Looking around at all the Zoanoid soldiers that were sitting or standing or walking around in this particular area, Gyou couldn’t help but feel that there was no force in the world that could stop Chronos’ plans from coming to fruition. Of course, Chronos’ plans and his own would be forced to diverge at some point, a point that was of course coming closer and closer with every day that passed. Gyou smiled secretively, at least he would have another card to play soon enough.

The way that the Zoanoids all fell silent in the space between one breath and the next was the first thing that alerted Gyou of the fact that he was no longer the only Zoalord in the room. The next was the strong psychic force that all Zoalords exuded. It couldn’t affect him the way it would have a Zoanoid, of course, but Gyou noticed it nonetheless. From the way he was moving, it seemed that the old man wanted to speak with him.

Fine. I’ve gotten good enough at lying to the old fool that covering up something else will be no problem. Gyou smiled courteously at the other Zoalord, taking comfort in the fact that it would only be a matter of time before he would be rid of the annoying old man.

"Doctor Balkus," Gyou purred, as the ancient Zoalord came into his line-of-sight. "To what do I owe the distinct pleasure of your company?"

Balkus narrowed his eyes, and Gyou gave the old Zoalord his most ingratiating, insincere smile. He rather enjoyed baiting the old scientist, but not enough to actually keep him around after Dr. Shirai had discovered how to operate the Unit Remover and Gyou had claimed the third Guyver unit for himself. Balkus was far too loyal to Alkanphel to ever be trusted that far.

In fact, the only Zoalord other than himself that Gyou truly trusted was Luggnagg de Krumeggnik. Then, as Gyou had another thought, he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling wider. The boy Kenji Murakami, once his transformation was complete, would also be loyal to Gyou and to Krumeggnik as well. Gyou would personally make sure of that.

After all, telepathically programming the vulnerable mind of a young Zoalord would be very easy. And, once he had that finished, it would only be a matter of time before he could claim a Guyver for himself. And then, after that, it wouldn’t take all that much effort to convince the remaining Zoalords to work for him. Some of them were really only working for Chronos because Alkanphel had given them power beyond their wildest imaginings.

In fact, Gyou was reasonably sure that the only two Zoalords who were truly interested in the cause that Alkanphel promoted were Balkus himself and Fried’rich van Purg’stall. And perhaps Waferdanos, but Gyou hadn’t known him long enough to be sure of that. Gyou had only heard second-hand reports of the power that the Supreme Chronos Overlord possessed, but there were always chances that those stories were exaggerated to keep his underlings in line.

All of these glorious plans were running through Gyou’s mind, behind the telepathic barrier that he and all the other Zoalords habitually erected to keep others from prying into their private thoughts, while he and Balkus just sat there and stared at one another. Gyou’s smile hadn’t faltered once in all that time.

"One of my minor projects has been erased from the database, Commander. I wonder if you would know anything about this?" Balkus asked.

Even though Gyou suspected that he knew just which ‘minor project’ the doctor was so obliquely referring to, he still feigned ignorance. It was just more interesting that way, and there was the added bonus that old Balkus wouldn’t be able to connect him to anything even if by some chance his little project was discovered. His scientists knew better than to tell Balkus anything that he deemed inappropriate, after all.

"I wasn’t aware that you still had any minor projects, Doctor," Gyou said, pushing the plate that held his sandwich away so that he could rest his elbows on the table. Lacing his fingers together, Gyou rested his chin on them. "Very careless of you to lose track of it like that, don’t you think?"

Balkus narrowed his eyes, as Gyou continued to smile almost-innocently at him.

"I did not ‘lose track’ of this particular project, Commander Gyou," Balkus said, almost sounding offended that Gyou would even make that kind of suggestion. Gyou could have cared less. "As I told you, the data was all erased."

"Is there anything you can tell me about this particular ‘minor project’? Then I might be able to inform you if I find out anything about it," Gyou said, wondering just how Balkus would react to his offer.

Balkus stared at Gyou, giving nothing away with his face or his eyes. "This projects specifics would not be of any interest to you, Commander."

"Then I suppose I can’t tell you anything that would help, I’m afraid."

Balkus, giving him one last suspicious stare, got up and left the table without another word or a glance backward. As all the Zoanoids resumed their interrupted conversations and activities, Gyou smirked. Pulling his ignored plate back over within easy reach, Gyou also resumed his interrupted meal. It was only when he was almost finished with his lunch that Gyou found out something that would influence his plans for the rest of the afternoon.

Though most of the Sleeper Unit Zoanoids that had attacked the Guyvers and their little convoy in Takeshiro had been annihilated by Guyver III’s Mega-Smasher, there were many more than Balkus had chosen to reveal in that particular battle. In fact, most of the adult male population of Takeshiro had been processed at this very facility. Gyou had been keeping a mental link to one of them open, just in case anything of interest started happening in the village.

Something that was most definitely of interest to Gyou was happening now. He could see one of the vehicles that the allies of the Guyvers traveled in. Not Murakami’s annoying red sports car, since Gyou already knew that that thing had been destroyed in their last attempt to escape from Takeshiro, unfortunately not taking Guyver I with it. No, this was the older, uglier car that the woman who tended to stay with Guyver III drove.

All of the Guyvers and allies were gathered in this one vehicle. Finishing the rest of his meal, Gyou stood up and gathered the dishes and the remains of his sandwich wrapper. He could have simply called a Zoanoid to clean up the mess, but it would have probably entailed him having to telepathically direct said Zoanoid. It was simply more efficient to do this kind of thing himself.

Once he was finished with that chore, Gyou called a small group of Enzyme IIs over to where he was standing. They were newly processed, but that didn’t matter since every Zoanoid who was not a Sleeper Unit would have been telepathically programmed with the knowledge of how best to use their abilities and new forms. Walking out of the cafeteria with the Enzyme IIs trailing behind him like obedient dogs, Gyou headed for the nearest elevator.

It would be a simple matter to delay the Guyvers until he arrived.

xXxXx

As they entered Takeshiro for the second and hopefully the last time, Masaki couldn’t help wondering just where they would all be able to go to ground next. There was nowhere in the world that would be completely safe from Chronos, but there were enclaves where Chronos’ power was weaker. The Zoanoid models in the western hemisphere were significantly weaker than the ones that had been made over here in the east.

The North American Zoanoids were the weakest of all, and to top it off none of them had any of the special abilities that Masaki had seen in other Zoanoids that were developed over in this area. Hyper Zoanoids were in the minority, and there were places where they apparently hadn’t even been developed yet. Some of his contacts in the ACF had been keeping him informed about the situation on the other side of the world.

There had been no plans as of yet to import the Zoanoid models that had been developed on this side of the world over to the other, that was a good thing as far as Masaki was concerned. There was only the small matter of being able to get over to that side of the Atlantic. Locating an airport would be their first challenge, and then there would be the actual escape from Chronos Japan’s army of Zoanoids.

The ACF would probably be able to give them some cover while they were moving, but only if Masaki could get in contact with them. That would be a decent challenge, since their info-drop points changed every three days. It was a very good security precaution, but it could also be damned annoying those few times that Masaki wanted to contact them quickly. Like it was now.

The car’s sudden deceleration nearly made Masaki slam his head into the row of seats in front of him. About to demand just what the hell was going on, Masaki’s senses were innundated with the presence of Zoanoids. The mutant footsoldiers of the Chronos Corporation had surrounded the car, apparently while Masaki had been going over the limited options that were still open to their group.

The doors of the car were opened so fast that they were practically ripped off, allowing the three of them who had the power to fight against Chronos to pile out of the vehicle and so not endanger any of the occupants of the car any more than they would be forced to by the battle. Masaki brought out his Zoanoid Buster Custom, freshly reloaded. He had taken the time while they were all packing to restock the ammo-packs in his belt, as well.

He could hear Makashima calling for his Guyver unit, but oddly enough he didn’t hear Sho doing the same. Then there was no more time for Masaki to think about what Sho was or wasn’t doing, as a Ramochis lunged at him. One of his high-explosive hollow point shells caught it right between the eyes, blowing the thing’s head off and scattering its brain matter over some of its fellows.

He could hear the sounds of explosive mayhem that indicated that Guyver III was also making his way through the fight. Turning to look over his shoulder, Masaki saw that Sho was just standing there, an expression of mixed sadness and horror on his face as the Zoanoids attacked. Masaki charged over to where Sho stood, shooting a pair of Zoanoids who were unfortunate enough to be in his way.

It was kind of aggravating, the way that Sho wouldn’t just accept the fact that the creatures he was facing – while they might have been human at one point – were the enemy and needed to be killed if any of his friends were going to survive. Reloading his gun with speed developed over long experience, Masaki finally managed to make it over to Sho’s side.

"What are you doing, Sho? Why haven’t you called your Guyver armor yet?"

"Mr. Murakami," Sho turned haunted eyes to look straight at Masaki. "I don’t think I can. Not… not after what happened last time. These are all innocent people here, they never asked to be a part of this," Sho looked out over the army of Zoanoids bearing down on them. "This is all just like what happened to my father."