mine will be in a few hours." K said.
"So is mine." H added.
"Hey, how come I get to be the last? 10PM? What the heck?" M complained.
"Don't look at me. The schedule was done randomly in one of the computers. It won't matter if you're first or if you're last. What's important is that you get the upgrade." the dyed haired man said.
"But I have to do some things."
"Like what? Going to the rooftop with Risa-chan?" the dyed hair man asked.
"That's one of em. Hey, how'd you know about that?"
"None of your business. What do you do up there anyway? Please don't tell me you're following the path R took."
"Of course not. I know the rules and I don't intend to break them. I just go there to keep her company. That's all." M answered.
"Good. Take care of Risa-chan but don't get too close."
***
10:01PM in the Lab
It was empty. The lights were turned off.
"Hello? I'm M and I'm scheduled for the upgrade. Sorry I'm late." he said as he turned on the lights.
No answer. He looked around. There were some high-tech equipment, a few servers, some books and manga, Gundam models, etc. Then he stumbled upon a table with some folders. He saw a folder with his name on it. As he was about to open it, he heard a voice.
"I wouldn't open that if I were you."
A man stepped out. M thought he was an old man but in fact, he was just around his mid twenties. He looked like that science guy from CSI; the type who would explain things in a methodical, well-detailed manner instead of just going straight to the point. The man was even wearing a lab coat and thick glasses, complete with a bunch of pens and a large identification card.
"So you're M." the man said. "I've heard a lot about you."
"What if I am? What's it to you?"
"I heard that you're a perv but Niigaki-san likes you for some reason."
"I'm not a perv. Who are you anyway?"
"Hehe. Just call me Dan. I'm one of the developers of the Guardians. Actually I'm the only one left from the original developers. The others who work here now are quite new."
"You're not old. I always thought the guys who made us would look like old geezers from those super robot shows."
"Of course. I finished high school and college early. I started here when I was just seventeen. And my typing speed is 500wpm."
"Am I supposed to be impressed?"
"No. But as I said, you wouldn't want to open that folder."
"Why? So I won't know about my past?"
"You are right. Everything about you is in there. Who you were, what your name was, what school you went too, what you do on your spare time, everything."
"Then I have every right to see it."
"So what? So you can go back to your parents? So you can go back to your past? It won't help you in any way. You're a Guardian now. It's no use learning about what you were.
What you have to look forward to now is the future."
M hesitated to open it. Dan was right. What's the point of knowing about his past? It will only hold him back. M put the folder down and approached the chair beside Dan. The chair resembled a dentist's chair but it was full of buttons, panels and cables.
"Just get this over with, okay." M said as he sat down the chair.
"My, my. What an emotional kid." Dan said as he pushed a lever on M's arm that revealed a SATA port and plugged a cable.
"..."
"You're really different from the rest. Maybe that's the reason why Niigaki-san likes you so much."
"Tell me Dan, what's the reason you joined this project?"
"I like Morning Musume. I've been following them since they started. They change. They get older. They get prettier. Some of them leave and new girls join. It seems like an endless cycle, but it isn't. It will end but until that day, I'll still be cheering for them. I joined this because I want to see them grow and get better. And that won't happen if they keep getting stalked or start becoming tabloid material."
"I don't get it."
"Of course you don't. There are different reasons why people like Morning Musume. My reason seems to be a selfish one. But if you really like something, even the most rational explanation becomes meaningless."
"True. So, can you tell me more about yourself?"
"Are you hitting on me?"
"Hell no! What made you think about that? I was just trying to find out if we have things in common. Maybe you have some of the photobooks I don't have."
"Like what? The old Berryz PBs?"
"You have them? Can you give me a copy?"
"No. I don't have them."
"Damn! Guess I'll have to stop lurking and get 50 quality posts so I can download em."
"Haha. I think I understand now why Niigaki-san likes you. You're quite a funny character."
"Of course. I'm the main character. I should have a personality. I'm tired of those shows with those laconic, whiney, no personality lead characters. Those guys never get the girls, unless they have looks. In my case I have personality and I have looks. It's like Gaki-san won the lottery or something."
"You look like HG."
"That's what they all say but I don't care. Gaki-san doesn't mind that so I'm fine with whatever you call me."
"Haha. "
"Anyway, who's your favorite member Dan?"
"Abe-san has always been my favorite. But I like the new girls as well."
"Abe-san huh. Well, she is pretty and she sings well too."
"Of course. I suggest you better sleep for a while. This will take long."
"What? I thought it only takes 30 minutes at most?"
"That is if you have a basic Frame. But you don’t."
"Basic Frame?"
"I told you M, you're different..."
***
"Hand over the camera. It will make things easier for you and me." M said.
"No way. I have some pretty good pics of Niigaki here. These will be expensive. Come and get it if you want." the man said as he pulled out a capsule containing a green liquid and pressed it on his neck.
"Green? I thought Graft was blue?" M thought.
The man's appearance changed, as expected. But it was different from the transformations M and the others encountered before. He didn't have the stone-like hide. Now the altered form of the Graft user was somewhat sleek and metallic looking. He looked like a silver Quebeley from the Gundam series.
"What the f..."
But before he could finish what he was saying, the Wild Fan attacked. He punched M. Even if he was able to block it, he was still thrown a few meters away.
"Holy sh*t! My shield is cut in half! Looks like we're not the only ones who got an upgrade..."
Topic: Detonator M (Read 97797 times)