If You Were Not There
If You Were Not There
Rufus and his six colleagues quickly packed their luggage.
"Hurry! We have got no time!" Rufus grabbed the red suitcase. "The government dogs will be here any minute!"
"It is all due to that masked bastard!" A woman named Yuizi cursed as she gathered explosives. "We can't even plan things perfectly!"
The government had amplified security after the attack on police headquarters. Thanks to the attention brought by the masked man, the government was now on a lookout for revolutionaries as well.
Rufus grudgingly nodded while opening an encrypted video conference app.
A few seconds later, a man was visible on the screen. If Zed was here, he would easily identify this man, especially by the tattoo of ouroboros on his right wrist.
"You only have five minutes!" the man said with a slight hint of panic in his voice. "Stay low key otherwise you will be caught!"
"I know!" Rufus replied as he and his team left the room. "What should we do with the plan?"
"I don't know!" the man said, sounding displeased. "But whatever you do, don't forget my objective when you carry out your job!"
"You can rest assured on that!" Rufus responded while rushing into the elevator. "Just make sure the conditions are right and we will handle everything!"
"Got it!"
----------
Dream Rise House.
In the bedroom.
Kiba looked at his reflection on the mirror. His expression unsightly, eyes bloodshot.
When he looked at his reflection, he didn't see himself but rather a bloodthirsty demon.
His hands stained with the blood of innocents... killed for no reason other than to satisfy his bloodthirst.
"Damn!" Kiba smashed his fist into the mirror.
BANG!
The mirror exploded in small fragments, slowly falling on the floor. Kiba lowered his gaze, and from the fragments, he still saw his reflection.
Before there was only one reflection, and now with hundreds of mirror fragments, there were over hundred reflections of the bloodthirsty demon.
"How can I let myself carry out such an act?!" Kiba hated himself for giving in to the demands of his instinct.
*knock*
The door was knocked multiple times.
"Enter."
A droid silently entered the bedroom. It carried a tray, holding two syringes filled with yellow and red liquids.
"Claudia."
Kiba took a deep breath before continuing.
"Have you found anything from the scan?"
After leaving Athol's house, he had undergone a detailed medical examination to discover why he did such a thing.
[[No, sir.]] Claudia replied.
"As expected!" Kiba laid down on the bed.
[[I assume what happened today can be attributed to the attack of Psychic Hunter.]]
"...I wish I could blame that monk..." Kiba sighed in frustration. "But sadly the monk isn't responsible."
In the last four years, he had only lost control twice. The first was when he killed the investigators on the wasteland. The other time was today.
He could justify the first loss of control since he had used his full powers. The greater the powers he used, the more was the risk of being affected by his basic instincts.
Then there was the anger inside him against the monk so it wasn't impossible for him to lose his sanity for a few moments.
After all, that time the monk had stated his intentions of dissecting Hope. This could explain why he became muddle-headed and lost control temporarily.
But he couldn't justify today's accident. He hasn't even used his full powers nor there was any anger inside him like the previous time.
He had killed thousands of people but never had he lost control like today. He dreaded this might repeat in the future if he didn't take any action now.
"Claudia."
"Sir?"
"I now understand why you were so insistent on me wearing the bracelet."
Kiba said as he glanced at the bracelet on his right wrist.
Claudia had reasoned that Zed has to wear the bracelet, otherwise, Felicity might not wear the one they created for her protection.
Felicity had no interest in jewelry and she will plainly refuse to wear one unless she sees her brother figure wearing one as well.
Zed understood this reasoning so he grudgingly clad a similar bracelet on his wrist. He didn't need protection but for Felicity's sake, he was ready to wear it.
When he transformed into Kiba, the bracelet remained on his body just like clothes.
He will rarely remove the bracelet in his Kiba form since it wasn't enough to connect dots with his other form.
Before today Claudia never activated the bracelet since there was no need. The activation should have resulted in a Force Field instead of vibrations strong enough to jolt his mind.
The fact that the vibrations brought him back to sanity can only mean Claudia designed the bracelet for him.
[[I apologize but I meant no---]]
"Don't apologize."
Kiba interjected in between.
"If not for you, I would have killed more innocents."
[[....]]
"Claudia."
Kiba closed his eyes as he muttered her name slowly.
He was glad she did what she did, and helped him. He didn't wish to become a monster without any reason.
[[Yes?]]
"Thank you."
[[I was just carrying out my duty, sir. There is no need to thank me for that.]]
"........"
Kiba smiled at her response. He knew she only cared for him and would never take any credit for saving him.
---
A few minutes later, Kiba opened his eyes and signaled the droid to step forward. The droid placed the tray on the table and took the syringe filled with red serum.
Kiba pulled the right sleeve of his shirt to the end of his shoulder. The droid injected the serum into his arm.
"I don't know what would happen to me if you were not there."
Kiba said as the serum mixed with his bloodstream.
[[Most likely you will carry out a slaughter until the government and other organizations intervene. Then you either might get killed or used as an experiment specimen.]]
"...." Kiba turned speechless.
He was only making a statement and not asking for any answer.
[[Then there is also a possibility of---]]
"...I don't want to hear more possibilities!"
Kiba was afraid she will make another statement he won't like.
He was sure the other statement was related to his womanizing nature and hence he didn't wish to hear about it.
[[Understood.]]
Claudia's feminine voice sounded disappointed. It made Kiba sure that he was right in his conjecture.
"I don't know how I will be without you..." Kiba shook his head with a smile, "But I'm glad you will be with me till my final breath."