A disconcerting revelation

[break_the_nine]

[With the recent events happening Leos is just waiting for the eventual moment in which Loni and crew get off scot free... so he drags himself to the lounge and crashes onto the sofa with a blank and bitter look on his face. Linking to the TV he starts flipping through the channels, not even noticing if anyone had followed him in. Then something catches his attention. Not you though...]



Wh... wha- No...No...NONONONONO!!!!

[Bolt upright Leos is rapidly flicking back through the channels at lightning speed, trying to find the image that horrified him this badly.]

Please...  he's dead! I saw him die-

"And just last week Nineball stunned the Arena Audience with yet another victory. Rumors were abound about his apparent demise but clearly they've been proven false! Hopefully we'll be able to get a chance to see both him and the newcomer Leos Klein in a showdown to determine who's number one!"

[Leos doesn't say a word. Simply sliding out of his chair in shock.]

Comments

[kill_all_vagans]

[Flit's in just as much surprise as Leos. Hustler One's still alive and kicking? But that was... impossible!]

... Leos... there's now way though that the guy you beat wasn't him though, right?

I mean, it was the Nineball!

[break_the_nine]

It was him! I know it was him! The voice! The way he fought! Everything!

But... but-

[But he also survived long enough to try take a shot at him despite having a sword punched through the torso of the red AC.]

I don't understand... I saw the Nineball blow up! PROGTECH dug through the scrap! There was no way he could have survived that!

[kill_all_vagans]

Then... then it has to be like some sort of backup! Like maybe identical twins!

[break_the_nine]

.... Then I'll just have to kill that one too. And any more if there are any!

[kill_all_vagans]

If they're going to endanger more innocent people then... then yeah!

[Ah, the subtle differences even when in agreement.]

[star_of_sad]

It could be an impostor...

[break_the_nine]

The one on the TV or the one I saw die?

[star_of_sad]

I don't know. Which one sounds more likely? It could be either one.

It's an explanation that makes more sense than just people coming back to life. After all, Raven's Nest could just have made a similar AC and pretend the old pilot's in the new unit...

[break_the_nine]

Maybe... but how he fought...

[Its very similar. A downright match in fact. Leos presses a hand to his face and grits his teeth.]

[star_of_sad]

That doesn't mean anything yet...

[What is the truth behind this? Setsuko doesn't know. She doesn't know if they'll ever discover it, either.]

What are you going to do now?

[break_the_nine]

I need to find out what's going on. I don't know how but I have to.

[star_of_sad]

Do you have any contacts inside Raven's Nest?

Or maybe... maybe that scientist? Elan Cubis? He was also Nineball's target, maybe he can tell you something now!

[break_the_nine]

The only contact I have in the Nest is Lana.... maybe... she's been with them for a long time. I can check with her.

Elan too.

[star_of_sad]

After everything that happened, I think Elan will be more likely to help us... err, I mean help you.

I think your handler had mostly Progtech's self interest in mind, and everything else was, well...

[cloningblues]

He's alive?! No way... And he's a murderer! Do they just ignore that?

[break_the_nine]

People will ignore a lot if it suits them.

[Leos' tone is absolutely arctic.]

Loni's uncle is willing to bail out his nephew and let him do whatever he wants just because.

Loni lets his friends kill innocent people because they're his friends and does whatever he thinks he can because of his uncle.

And the Raven's Nest and Corporations don't care what their favorite murderer does as long as he gets them money.

[The modified human is visibly trembling now.]

But what I want to know the most is how that red bastard crawled out of hell.

[cloningblues]

I don't know! You destroyed the whole cockpit, didn't you? Nobody can survive that...

...Maybe he's a clone.

[break_the_nine]

A...clone? Maybe... but people always say Hustler One was a Human PLUS too. I don't think you can clone that... and-

[Leos pauses.]

And if he really was a Clone he wouldn't have been able to try to kill me after I destroyed his cockpit.

[He's looking at his hand now.]

What the heck is he...

[cloningblues]

You can turn a clone into a Human PLUS, can't you? But that process takes time...

...Something really weird is going on here.

[break_the_nine]

And it'd probably kill a lot of them too...

[He trails off but silently agrees with Asagi.]