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.