Chapter 46: Resting in pieces
"We've cracked the exact whereabout of where the recordings were made."
Atop of a high rise, a man stood in the center of a sea of women trying to crack every single file that was sent over. He doesn't exactly belong in there, yet only they have the resources he needed to help his fellow agents.
"I'm sending the top ranks over." He simply said. "Good work agents. You may rest now."
"Can we? Until this is all over, I don't think we could." He hears a response
"It might not be comfortable knowing this, but you all did a lot so for now, get some rest."
After he had said that, he cut off the transmission to let them rest whilst he's still monitoring the situations in front of him.
"Blue-san, how is it going on your end?"
"Smoothly. Still my head hurts from what happened earlier." Blue aka Aoi held her tablet close to her chest whilst holding her temple to stop the dizziness
"Oi Merlin." A male figure approaches the male handler. "Where are you sending us to?"
"To the remote forest. Near the border of Fukushima prefecture." He sends over a location tag to the male. "That's where Muzan's base will likely be."
"Didn't they reported that he's dead? Couldn't we just send a recovery team to scour the remnants?"
"Will all due respect agent Kaze. Muzan is known to be able to transfer his mind into another body. Not to mention he has been observed to have clones of himself." Murata turned towards the male. "I haven't fought him myself, but you did along with several others yes? You can judge it yourself then how strong this man really is and what he's capable of."
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"So is that it?"
Back at the Kibutsuji Foundation Tower, the agents who had gone through it all it seems stood still as they looked at each other. Being ordered to rest is not exactly foreign nor it was uncommon. But considering the current situation, they felt as if they couldn't afford to. The men stares at each other before one of them breathe out a sigh.
"Well, we've got our orders." Axel walk over to one of the white walls to lean against
"Take it easy Red." Zenitsu gets off from the terminal. "You're still exhausted from the fight earlier right?"
"Compared to you, I only did a fraction of the work. I'm the one who should've said that to you." Tanjiro began to walk back upstairs
"What is he on about?" Inosuke who remained on the sideline spoke up
"Leave him be. We should get some shut eyes." Zenitsu suggested
Whilst the men began to wind down for the night, the ladies are still having conversation with the higher ups. Mainly Kanao still remain contact since Aki had already excuses herself to get some rest.
"How are you faring at the moment?"
"I'm fine injury wise Bloom-sama." She responded
"Didn't I told you before? This conversation is off the record, so you can drop the formalities Kanao." Kanae reminded her
"Right, forgive me Kanae nee-san."
"That's better. Now tell me, who is the man with the red hair?"
Kanao somewhat jolted when she heard the mentioning of a certain someone. Of course, she thought Kanae would only asked because he practically saved her from losing a limb. A moment passed and she finally spoke.
"He's from the Rising Sun Agency. Codenamed: Agent Red Sun." She replied
"Ara? Is that so? Let me rephrase the question." Kanae clears hee throat. "Who is that man to you?"
"He's my partner-." She simply replied
"I meant on a personal level."
"....." Kanao went silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, I don't follow the logic."
"Just tell me Kanao. Nobody will know except you and me. Just how do you feel about him?" Kanao could tell that Kanae is smirking in the other side
"........."
"Kanao?"
"I don't feel anything for him, but I know that I could trust him." She finally responded
"That's a first. You trust someone that is basically a stranger to you?"
"He's no stranger. Just a man fulfilling his duty. Even if he's risking his life for it." Kanao looked up. "Just like how they taught us."
An audible sigh came through. "I see. He might be the same as us, but he's from a different agency. You might not see him again."
"And what do you meant by that nee-san?" Kanao jumped on her with a question
"Won't you feel sad not being able to see him again?"
Once again Kanao fell silent for a moment. Why would she feel sad not being able to see him again? Even if she does see him, what should she do? There's not a single reason why she should stay in contact with the man. Sure he had saved her numerous times but she did the same for him more than once. She had this predicament more than once before.
Agents aren't supposed to have any connections to remain secretive of their work. It was a rule meant to protect the agency as well as the agents themselves. Following orders down to the single letter, they remain in their own world protecting the light many people hold dear. Although this alone clashes with the words he had spoken to her. Is she a cold hearted machine, or a fragile aging human? A question she still couldn't answer herself.
"I won't be sad," She began. "and yet I don't even know what sadness is to begin with."
".........I see..." Kanae paused for a while
"Does that satisfy your query?"
"It's getting a bit late. You must be tired right now." Kanae ignored her question. "Get some rest Kanao. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
After ending the transmission, Kanao observe her surroundings a bit. She saw everyone doing different things minding their own business. All but one, the man with red hair isn't down with them. She went on a search for the male as she went up the stairs back into the white room. The moon light shines through the clear glass wall and a shadow was created from a figure who stood near the window curtain. It was silent as she observe the male staring longingly towards the city. Silently she took her steps until she stood right next to him.
"Still couldn't sleep?" He asked suddenly
"I'm doing fine for now." She casually responded. "Thank you for caring about me."
"Of course. Fighting off something that large would be exhausting even with someone with your caliber." He spoke. "I just don't want to see you suddenly fainting in the middle of a mission."
"Would you be sad if we were to not be able to see each other again?" She suddenly opens a query
"Sad?" His voice sounded confused. "Why would I be? It's like you said. We lived in the shadow realm where people like us die for those living in the limelight."
"I see." She looked down to the floor
"Even so, I would be delighted to see you every now and then." His smile reflected from the window
"......Enlighten me, Kamado-san." Tanjiro flinched the moment he hears his family name. "Is that smile a genuine one? Or is it a mask you put on?"
"A mask?" He looked at her expression. 'She really is serious about this.' he thought. "Why would I need to mask my own heartfelt desire?"
"Are you really a human as you said you were?" Her glare intensifies. "Don't lie to me. A gentleman would always be honest, won't they?"
"......Uncertainty." He simply uttered. "A common trait between human and machine. They do not have confidence in their own judgement upon seeing something they couldn't understand."
"Although, a machine may not recognise one of their own only to leave them to their own fate. But a human recognises one of their own." He turned towards her and hold out his arm. "And I'm very certain that you are one of us."
"Me? A human? Don't be ridiculous." She stare far into the distance. "I don't even understand basic emotions. I know a lie when I see one because I too wear a mask."
"And yet, you don't show any signs of wearing one. A true genuine expression." She clenched her hand into fists. "Why are you here? Why didn't you just stay in the light?"
"If I did, I wouldn't have met you." He simply said. She turned towards the man only to find him smiling gently. "Like I said before, it pains me to see machine dies. To see someone like you who still has so much ahead of them throwing themselves into an endless pit waiting for the impending ground to come."
"You said it yourself. I'm a machine. I follow orders-" Her words get cut off
"No, you're not." He gently hold one of her hand. "The fact that you're expressing anger, you're a step closer to becoming human again."
Once again Kanao was taken aback by his statement. Though it did not show on her face, Tanjiro could practically taste the sweet yet bitter scent he could only describe as "profound emotions". Such of which he couldn't clearly categorise the scent to a distinct emotion like the sweet happiness or the bitter sadness. He could only guess what goes through her mind but he'd pay mind to her own privacy since he's practically taking in her scent without her knowing. Letting go of her hand gently letting it fall back to her side, he spoke again.
"If you need someone to talk to, I'm always free for a cup of tea." His gaze turn upon the dimming city before him. "Who knows, one day I might get to see your genuine smile."
".........If that is what you desire." She finally spoke. "Make it for two then."
Just as they wrapped up their conversation, the silence didn't last long. A beep went off in his ears as a male voice came along right after.
"Agent, are you awake?"
"Yeah, what's the matter Merlin?" He immediately responded catching Kanao's attention as well
"Y-you need to see this."
A notification windows open up revealing a footage. A live one as it seemed to be moving. All he sees were fire erupting from underground catching the surrounding trees on fire. Rubbles of concrete were visible as it was the only thing that didn't get burned to the ground. A question immediately raised within his mind.
'What happened?'
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"This is Agent Honō. We're arriving to target location shortly."
Turning back the clock a bit, men and women in black suit are being mobilised deep into the jungle. They were the top elites among their ranks, kitted out with what they had left. Keeping in constant communication with their mission handler after a sudden re-establishment of communication between them were made.
"We read you loud and clear Agent Hono." Murata answered
"How are we supposed to find this place huh?" Obanai grumpily asked
"Seemed like someone didn't get a good night sleep." Shinobu giggled
"You're not sleepy yourself. Didn't you stay awake the whole day?" Giyuu chimes in
"Unlike you, I have matters needed to be resolved. Surely you had some good sleep before this." She looked at the expression the male beside her made. To her disappointment it remains the same ever since she met him.
"I'm used to this. Getting a good three hour sleep is a privilege we agents do not have."
"I think you're the only one Mizu." Uzui joins in. "No one else stayed up with a knife in their hands for hours on end without nodding off."
"Oh? Is that so, Mizu-san?" She teases the male
"Unfortunately we have to cut this conversation short, gentlemen." Giyuu looked ahead. "Merlin, we've got a situation here."
"The place. It's destroyed."
One word transmitted through the comms. That single word made every single handler working on their station fall silence. As their eyes stick towards the main screen seeing fire erupting from the ground. The once solid concrete structure had already fallen to the ground. Liquids puddled up all over the grounds. It's as if an explosion had erupted from within destroying everything up to the surface.
"What on earth just happened?" One of handler's jaws dropped
"Did Muzan did this?"
"Are we gonna even catch him at this rate?"
"This is....." Murata was speechless. 'Did we missed him by any chance? Where could he have gone?'
Blip.
'Huh? A transmission?' He thought whilst having received a message
"Looks like there's still more work." Aoi sighed. "Come along people! We need to find this man and fast!"
"Hai!" All the handlers began to mash their keyboards
"This is...." His eyes widen. "Red Sun."
"Did you say something Merlin?" Aoi looked at the shocked male
"Agent. Are you awake?"
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Back in the present, Tanjiro whose eyes remains widens asked the question hoping for an answer. Among countless answers he could think of, one question came out to him. Come to think of it, why did the handler went out of his way to show him this scene? If anything he's the least important person to know about this. That is until, Murata spoke again.
"I believed this has ties to someone you knew." He paused for a second
'Ties to me? Wait-' His thought abruptly halted
"Agent Red Sun senior. He sent out a message through the emergency line." Murata sighed. "I believed itt was meant for you."
"For, me?"
"I'll send it over to you. Contact me again after you've watched it. Till then."
The moment the voice cuts out, a blip appears on his screen. Tanjiro could only guess what it is considering it was said it was for him from his father. Red Sun senior is his callsigns after he inherited the name. Alas, why speculate when he could simply watch what it was. Using his eyes movement as cursor, he opens the message which revealed a recording recorded not long ago. He blinked twice and let it play.
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"This is Agent Red Sun."
In the thickness of the jungle, a man in black suit armed with a machete managed to trek through the harsh terrain even after sun down. His appearance were similar to that of a younger redhead, only he was taller and looking rather quite pale. He wore a specially made glasses equipped with many functions and that includes recording whatever he sees with his own eyes.
"I'm standing before where the target keeps his experiments locked away." He took out his gun. "One in particular he kept only to himself.
His own consciousness."
"For those who's watching this, if I fail here, I'm counting on you to pick up where I fall."
"This is Red Sun, I'm going in."
Emerging out of the bushes, his gun already aimed at the two guards at the entrance. He served one bullet each for their late night snack and they fell asleep the moment they ate it. Grabbing one by the neck, he held them up to an eye scanner. Since the owner of the said eyes are asleep, he forced them opened before a green bleep showed him that the door is unlocked.
He moved within the tight corridor until it widens up the further in he goes. An agent main forte are their ability to remain hidden even when engaging with the target. To move swiftly without the enemies knowing his presence. Keeping true to this, he had equipped a silencer onto his gun as he serves some more snacks for the wandering guards.
Swiftly he moves clearing out corridors after corridors filled with armed guards whose face is all looking the same. Quickly he reached the heavily guarded elevator from which he took care of the guards with tear gas before silencing them all by hand.
"Top level all clear. Moving down underground."
Without as a drop of sweat, he enters the arriving lift with little to no harm. The door closed as the scene of red painted corridor etched into his mind like it was just part of training. Down he goes as the number counts down deep into the negative territory. Whilst he was waiting, he let out the empty magazine and replace it with a new one so he can serve up some more snacks for the waiting "customers".
Ding!
Speaking of which.
"Let me ask you all a question." He calmly said towards numerous guards having the same face pointing their rifles at him. "Who's hungry?"
Suddenly he threw out something from underneath his sleeve. Small disks the size of a coin, three of them spreads out on the ground. A smile appears on his face the moment he activates the small devices. The men holding their rifles gets shocked by a million volt causing their muscles to seize up. The agent didn't waste time serving up dinner. All fifteen of them went down like a brick hitting the floor. Of course leaving little to no scratch to the man himself.
He proceed forward taking out the guards that came by the dozens. The blood they spilled didn't even stained his clothing let alone his skin. Clearly an army of guards even armed with semi-automatic rifles isn't a match for him. Within minutes he took out every single guards in sight as he progress deeper into the facility. It not until he stumble upon a door which lead to the main chamber. Reloading his weapon once more, a single gentle push was all it takes to open the double door.
He walks in as if he was at a bar, only if the ceiling height were as tall as a five storeys building and there was no bar in sight. Upon walking in, he was greeted by a massive dome in the center of the massive open space. Tubes sprawled out of the dome carrying liquids of sorts whilst the dome isn't the only massive thing there. A terminal located in front of the dome were dwarfed by the massive screen that shows a particularly glitchy face of a man. It had seemed that his presence had woken up the man on the screen.
"My my. I didn't think I would see you again. Would've thought you died somewhere out there old man." The voice that came out were glitchy to his ears
"We meet again Muzan."