"Dr. Akers, make sure there’s no one in the main basement area with the Relic," Sumio ordered, once all of them were inside the laboratory together. "Dr. Baker, make sure you alert me the moment that any other Chronos employees enter this level. We’re going to be heading out to the Relic and I don’t want to chance our being discovered."

"Yes, Professor," a scientist with blond hair and glasses acknowledged.

"I’ll make sure you aren’t interrupted, sir," another scientist, this one with scruffy-looking black hair, nodded and turned back to his monitoring console.

"Dr. Jackson?" Sumio called.

"I already have them ready, Professor," said a lean man with dirty-blond hair, carrying over a pair of hexagonal packs with small cameras mounted on them. "These cameras will allow you to see anything that the Guyvers see while they are inside the Relic spacecraft. I’ve also added an extra setup that will allow you to communicate with the Guyvers while they are inside the spacecraft itself."

"Thank you very much for your promptness, Dr. Jackson," Sumio said.

"Always happy to be of help, Professor," Dr. Jackson said, as he handed the both of the camera / communicator setups over to Sumio then turned and walked away.

"All right," Sumio said, holding up the two pieces of equipment that Dr. Jackson had given him. "Now that we’re as safe as we can be in a place like this, let’s see if we can’t make the Relic work for us. Dr. Akers, are we still clear?"

"We’re clear, Professor," the black-haired man, obviously Dr. Akers, said.

"Thank you," Sumio said. Then, turning to address the rest of the group, Sumio spoke again. "Well, let’s get going."

Masaki nodded wordlessly, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Makashima doing the same.

"We’ll be right behind you, Prof. Odagiri," Sho said.

Together, their group walked out into the cavernous main area in the basement where the Relic spacecraft was kept. Masaki was slightly on edge, since they would all be completely exposed if any one of Chronos’ army of Zoanoids came into the room. Even with Akers and Baker monitoring the surveillance cameras, Masaki couldn’t really settle himself enough to accept that they would all be safe here. Resolving to keep a close watch on the others, Masaki kept walking.

XxXxX

"Find Guyver I," Gyou ordered a large group of Standard Zoanoids as they stood at attention in front of him. "I don’t care how long you have to search, how many losses you suffer, or what else you have to do. I want Guyver I!"

"Yes sir, Commander Gyou!"

Gyou nodded, as satisfied as he could be under the circumstances. It has been more than a week since the Guyver and his little group disappeared. I know that I killed Makashima and his little band, but it is most annoying that that weakling Guyver I managed to escape. And from Takeshiro at that, a place that Chronos has complete control of. I do not understand how that annoying boy could have possibly managed it. Gyou gritted his teeth, aggravated that he had to go to such absurd lengths to find a single human boy.

Sho Fukamachi had been proven many times to be a weak-minded, overprotective little fool. Gyou simply could not understand how such a weak human could be able to survive against Chronos for so long. It was aggravating in the extreme, both in the fact that his Zoanoids were unable to find a simple human boy – Guyver-enhanced or not – and because it was frustrating Gyou’s plans for the future.

Then, as if Sho Fukamachi wasn’t enough of a thorn in his side, Gyou also had to contend with Balkus prying into his affairs. Though I now possess the Remover, the Remover itself is useless without the Guyver to use it on. Things just don’t seem to be going as smoothly as I want them to. The hazards of being ambitious, I suppose. That thought made Gyou chuckle slightly, even in spite of his annoyance with his currant situation.

As he walked down the hall to his quarters, Gyou made an effort not to fume over his predicament. Maybe after Gyou had relaxed and refreshed himself, he would be able to find another solution to his problem. Just as he was about to take another step, a blinding gold-white light filled the hallway in front of him from floor to ceiling. Along with the light, there came an immense psychic pressure, a force that Gyou could almost swear he felt pressing down on him physically.

What is this? This telepathic force is impossibly strong! But it doesn’t feel at all like that old fool Balkus. Who could this be? Gyou was at least thankful that this newcomer, whoever they were, did not cause him pain the way that the activation of the Relic had done. Having to deal with that kind of pain even once had been far more than enough; three times in one month would have been more than even Gyou himself could have handled.

The newcomer’s footfalls echoed strongly inside the enclosed space of the hallway, as if whoever was walking was far heavier and more substantial than Gyou. In fact, it even sounded as if this one was even heavier than Tuarhan De Galenos, no small feat since the Eighth Zoalord even outmassed Gyou himself by a few hundred pounds. The light shrouding the figure was starting to die down by now, but not the overwhelming telepathic pressure.

It should not have been possible for anyone to telepathically overwhelm Gyou in this way, since he himself was a Zoalord. Gyou clenched his teeth as he sensed Balkus teleporting in behind him. Perfect, just when I had thought this day couldn’t get any more aggravating. Gyou was starting to feel slightly apprehensive, not that he would have ever admitted it to anyone, but for the moment his curiosity about this newcomer was greater than his fear.

As the bright light receded still further, Gyou began to be able to make out more details of the figure. The first things that he noticed were the yellow eyes. They were not really that much like his own; the eyes of the newcomer were in fact almost feline.

"Hello again, Reholt Gyou," the apparition said, as the last of the light obscuring his face died down. "It has been a long time since we last met. Of course, the last time I saw you was when you were still in the processing-tank. Therefore, I don’t think it would be presumptuous of me to assume that you do not remember me."

Gyou could now see that the newcomer had hair that was a paler blond than even his own, as well as having pointed ears that made Gyou think of one of those interminable Tolkien books that he had tried to read once. He remembered that the species that had had those kinds of ears had been called Elves. Gyou shuddered slightly at the power he could still sense emanating from the newcomer. Looking into those feline eyes wasn’t doing much for his equilibrium either, Gyou had to admit.

"Ambition without discretion will bring only ruin," the blond Zoalord – Gyou knew now that that was what he was, a Zoalord – said mysteriously. "Now show me: where is it?"