Unit HAZE

Chapter 3 part 1

Chapter 3- picking up the pieces

Part 1
In the ENIGMA dorm, three people were sat at a table. Each of them had a cup of tea, but none of them were drinking.
The room was silent. The reason for this was that an outside was present: Shifune Marika.
The silence was broken by that very same person; taking a sip of tea and then becoming the first to speak.
"Who are you people, what is this place and why is the kid in the coat grinning so much?"
Urushiro Haruke was sat across from her, as she said, grinning.
"I can read you. I can see all your desires, all your dreams, all your emotions."
"?"
"Apologies for him. I'll explain him in a moment, but first I should tell you the basic outline." The mature boy in the headphones was speaking politely to her in contrast to Haruke. However, Marika could not take him seriously with a black visor over his eyes.
"I am Aokura Keisaku, and that moron is Urushiro Haruke. We belong to 'units'. I belong to HAZE, which is based in Japan; moron here is part of ENIGMA, which is based here in this very room." Keisaku took a short drink of his tea before continuing. "We belong to the 'underground'. We are here to assure technology advances at a pace which will not drastically effect the population. Without us, the world would be over run."
"You kill people?!"
"No. If we are attacked, we defend ourselves. Other than that, all we do is stop the development of technology peacefully. Although we may be ending lives indirectly as a result."
"So, how does Izuka-kun fit into this?"
"Izuka belongs to my unit. He came here to speak with the little kid next to me about a job. After that, I don't know." He gestured for Marika to speak. He was essentially passing the baton of explanation duty onto her.
"I-Izuka-kun and I were having a trip to ourselves. When we rode the London eye, it collapsed. I fell from the window, but he saved me somehow. After that, he was having a fight with someone, then he got everyone off the eye. At that time, he was covered in blood. He asked me to take him here, and that was when we met you." Marika said somewhat nervously.
"Since a while ago, I found that the Japanese harmony cube was being used too frequently. I went to go check it out, and found results for various simulations that had been run on it, including a planned attack on Izuka-senpai since he was in England when it was supposed to be empty of unit members. Due to an 'unpredicted factor', they decided to kill him during the assault, using Cerebra." Haruke continued on from Marika without any prompting.
Marika twitched upon hearing the term 'unpredicted factor'.
"Is it..........." Words trembled from her lips. "Am I......the unpredicted factor? Is it my fault Izuka-kun is injured?"
"..............."
"..............."
Haruke and Keisaku were both lost for words. They had to be careful what they said, since if she was upset, Izuka would be against them. They weren't necessarily afraid of him; they just preferred not to fight at a time like this.
".........I believe you were the unpredicted factor, but you came about by Izuka-senpai himself asking you to go with him."
"Also, without you, Izuka could be a lot worse off, and so could we."
"But if it wasn't for me, Izuka-kun and you guys would all be fine!"
"Yes, but the enemy would've succeeded in invading the English underground." Haruke assured her.......kind of.
"............I guess I'm a help and a burden.........."
"Isn't that what being human is all about?" Marika smiled at the words said by Keisaku. She admired him, since he was so mature, kind and cool.
"So, how did you guys get into this super secret line of work?" She asked, changing the subject. But, she was curious to begin with, so it was not a total 'subject-change-to-steer-away-from-a-delicate-subject'.
"To become a unit member, one must have made a huge technological breakthrough in their early years. The oldest unit member is still under thirty. I'm the second youngest; fifteen years old." Haruke proudly pointed to his chest using his thumb.
"So, what did you do?" She asked Keisaku, completely ignoring Haruke.
"I developed hard light technology." At that moment, two short blades of light blue light shot from keisaku's left gauntlet. "Don't touch it; it burns."
"Cool."
"I made a swarm of nanobots to enhance my senses and increase their effective range." Haruke jumped in since he was tired of being ignored.
"He can also replicate and read electrical pulses like those in the brain. Basically, he can read your memories and your innermost thoughts and feelings." Keisaku added.
After a few seconds, Marika began to blush and move away from Haruke.
"You pervert!"
"What? I promise I wasn't going through your memories of Izuka-senpai last night and this morning! I swear!"
"Shut up!" Bright red, Marika slapped Haruke with all her might and charge out of the room.
"I told her I'd explain later. Looks like she had the normal reaction."
"No."
"Huh?"
"People have begged me to stop and threatened me, but no-one has ever slapped me for going into their mind. I think.........I'm actually sorry..........."
"Haruke, what's wrong with you?"
"I......I don't know. But I won't tease her again."
"Haruke; the heart of a girl in love is a beautiful and yet deadly thing. It's like fire. It can be used well and is a pleasure to witness when under control. But if something disrupts its balance, it will destroy everything around it with unparalleled violence. So do not mess with Marika-san's heart."
"Keisaku.........?"
"Nothing." Keisaku sighed as he relaxed further into his seat. With the tension now gone, he began drinking his tea with more vigour.