Unit HAZE

Part 4

Part 4
On an underground train heading to Japan were three people. One was a young boy with a worrying physique and a long lab coat.
Across from him was a metal man with no face. This robot was directly connected to the real person wirelessly. It acted as a telepresence.
Standing near the door of the train was a girl in her twenties with an earpiece in each ear and a long Japanese sword at her waist.
These three unusual people made up ENIGMA, the underground's most skilled unit. But just because they were skilled did not mean that they got along.
"Hey, Phantom, why do I have to come along if all your doing is checking out a robot?" The woman threw back her long black hair as she shot these words out at Haruke. The nickname (or perhaps insult) came from how pale he was.
"We got you out of training, so be grateful."
"That's right. If we hadn't brought you along, you'd be stuck swinging that oversized sword around all night, and we know you're bored of that." The voice that came from the metal body only carried a small bit of static. Other than that, it was incredibly clear since it was being played from the real person who was back in the UK. Since they were almost on the other side of the world, there would be a short delay in his actions.

Seishin Tatsuro. Being overwhelmingly paranoid of everything, Tatsuro created a robot with his exact measurements and used it as a telepresence. With it, he could do his job in the underground without leaving his room. The robot has enhanced strength and speed, as well as some tools for self maintenance. The real Tatsuro remains inside a large locker in the ENIGMA dorm.

The woman sighed.
"I guess you're right, Paranoia."
"Stop it with the weird nicknames already Yuriko, otherwise we'll make a name for you."
The woman named Yuriko grabbed the handle of the blade and partially removed it from the sheath at her waist.
"You will do no such thing Haruke!"
"Whatever~"

Kyoko Yuriko. After head trauma as a child, Yuriko suffered from a loss of balance and co-ordination. To combat this, Yuriko made a earpiece that constantly vibrates her eardrums with infrasound waves, adjusting her balance without any other effects. She has a license to carry a Katana and excels in man to man combat.

"What are we going for, anyway?"
"HAZE has something they want us to look at."
"HAZE? You mean that group of second-rates?" The mechanical suit leaned forward.
"I wouldn't call them that. You yourself have seen their spear in action."
"You're right. And that lance of theirs is quite something."
"Yuriko, you are aware that Izuka-senpai is currently in bed with his girlfriend in the hotel Grandiose, aren't you?" Haruke teased the cool sword wielding woman, making her angry once more.
"L-like I care! Anyway, why are you watching a couple in bed having-"
"I never said they were doing anything. You and you're dirty mind~"
"You. Little. Shit!" Yuriko unsheathed her blade in a blink of an eye, and mercilessly swung it down on her target.
A loud clang shook the train.
"That's enough you two. Haruke, stop teasing her! Yuriko, learn to control yourself!" The mechanical suit which was still just a moment ago was now standing between the two, grasping the blade firmly with one hand.
"Sure. But Yuriko's crush is the one weakness I can find in her."
"Were you going through my mind again!?"
"No. I was just teasing you more."
"Tatsuro, out of my way! I'm not gonna kill him, but I'm sure as hell gonna cut off an arm or leg!" Although she was shouting, she made no effort to try and move the robot out of her way.
"Whatever. If you don't do it now, you'll just end up doing it later." The suit stepped aside, allowing Yuriko to release her anger.
"Now, let me cut you a little."
"Oh? I'd like to see you try." The boy showed an impish smile, which only annoyed Yuriko more. But when she tried to move forward, she found out the reason for that smile.
It was because she could not move forward.
She was telling her legs to move, but they would not respond. When she looked back at Haruke in disbelief, she realised that she had raised her own blade to her throat.
"Words are not worth violence. We leave this be or I have you kill yourself." His voice was strangely evil and deep, like he was a different person.
Wanting it to be over as soon as possible, Yuriko did not even used words. She merely grunted, then her body became limp. She struggled to remain standing, even with her now perfect balance.
"You......how did you......?"
"I wonder~" Haruke, now using his normal voice, leaned back. "I bet Izuka-senpai would be able to tell me. He's good with this kind of stuff."
"Shut up!"
For the whole train ride, these two argued, with Tatsuro just sitting idly at the other end of the cart.
Once the train stopped, all three of them walked through the white corridors silently. In these corridors, the higher ups were bound to be watching them. They were told not to let the higher ups find out about their investigation, albeit vaguely.
They came to an out-of-place room which had a broken car and greasy tools scattered on its floor, as well as a pure black motorcycle that looked relatively well looked after.
"Tch." Yuriko clicked her tongue. "Lazy bastards. At least with stairs, an intruder might not be bothered to explore further."
"I guess HAZE prefers convenience over anything."
That's right. This room was an elevator to the surface, disguised as the inside of a repair garage.
Once they rode it to the surface (which took a fraction of the time stairs would) they were free to talk about the investigation.
"Where is the place exactly?"
"I have the co-ordinates with me in the dorm. The suit should be able just to walk there autonomously."
"Umm.....should the suit really be walking outside like that?"
"Hm? Oh, I almost forgot." As his words ended, a change occurred in the robotic suit. It did not change in size or shape, but its appearance altered dramatically.
The once empty, plain silver of the mechanical suit became the colour of skin and clothes.
The suit was now a boy wearing a hooded jacked over its head.
The most amazing part was that it now had a face. It was the face of the one in control: Seishin Tatsuro.
"A combination of chameleon panels and hard-light imagery."
"Ha. Fancy trick." Yuriko laughed.
The three began walking to the site of the so-called 'exo-body'. They were to meet up with Aokura Keisaku and Shiuri Mirai at the scene, then Tatsuro would examine the suit fully. Haruke was there for his own business and Yuriko was simply there to kill time.
"We're here." Tatsuro stopped abruptly at an abandoned warehouse. Haruke sniffed the air around him.
"You can smell the cleaners' chemicals from here. Something quite exiting must've happened for them to use that much." Without waiting for the others, Haruke continued walking, and quickly stepped into the warehouse.
But it was empty.
"Perhaps you got the wrong place?"
"No. I'm reading two life signs ahead of us. They must be behind that wall." Tatsuro walked up to the previously destroyed wall and ran his fingers across its surface. "One area of the stone is much younger than the rest. The outline of that area contains a special adhesive, that should be rendered null with a certain frequency sound wave of high amplitude."
"Whatever. Just break the wall." Said Yuriko, seemingly annoyed at the technical talk.
In response, Tatsuro firmly pushed his hand on the wall, and with a thump, a segment of the wall fell to the floor, creating a doorway that looked more like an impact zone.
"Oh, so you tried to be smart about the wall? I wouldn't bother. No-one comes in here, so just break it. I did." The one who said this was a boy from the other side of the wall. He wore silver headphone and a black visor over his eyes. On his hands were metal gauntlets and his feet had some sort of devices on them too.
He was the inventor of hard-light technology and the spear of the HAZE unit: Aokura Keisaku.
Haruke completely ignored Keisaku and stared at the young woman beside him with a long red ponytail that reached her waist and a black box on her hip.
She was the inventor of teleportation and spyglass of the HAZE unit: Shiuri Mirai.
"Someone else who I can read..........perhaps I can steal the secrets of teleportation........."
"No. I set my box to send out electromagnetic signals to mess with you, so I can't be read." Haruke pouted at her reply.
"Well, I always have Yui-chan to read!"
"I told you not to give me a weird nickname!"
"Actually, that name is quite reasonable. It's much less indecent than calling her Yuri. Yui......... I think I may call you that from now on." Tatsuro voiced out, sounding very serious.
"No, please don't." Yui put her head in her hand.
"So where is the article in question?" Tatsuro forgot all about Yui and moved straight on to the task at hand. Keisaku removed a tarp from behind him, revealing a damaged robotic suit beneath. The suit was like a huge capsule with thick arms and legs attached to it. One arm was missing at the elbow though.
"This is........was, apparently a life support machine, but it turned itself on and attacked us."
"Well, I'll take a good look at it. A full report will take until morning, but I can give some minor details now if you wish." Everybody nodded their heads. "This is indeed a life support suit. Or rather, the person inside is forced to remain alive. Even if the heart has been removed, the suit will pump blood throughout the body artificially. As long as the brain is intact, the person will live. By looking at the arms and legs, it seems the suit has the same idea as the DemonHeart........ That's all I can get right now." Tatsuro let of a sigh then sat beside the suit.
"Thank you."
"So what, we now just sit and wait until you do a full check?" Yuriko asked.
"Feel free to do as you will. I shall contact you all when I have a full report." Since he was going to be still for a while, Tatsuro's suit lost its human appearance, returning to the silver, faceless figure it truly was.
Everyone else just sat together. It looked like they were going to talk.
Well, Haruke was not included it that 'everyone'. He alone stood up and left after saying: "treat it like I'm here. I'll leave quite a few bots behind, so no need to contact me." With that, he was gone.
No-one knew where he was going, but no-one cared. He was a nuisance and a child, so they were glad to be rid of him.