As Imakarum teleported back to his room, he wondered briefly if this was just his day for delivering bad news. First it had been the Anti Chronos Task Force, then the Guyver that worked with them, and only a minute ago he had just finished informing Lord Alkanphel about the sabotage at the Los Angeles branch. Imakarum was only glad that this hectic day was coming swiftly to a close.

Lord Alkanphel had sensed how weary Imakarum was, and so instead of insisting that he stayed and helped to plan Chronos’ next move Lord Alkanphel had let him rest. That was all that Imakarum wanted to do now: rest.

Imakarum knew that the weariness he felt was solely a product of his overworked mind and that his body could work at peak efficiency for at least two more days, but he was only too happy to fall into his bed and sleep. Kenji was still there, and it had really been too long since he had held his son in his arms as they had slept. Removing the visor that covered his changed eyes, another thing that he would have to explain to Kenji, Imakarum placed it on his bedside table.

Stretching, Imakarum began to remove the clothes that he had been given by Lord Alkanphel when he had awakened. The clothes themselves were quickly folded and placed within easy reach. When Imakarum had finished disrobing and dealing with his clothes, he climbed into bed and lay beside his son. Kenji’s back was turned toward him at the moment, but Imakarum reached out and gently rolled Kenji over so that they were facing one another.

Enfolding his son in his arms after much too long, Imakarum was able to fall asleep at last…

The rain made a good cover, keeping most people focused on what was directly in front of them. It was the ideal time to run some errands, at least for a wanted fugitive. This was exactly what Danielle Sorenson, fugitive scientist from the Chronos Corporation, had in mind. To protect her from the heavy rain and to better hide her identity, since both were equally important at the moment, Danielle wore a long black raincoat.

The hood was pulled up over her head, partially obscuring her face while still giving Danielle a fairly good field of view. Her destination, a flower shop, was in sight by this time. Though like most things it was still somewhat obscured by the falling rain. Danielle kept walking.

Once she had reached the door, the ring of the bells startled her out of her thoughts. She noticed that there were no others inside the shop with her, a fact that she was very glad for. Someone who saw her here might be able to identify her if Chronos started asking about her. It wasn’t all that likely, since those bastards all knew that the so-called anti-rebellion virus would kill anyone who didn’t take their daily supply of antidote.

The three of them only had half a month to get this Lost Number processing right.

Purchasing a bouquet of long-stemmed red roses, twelve in all, Danielle turned and walked back into the rain. The splattering of little droplets all over her raincoat was the only sound that kept Danielle company as she walked. The weather fit her somber mood perfectly, or maybe it was just her mood that fit the weather. Tucking her hands into the oversized pockets of her raincoat, Danielle kept walking.

Wandering around the city, trying to lose any tail she might have inadvertently picked up, Danielle came back to Prof. Odagiri’s mansion almost as if by accident. Discreetly checking that there was no one behind her, Danielle took out her key and let herself in. Closing and locking the gate behind her, Danielle headed almost unthinkingly toward the plot that they had all set up some time ago.

Staring down at the eleven graves, only eight of which were filled, Danielle brought out the bouquet of roses that she had tucked under her raincoat. The falling water soaked the petals in seconds, but as she began to lay out the roses on the graves in front of her, Danielle found that she didn’t care. She had left the twelfth rose in Prof. Odagiri’s front garden, hoping that his plants would enjoy it even if the Professor wasn’t here to do it himself.

Danielle hoped that Prof. Odagiri was all right, wherever he was now. Danielle had seen him running into the Relic, but after that she had been more absorbed with her own survival than seeing whether or not her mentor and friend had escaped. Danielle knew that, even if Prof. Odagiri had known about that fact, he wouldn’t have blamed her for it. He had been just as human as every one of them, and so he would understand that sometimes the need for personal survival trumped everything else.

Still, Danielle couldn’t help the irrational thought that she could have done something to help somehow if she’s stayed longer. The only thing that a delay would have accomplished was getting her killed. Not that she was really safer like this, but at the very least Danielle knew that she had a better chance of living. Not one hundred percent, not when the Lost Unit processing had such a high chance of failure, but better than many other options.

Danielle hadn’t known of anyone who survived a Chronos interrogation. Pushing open the door of Prof. Odagiri’s private laboratory, Danielle found Howard and Hayami working on the computers. Setting the remaining three roses in a vase by the door, Danielle wordlessly sat down at one of the desks and began rechecking the printouts that her male colleagues had made.

The designs seemed sound enough on paper, but then so had the ones that Emile and Lorne had designed for themselves. Danielle was remembering what had happened to them even as she worked to check over the proposed Lost Number Zoanoids that Howard and Hayami had designed. Pulling her focus back to the present, Danielle banished the faces of her dead fellow scientists from her mind and concentrated on the proposed Lost Unit designs in front of her.