There were pained screams, as well as raucous laughter, coming from the radio set into the computer where Dr. Balkus had stationed himself. Able to do nothing but listen and seethe, since by now Aptom was completely out of his control, Dr. Balkus waited for the sounds to end. The end was always the most annoying part. Sure enough, once the screams of the Zoanoids could no longer be heard, there was a slight crackling in the receiver that indicated that Aptom had picked it up.

"Hello, Dr. Balkus," Aptom’s aggravating, cheerful voice came over the speakers. "I’d thank you for the free meal, but I don’t think you’d really appreciate my gratitude."

Aptom’s laughter filled the room, up until the point where the former Hyper Zoanoid crushed the transmitter. The sudden burst of static that heralded the end of the transmission was cause for an annoyed scowl from Dr. Balkus. Unlike Gyou, however, Dr. Balkus considered it unnecessary to have a large and ready vocabulary of curse words prepared for every unpleasant occurrence.

Speaking of that… Gyou, I wonder just where our Twelfth Zoalord has managed to bury himself for so long. It is not like him to be this silent for this long. As if Dr. Balkus’ thoughts had conjured him, the tall, broad form of Reholt Gyou came striding through the doors that led into the computer room.

"I heard the screaming," Gyou said, smiling calmly. "I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help."

There was no overt sarcasm or mockery in the Commander’s voice, but there was something in his manner that set Dr. Balkus on edge. Gyou seemed far too self-satisfied, and far too casual about a creature that was causing nothing but harm and destruction to Chronos. Dr. Balkus narrowed his eyes, taking in Gyou’s appearance and manner. The Twelfth Zoalord was holding a napkin around an egg bagel, eating it while he looked at the datafile on Aptom that Dr. Balkus was currently perusing.

"Quite interesting how you managed to create this ‘Aptom’ and then were completely unable to control him, doctor," Gyou turned a sidelong smile on him. "Are you quite sure you should still be working here? Maybe it’s time you took a vacation."

Dr. Balkus narrowed his eyes still further, as Gyou gave him an innocent smile and took another bite out of his bagel.

"I assure you, Commander Gyou, that there is nothing wrong with my ability to perform my duties. I do not need a vacation."

"If you insist," Gyou said offhandedly, with a shrug to further indicate his complete lack of belief. "So, what has your little failed experiment been up to lately?"

Dr. Balkus, who was determined not to be drawn into yet another verbal sparring match with the Twelfth Zoalord, did not dignify that with a response. Gyou turned to him with a raised eyebrow, but Dr. Balkus still resolutely ignored him.

"Well, since I get the feeling that you would rather be alone to contemplate your mistake, I will leave you to it."

And somehow, despite what he had just said, there was still no trace of overt mocking in Commander Gyou’s voice. But still, there was the fact that the Commander had been hiding something from him, from Alkanphel, and from all the other Zoalords. This was as good a time as any to confront him about that.

"Commander, I was wondering if you would be willing to tell me just what you have been doing of late," Dr. Balkus said, wondering just what kind of reaction he would receive from the Commander.

"Lately?" Gyou held up his bagel. "I was having my midmorning snack. An idea which Aptom and I seem to have in common."

Commander Gyou evidently thought his little joke was amusing, judging by the way he started laughing. Dr. Balkus was not so amused by the Commander’s little quip, and the glare he aimed at the Twelfth Zoalord made that fact very clear. Gyou didn’t seem to care what Dr. Balkus thought of him, though, given the way he sedately kept eating. At last fed up with trying to get answers from Gyou indirectly, Dr. Balkus stepped up and faced the Commander straight on.

"I want to know what you have been doing, what you know about that strange vibration that happened late last night, and just what you are hiding from me!" Dr. Balkus demanded.

"In order: eating, absolutely nothing, and only that usual," Gyou said calmly.

Dr. Balkus’ glare became more pronounced. "So, you are trying to tell me that you have been doing nothing but eating since last night? I find that somewhat hard to believe, Commander."

"Well I did take time out to sleep, of course," Gyou said calmly. "In fact, that vibration was what nearly woke me up last night. Though I did manage to fall back to sleep, thank you so much for your concern."

Dr. Balkus’ glare would have caused any lesser Zoaform to falter under the sheer intensity of it, but Gyou simply stood there and continued to smile blandly at him. It was all becoming very aggravating.

"If you have nothing worthwhile to contribute to this conversation then you are dismissed, Commander."

"Of course," Gyou said solicitously, turning to leave.

Dr. Balkus aimed a scathing glare at the Twelfth Zoalord’s back as Gyou left the workroom; that had been more annoyance than he had needed. And, as if that weren’t enough, he still had not managed to pry any useful information out of the Commander. All in all, this day had not been a very good one.

XxXxX

Gyou laughed to himself as he exited the computer room where Dr. Balkus had ensconced himself. That had been easier than he had expected it to be, what with Aptom to distract Balkus’ focus from what he was doing. He would really have to find some way to thank the rogue Lost Unit for giving him such a good smoke-screen to hide his own clandestine projects behind.


 
 
Back to Kenji-Chan
 

The Web WarriorGuyver.com

 

 

 

Disclaimer: The Guyver Fan Archive is a collection of Archived Guyver Websites, Fan-Art and Fan-Fiction done by various people based on the Anime "Bio-Boosted Armour Guyver" by Yoshiki Takaya.

The fictions and images contained within this site belong to those that wrote and drew them and should not be used by other individuals unless you have their permission.