MHG-V3-4 (Initial Draft)

Chapter 16 - revelation

**** (hell)

Ken literally shuddered as he looked at the destruction films before him. The Crossriver bridge burning on fire, hundreds of cars abandoned by fleeing people. Overturned buses. A derailed train. Two crashed helicopters - one into the river and another that had landed on a road. Exploded powerplants. A string of chaos and debris painted an unmistakable line between their compound and the nsa facility where teruko had been taken to. Ayaka in her desperation had done everything she could think of to cut off the retreating vehicle that they assumed contained teruko's soulring.

ken had never seen ayaka so maniacal in his life. She had always seemed crazy, but the crazed sequence of attacks he had just witnessed now painted a picure of a much more murderous and vengeful beast than he had ever seen. Driven by her desire to stop that truck, she had put the lives of normal citizens on the line too many times. No, it was impossible to imagine there had been no casualties from this event. He feared what the newspapers would soon be reporting. However the other problem at hand was that they had failed. Teruko had been successfully captured, and without storming the building themselves there would be no way to get her back. Furthermore, their current location was no longer safe. Not only the nsa, soon the police and the military would be after them. They had completely blown their cover. Yet the task of moving an entire compound with all its datacenters was not a small task. Perhaps that was why teruko had been sending as much of their data to other datacenters as backups just before she got captured. She had already seen the possibility of this development and had made plans just on case. However ever teruko's help would not be enough. Transfering datacenters would be a tremendous job that could not be accomplished overnight.

Ayaka knelt before Ken sobbing. One by one the panels surrounding them disappeared until there was only Ayaka and Ken left in the endless pool of white. Ayaka's sobbing was the only noise that could be heard. For sure, Ken felt powerless and desperate. But watching Ayaka like that had somewhat shocked him. Teruko and Ayaka had never really been on good terms. They always seemed to be fighting, competing, quarelling. But looking at the weeping girl in front of him, Ken realised something - that despite everything Ayaka really loved Teruko very much.

Ken crawled over to her and put a hand on her back, but immediately after he withdrew it. Feelings couldn't be realised here, he was reminded by the lack of sensation that he felt. Yet Ayaka looked up at him after he did that, her eyes red with tears.

"Please.. comfort me." She said, looking at him with a sense of being lost.

"Ha?"

Suddenly his vision blacked out and when it came back he was once again in Ayaka's full sensation simulator. Ken's eyes widened fearfully as he looked at Ayaka kneel in front of him.

"Don't worry," she said smiling painfully. "I won't try to do anything to you. I just want.. a shoulder to cry on."

Ken relaxed and nodded his head. Ayaka came closer and then rested her head on his chest. She immediately started crying, and as he sat there he felt unable to keep his own tears inside.

Teruko... Teruko... what possessed you to do all those things? What kind of pain did you feel... that i was unable to take away?

Ken felt guilty, as if somehow if he had been more on the alert, more aggressive to comfort her, none of this would have happened. But now she was gone, captured by their greatest enemy and taken to one of those locked down facilities that they had no way to penetrate.

Ken closed his eyes and joined Ayaka in weeping over their lost friend.

*** (the truth)