“When I awoke later, the pain was gone. It had been replaced with an unrelenting thirst.” Akio softly revealed.
“There was a man dressed all in black standing over me, and my mind immediately flashed back to the demon I had dreamed. He was small in stature and looked down on me with a completely blank expression. I was a warrior who had defeated many in battle, but I knew immediately that this man, or whatever he was, had no reservations when it came to killing. He was death personified.
“He stood looking down at me for what seemed like hours, then he spoke, but his words did not make sense at the time. ‘You have survived the turning process and have been transformed. You are now much more than a mere human. You must feed to complete the change,’ he told me in a soft but firm voice.
“I was understandably confused and demanded to know what he was talking about. The only answer I received was ‘Silence. All will be explained in due time.’
“He stepped out of the room and closed the door. The stench of fish and the rolling motion told me I was on a ship of some kind. As I stood to search for a way out, the door opened, and a young man was thrown inside.
“He turned to run out the door, but it was slammed and locked before he got to it. I watched as he pounded on it, demanding and then pleading to be released. I had no idea what was wrong, but as he continued, the sweetest smell I had ever encountered came to me. It overpowered the stench of the fish and seemed to be coming from the young man.
“I started toward him, and the next thing I knew, I was holding his lifeless body, my mouth on his throat, drawing what tasted like the finest wine from him. I threw him away from me, mortified at what I had done. Being a member of the royal family, I had heard the tales about demons who came in the night and left bloodless bodies in their wake.
“Banpaias—vampires—were things of legend, tales told by superstitious peasants in the rural areas. Not real. But here I was with a bloodless corpse and the sweet coppery taste of his blood in my mouth. That was the first of many innocents who would die at my hand.”
He stopped and sucked in a deep breath, the pain of the memory written on his face. “I wanted to die. I didn’t want to be a monster from myth, a demon who preyed on the blood of others. As it all sank in, the door opened, and the same man stepped through. He looked at the lifeless body and then informed me, ‘You are not a monster, young one, you are a warrior in the service of our queen. You are faster, stronger, and better than any human warrior in the land. You now have the ability to move like the wind and strike at her enemies in silence.’
“I looked at him, and an uncontrollable rage came over me. I lunged toward him, my hands formed into claws with long black talons coming from them. As I was about to strike him down, the voice rang out in my head. ‘Stop! You can’t harm me, I forbid it.’
“Try as I might, I could not raise a hand to this man. I railed against the command on the inside, but my body refused to obey. ‘Come,’ he told me as he turned and walked away. I had no choice but to meekly obey.
“That was the beginning of my life as a Forsaken. I found that the two of them had been watching us for some time, and when we defeated the pirates, they decided to take all of us into the service of their queen. Of the twelve who survived the battle, eleven of us were successfully turned. That was an almost unheard-of success rate, but being strong warriors helped us survive the process.
“We spent the next four hundred years in the service of Kamiko Kana’s mother and then Kamiko after her mother was destroyed when the Americans dropped their nuclear bombs. I never enjoyed my time as a Forsaken, denied the light of day, and subject to follow the commands I was given with blind obedience. Gabrielle freed me and my brothers from that existence when she defeated Kamiko. My friend, mentor, and brother of many years sacrificed himself to ensure that our honor remained intact and that we would be allowed to serve Bethany Anne.”
Yuko was silent for several moments as she let what her teacher and closest friend had told her settle in her mind. “Akio, I thank you for sharing your story with me. I know you are a good and honorable man. You should not let the things you were made to do in the service of beings so unworthy cause you pain. You had no choice but to obey the compulsion of your maker.”
Akio sighed. “Hai. I know that, but it still does not make what I did right. All I can do now is try to protect the people and wipe the scourge of the Forsaken from this world until Bethany Anne returns. I will redeem my honor one Forsaken at a time until they are gone or I am dead.”
Chapter Twelve
TQB Base, Tokyo, Japan
Yuko and Eve were sitting in the dining room, lost in thought. Eve was reviewing data collected from the satellites orbiting the globe, and Yuko was staring fixedly at the empty teacup resting in front of her. Yuko had been sitting quietly for several minutes when she suddenly spoke. “Eve, we need to figure out ways to generate revenue. Bethany Anne left us with a large amount of funds and control of several companies, but with everything around the world collapsing, I don’t think it will be enough. We don’t know how long we’ll be here or what future expenses we’ll have. Besides that, I think we need to do more for the people on Kume. The government is providing the basics for now, but it’ll take more than that for them to once again be a thriving community.”
“We have enough resources stored here to set them up for the next few years with no problem. We also have the funds to buy more if needed,” Eve told her.
Yuko shook her head. “That’s not exactly what I’m thinking, Eve. I would like to help them with some decent housing and maybe even repair one of their docks. It would be much easier for them to rebuild if they had a place for supplies to be delivered without having to ferry them in on smaller boats.”
“I understand that,” Eve replied. “But why do you feel that it’s your responsibility? Not that we can’t do it, but it is logical to let their government take care of these things.”
Yuko shook her head. “I had to destroy so many of them who were Nosferatu, and my heart hurts for the families who lost so much. The pain and anguish I saw when we spent the day after the funeral there affected me deeply. I feel that we should have been able to find out what was happening and stopped it sooner.”
“Yuko, we have already saved many with our intervention, but I do understand what you mean.” Eve hesitated for a moment before continuing, “It is not logical, but I also feel that we could have done more. I will need to analyze my programming to determine what is causing this logic breakdown. There must be some defective code in one of my subroutines.”
Yuko smiled as she wrapped her arms around the little android, happy that her friend was not only showing emotion but experiencing feelings. It was another step toward ascension. “I’m sure you will figure it out, Eve. While you are doing that, if you would research some business ventures that will help us start generating additional revenue and create opportunities to help those on Kume and any others we may find in similar circumstances, I would appreciate it.”
“Certainly, Yuko.”
Akio sat in the darkened command center, checking the satellite feeds from the Chinese mainland. He was focused on an area around the northern Heilongjiang Province, the location where the Japanese had carried out biological warfare studies during World War II.
The labs and facilities where the experiments were conducted had been destroyed when the war ended, along with the prisoners of war used in the experiments. What the Japanese military didn’t know was that there was another secret lab in the area. This was where the prisoners and test subjects from the UnknownWorld were experimented on. Akio had been there once with Kamiko Kana when she was on an errand for her mother. The exact location was unknown to him, but he recalled the general area.
“Eve, could you assist me in the command center?” he called over his implant.
“I can be there in a little while, Akio. I am running a self-diagnostic at the moment.”
“Is everything all right?”
Concern filled his voice as he worried that Eve had a malfunction.
“Yes, I believe so. I am attempting to diagnose some abnormalities in my logic programming. I have discovered that some of my actions have been outside of logical parameters recently. I am analyzing subroutine codes for possible errors.”
Akio’s lips turned up in a bare hint of a smile as he processed Eve’s response. Her “I believe so” spoke volumes to him about where she was in her journey from EI to AI.
“Very well, Eve. When you are done, I need you to run some searches in the area I am highlighting. Look for any occurrences that point to UnknownWorld activity. Based on the information I took from Isamu’s mind, I believe we need to focus our attention there.”
“I will see to it and let you know what I find, Akio.”
“Thank you, Eve.”
Chapter Thirteen
Research Laboratory, Acheng, China
“Heinz, we have lost contact with Isamu and his people,” the communications specialist reported.
“What do you mean, ‘lost contact?’” he inquired coldly.
The tech started to visibly shake and sweat broke out on his brow under the close scrutiny of the mercurial scientist. There were several stories floating around the research complex about what had happened to the people who made him unhappy. None of those stories ended well for the perceived offender.
“I apologize, sir, but we are unable to raise either Isamu or Ogawa on the wireless. Isamu’s last report was that he had secured Kume Island and was proceeding with the plan. That was over two months ago. We have not heard from him since.”
“Send someone to find out. On my authority, the use of the German flying machine is authorized. Advise the pilot that being seen is not an option,” Heinz instructed.
“Yes, sir. I will have the crew prepared to launch as soon as it is dark.” The tech slumped in his chair with relief when Heinz stalked out of the room without another word. He quickly made the arrangements for a crew to find out what had happened to their missing team.
“Chang, what has that dummkopf Isamu done?” Heinz growled as he stormed into Chang’s office. “He had one job—set up a place where we could stage for our attack on the Bitch’s assassin and that diplomat. They have interfered with our plans too many times over the last few years.”
Chang lifted his hands. “I don’t know, Heinz. Let’s see what the crew you sent out has to report when they get back. You know it is a huge risk to fly one of our craft too close to Japan, and broadcasting a full report is just begging to be found by the Bitch’s people.”
Heinz, formerly Doktor Heinz Markel, closed his eyes and rubbed his temples in frustration. It was an old habit from his human life that he’d never broken. He looked like he was in his late thirties but was much older since he’d been turned when he was working with the Third Reich during the war. Although not as strong as one of David’s children thanks to David’s paranoia about sharing that level of power, he was still a formidable Forsaken. With the recent advances in the blood experiments he had been working on for the past sixty years, he knew he was close to being much more.
“I know it’s risky,” he told Chang. “But we’re too close for any of Isamu’s insane ideas to set us back now. They know to be careful. Let me know as soon as the crew gets back. I want to hear their report immediately.”
Chang nodded. “As soon as they report that they’re inbound, I will send someone for you. I assume you will be in your lab, as usual?”
“Yes. We’re close, Chang. I think we will have a sample worthy of a true test soon. The one we used on Isamu worked but did not give us the results I wanted. I fear that it will take more than that to kill the Bitch’s assassin.”
“Heinz, if it can be done, I know you will be the one to do it,” Chang told his oldest living associate.
TQB Base, Control Room, Tokyo, Japan
“That’s odd,” Eve murmured as she watched a screen in the darkened room. She called up several more screens and started running multiple scans of the anomaly she had detected.
“Akio, would you come to the command center? I have some unusual signals from the sensors I left on Kume,” she called over her comm.
Akio stepped through the door, followed closely by Yuko a few seconds later. Both were dressed in workout clothes, and Yuko’s face was flushed as if she had been exerting herself.
“What is it, Eve?” Akio questioned.
“I was running imagery, searching for signs of the base you inquired about when one of the sensors I left on Kume alerted me. It detected something coming toward it at a high rate of speed. At first, I thought it was a fault in the sensor because it showed the object coming in from the west a few hundred meters in the air. It kept fading in and out, but when I ran an energy spectrum scan, it had a signature similar to the antigrav technology we are seeing around Germany. Similar, but not an exact match.”
“Is it still there?”
“Hai, as far as I can tell. The signal faded completely when it drew close to the island. One moment it was there and the next there was… Wait a minute, what’s this?”
She touched the screen she had been watching, and a distorted buzz came from the speakers in the room.
“That’s an encrypted radio signal!” Eve exclaimed.
Akio grimaced. “Summon the Pod to the rear entrance, please. I think this needs to be investigated.”
“The Pod will be ready for departure in one minute,” she advised.
“Slave one of the Black Eagles to it in case we need extra firepower,” he requested as he stepped toward the door.
“We?” Eve inquired.
“Yuko is going, too.”
Eve stepped back from the console and started toward the door. “I am going as well. After what happened to Yuko last time, I feel I need to take a more active role in protecting her when she goes on these field trips with you.” She gave Akio her best stink-eye.
Akio raised his eyebrows but didn’t respond.
“Eve, I told you it was my fault. Please stop blaming Akio,” Yuko gently admonished the android as she continued to look at Akio, her robotic eyebrows mimicking his.
“Hmph. I will continue to blame him for endangering you without warning me until he stops doing it,” Eve replied as she stepped between both of them and headed toward the elevator at the end of the hall.
They rode up in silence, Yuko worrying that her friend was still angry. It wasn’t comfortable for any of them, but it was another sign of her transitioning from EI to AI. Yuko hoped that she could help Eve work through the emotional issues, but she knew from information Bethany Anne and ADAM had left her that she had to be cautious with Eve’s development. She could not take any action that would upset or influence the actual transition—she could only be there, much like the parent of a teenager, to help her cope with the effects without providing the solution.
The three of them stepped out into the dimly lit lobby. During the day, the building served as office space for multiple businesses. It provided good cover for the hidden base beneath, but Akio was concerned that they might need to move the base away from such a densely populated area. With the rise in Forsaken activity, it could endanger innocent civilians to stay there. Even though it was well-hidden, they ran the risk of exposure each time they used a Pod from that location. Plus, the Pods and Black Eagles were currently hidden miles away in a deep ravine. It would be more convenient to have a hangar for them adjoining the base. He decided to bring that up with Eve when she wasn’t mad at him.
They exited into an enclosed courtyard behind the building, and Eve brought the Pod and Black Eagle down. As Akio and Yuko climbed into the open Pod, Eve went to the Black Eagle.
Yuko stopped. “Eve, what are you doing?”
“I thought it would be more efficient to fly the Black Eagle from the cockpit instead of remotely. Plus, it’s more fun,” Eve answered with a grin.
Yuko watched open-mouthed as Eve climbed into the Black Eagle and
it silently rose into the air.
“Take your seat, Yuko. I will not lift the Pod until you are safely secured,” Eve firmly instructed over her implant.
Yuko quickly took her seat while Akio chuckled quietly from his.
“What’s so funny, Akio?” Yuko asked as she strapped in.
“Eve seems to have developed an overly enhanced sense of protectiveness where you’re concerned.”
Yuko cut her eyes toward him as he continued to chuckle. “If you don’t make peace with her soon, I don’t know what I’ll do. I hope she figures out the happy balance before long. ADAM warned me to expect some extremes while she works through the transition, but I didn’t expect her to act like a hormonal teenager.” She sighed.
Akio smiled. “Raising children is never easy.”
Yuko laughed. “Then you better make peace with her, Dad, before she drives me crazy.”
Chapter Fourteen
Pod, Between Tokyo and Kume Island
“Akio, the sensors are picking up the signal again. It’s heading toward China at a high rate of speed,” Eve called out over their implants.
“Can you lock on and track it?” Akio asked.
“The signal keeps phasing in and out like before,” she replied. “I need to get closer to lock onto it with the Black Eagle’s sensors if we want any chance of actually staying on it.”
“Go ahead, but don’t engage unless you have to. This may lead us to the ones responsible for Isamu,” he directed.
The Black Eagle shot away from the Pod and was out of sight in seconds. Akio and Yuko continued toward Kume, waiting for Eve to report.
“Akio, I have them on the sensors, but it is still spotty. It’s like the signal cycles from one spectrum to another, and I can’t make out all of them,” Eve reported moments later.
Reprisal Page 8