As he had watched the child going about his work, Fried’rich had come to appreciate Ingriam’s diligence: the young Zoalord had been working almost without pause, and on the few occasions that he’d stopped for a moment, it was only to refresh himself with a drink of water or a stretch. Fried’rich could understand the need to do such things, since he had done the same thing almost as many times.

"There; all finished," Ingriam said, leaning back in his chair with a particularly satisfied expression.

"Well done then, Ingriam."

Fried’rich looked over the proposed design for the Alvix model Zoanoid. It was a basic design, true, but as Ingriam was still only a child, Fried’rich did not expect too much of him—that he had even wanted to design a Zoanoid at the onset spoke well of his dedication to Chronos’ glorious cause.

The sense of another Zoalord’s presence washed over him at that moment, and Fried’rich saw Ingriam’s head lift up suddenly. Realizing just who he was sensing, Fried’rich was about to greet his fellow Zoalord when he saw Ingriam’s hands darting across the computer console, though he did not want Imakarum to see what he had accomplished.

Fried’rich found that in and of itself to be rather odd, since he had expected Ingriam would want his father to see the work that he had done immediately. The boy had always seemed to live for Imakarum’s praise.

"Hi Dad!" Ingriam called happily.

-What are you doing, little one?- Fried’rich asked. -You have your chance to show him now.-

-I… I just want to keep it a secret for a little while longer. You know; to make sure it works. Dad always says that new Zoanoids need a lot of testing before they get done.-

Seeing the logic in his desire to present Imakarum with a fully realized Zoanoid model, rather than simply a design for one, Fried’rich relented.

"Hello, Kenji-chan. I hope you weren’t bored while you were here."

"No, I wasn’t. I kind of like it here, Dad—it’s nice."

Imakarum chuckled softly, gently brushing the top of Ingriam’s head with his fingertips. "I’m sure it is, Kenji-chan. Now, why don’t we let Lord Fried’rich go, and then you and I can go have lunch?"

"I’d like that," Ingriam said, smiling like the child he was.

-What kind of things was he researching?- Imakarum asked as he turned Ingriam around and began to lead the boy out of Cloud Tower’s development division.

-He was researching Zoanoid models,- Fried’rich said, contenting himself with a half-truth. –The boy seems very eager to learn; perhaps there might be some way that you could help him.-

-Thank you, Lord Fried’rich. I will keep that in mind.-

XxXxXxX

As he led Kenji out of Cloud Tower’s Zoanoid Development division, an arm around his son’s broad shoulders, Imakarum considered what Lord Fried’rich had said. If Kenji had indeed expressed an interest in the Zoanoid models that the Japan Section was creating, perhaps he would be of use in designing new Zoanoid models. And maybe once Kenji had his own duties within Chronos, the other Zoalords wouldn’t look down on him quite so much.

Still, there was time to discuss such arrangements at a later date. Right now, though, Imakarum simply wanted to have quiet meal with his son. As Kenji leaned against his left shoulder, Imakarum had a moment to be thankful for the fact that he was not currently wearing his uniform—the shoulder-guards in particular, since while they were very impressive in their way, they would have been particularly uncomfortable for Kenji in his current position.

As the pair of them made their way down into the cafeteria of Cloud Tower, Imakarum wrapped his arm around his son’s waist and felt Kenji lean further into his embrace. These displays of dependence, along with the fact that Kenji was basically a mere Proto-Zoalord that had been altered mildly, were the main factors in Imakarum’s decision to find a safe job for Kenji within Chronos itself.

However, with the potential threat of the Fourth Guyver, Imakarum knew that Kenji could not truly be safe even within the walls of Chronos, and after the incident with Aptom, Imakarum had wanted nothing more than that—at least for those times when he was unable to stay with his son. Kenji was still very weak when compared to the other members of the Council and had yet to learn how to control Zoanoids without fully immersing himself in their minds. That was a problem, since it left him completely helpless and disoriented when he pulled out. It was so much worse if they died, of course, but Imakarum shuddered, forcibly cutting off that line of thought before he could start to remember.

"Is something wrong, Dad?"

"No, Kenji-chan," Imakarum said, gently stroking Kenji’s neck with the fingers of his right hand. "I’m fine. You haven’t told me what you want for lunch yet, you know."

"I’m still thinking about that, Dad."

Patting Kenji’s head, Imakarum continued to lead his son down to Cloud Tower’s main eating area. A few of the Zoanoids they encountered on their way there stopped to greet Imakarum with the expected deference. Imakarum acknowledged them with a single nod of his head—the Zoanoids might have been his underlings, but that was no reason to overlook politeness.

XxXxXxX

The plane was just starting to land, and Cadastal, Myumelzee, and Noskov – along with a fairly large contingent of Standard Zoanoids, but none of the Hypers paid them much attention – were waiting out at the landing strip to welcome it. All three Hyper Zoanoids had been extremely surprised when the orders from above had come in—they’d first been told that all of the Guyvers had been dealt with, in one way or another. Therefore, the news that another one had been found hadn’t gone over well.

The fact that this one was unconscious and being brought in for study by none other than Dr. Balkus himself did kind of reassure them, though.

"It’s coming in now," Cadastal said calmly.

"Don’t you mean ‘ze plane! Ze plane!’?" Myumelzee asked, almost-innocently, but Cadastal didn’t buy the act. "What the hell was that for?!" Myumelzee demanded a moment later, rubbing the back of his head where he’d been slapped.

"If I hear one more short joke out of either of you Bozo Brothers, you’re going to get worse than a slap to the head!"

Noskov, Myumelzee’s counterpart, turned and glared at Cadastal. "Well, one of us hasn’t managed to remove that flagpole from his ass yet, I see."

Not standing close to Noskov as he was to Myumelzee, Cadastal had to content himself with a ringing glare in the other Hyper Zoanoid’s direction. Cadastal might have been a full two inches shorter than any Hyper Zoanoid since Zancrus, but he didn’t think that that was any reason for the other Hypers to keep busting his ass about it, since he was at least reasonably sure that Zancrus – even though he was just as short as Cadastal, and pretty scrawny besides – had ever had to deal with this kind of shit.

Then again, that guy had been a member of Dr. Balkus’ vaunted Team Five, so the other Hypers had to know they’d be dealing with his four teammates if they so much as looked cross-eyed at ol’ Zancrus. But looking back at the descending plane, Cadastal saw that it was just about to land, and once it had, Cadastal, Noskov, and Myumelzee marched quickly up to the waiting aircraft.

As the ramp lowered and the single Standard Zoanoid that had been stationed aboard the plane – probably to keep an eye on the Guyver kid – walked out, Cadastal and his fellow Hyper Zoanoids went right out to meet him. From the way he was built, Cadastal was sure that the guy was a Ramochis.

"Nice to see you guys got out here so fast," the Ramochis said, grinning and nodding at the three Hypers.

"That the kid?" Noskov asked.

Cadastal, meanwhile, had to resist a strong urge to smack his fellow Hyper Zoanoid upside the head. How damn obvious was the answer to that question? Since when did Zoanoid or Hyper Zoanoid candidates come to them strapped to hospital gurneys?

"Yeah, this is the kid right here," Ramochis said, sounding more patient than Cadastal thought he had a right to be.

"We’ll take care of it from here; leave him to us. You go off and get debriefed," Myumelzee said.

Cadastal, grunting his agreement, turned and followed his fellow Hyper Zoanoids into the Dead Sea plant.