Chapter 173 - Level
"I thought that might happen, Sumi is a really complicated girl," Ten said rubbing his chin.
"Hey Ten, should we be doing this?" Hiro hissed quietly.
They were both hiding behind a tree, watching the scene.
"Haven't you noticed something? ever since you guys got attacked by the alpha, Commander Shino has been looking at Sumi quite differently. He's always annoyed by her attitude but this time it seems different" Ten said.
"Well how should I know, I don't see the way you guys do," Hiro said with a shrug.
Ten sighs.
"Oh you should see him right now, he looks so down," Ten said pouting.
Hiro raised his gaze, he could tell his aura was low in spirit, maybe he did sense he was sad too.
"Rejection always hit deep" Ten said ticking his tongue.
"What are you guys doing?" Yuki asked from nowhere, now behind them.
At her voice, they squealed stumbling forward, sliding down to where Shino stood.
"Hiro, Ten," he said startled, his gaze drifts to Yuki, squatting close to the tree.
"Yuki?"
"They were spying," she said pointing at them.
"Traitor" Ten said groaning against the ground.
Shino just forced a smile shaking his head.
***
Operating Base
"This is the footage we got earlier," Kazuya said as she moved the info from her transparent iPad to the widescreen computer.
"The Kaijus are roaming around in various paths".
"That much," Anzai said seeing their numbers.
"About 200 of them, not an alpha in sight yet," she said.
Anzai sighs.
"Seems like our plan to head back to base will be on hold," he said.
"Yes, but we are still waiting on Prime Minister Kiyoshi orders" she reasons.
"True... but for now, we remain here until further notice".
***
Medical Base
"The results are out, done testing 25 blood samples," Kenta said stepping forward.
Other were present, Kashi, Yukio, Touka and Hachiro.
"The results are the same as we checked last time, all still in Sp3" he states.
"That can't be right," Touka said for certain, the only explanation for Hiro's case was that they were mutating differently, but now the others samples still remain the same, why was Hiro different?
"Could it be it had to do with their willpower?" Hachiro said in deep thought.
"Relating to what that Ten kid said?" Yukio asked remembering what Hachiro said about Ten's theory.
Hachiro nods.
"The Sp0 stage being the source of Hiro's willpower?" Kenta said puzzled.
Over the past month, he has come to know about Hiro same as Kashi, they have agreed to keep it confidential and unravel the mysteries of the virus without involving the government.
"We could have had a better understanding of this if Hiro's stage was somehow at least explainable," Touka said sighing, Hiro's stage still remains unknown.
Yukio rubbed his chin.
"We retested their blood samples, thus the virus within it, but still it still remains the same stage Sp3 but the last Alpha they fought was semi Sp2 stage, and the Alpha appears to have the same ability as Daiki," he said in deep thought.
Hachiro eyes went wide in realization as he rise to his feet abruptly.
"That's what we are missing... we made the mistake again!" he hissed.
"What are you saying Hachiro?" Touka said puzzled.
"We misread the Kaiju's as well as the bio-genetics! It's not about how the virus is mutating differently in their body but it's the kind of stage their body is able to handle, for example, Hiro's stage at first was Sp2, he was still mutating at a slower rate and yet when he crossed, he crossed over to Sp0 an unknown stage" he explained.
Yukio caught on.
"Could it be, the virus has sub-stages or levels rather?" He said with wide eyes.
"Then if Hiro's in Sp0 then it's not entirely unknown" he adds.
"It's not because he is in the Sp3 stage," Hachiro said adjusting his glasses.
"But at a different level," he adds.
"Like Sp3: level something?" Kashi said puzzled.
Yukio flicks his fingers.
"Exactly"
"The Kaijus are non-symbiotic species thus the way they turned out... Then the first Alpha, not Sp2, it's fully mutated" Touka said but then her eyes went wide.
"The First Alpha Sp3: level 1 grade!"
"The raw powers it showed, level 1 is a good grade," Hachiro said nodding in agreement.
"The second Alpha" she turns to them.
"Sp3: Level 2 grade," Yukio said for certain.
"Then Daiki is level 2 grade too" Touka said.
"The rest of the bio-genetics" Kashi said with shaky eyes.
"Sp3: level 0" Kenta said for certain.
"Kimura Hiro" Touka said.
Hachiro adjusts his glasses.
"Sp3: level 4".
"Amazing! That far?" Kashi said amazed.
"Then it is willpower then, their ability to grow stronger and increase their levels," Kenta said.
"But still remain in the Sp3 stage, Sp4 is death for them," Hachiro said for certain, there was no explanation for that.
"We already got that covered with SPS. What we should focus more on is building their levels, them staying in Sp3: level 0 is a liability for when they face Kaijus" Touka said sternly.
Yukio scoffs.
"A virus with not just stages but levels... why do I get this feeling this virus is more than it seems," he said sternly.
"Like you said Yukio, the Kaiju's are non-symbiotic thus making them turn out into mindless beast's, the same might happen to us if we come in contact with it... but the bio-genetics symbiotic to the virus making them special... in all this, we should then conclude that this virus was specially made to enhance kids their ages but only 100 turned out," Hachiro said folding his arms.
"Yes... the villain behind this wanted kids to be infected, the question is what is the villain goal for infecting a certain amount of kids and ending the world in the means of doing that... that is the mystery we are yet to uncover" Yukio said.
"Using the chemical plant, spreading a virus that can only enhance kids, ending the world... who is sadistic enough to do something as horrifying as this and for what?" Kashi said with trembling eyes.
Silence brood the room, it was a mystery and a painful twist they had no idea about.
'But one thing is for certain' Yukio thought with hard eyes. 'The person responsible for this is definitely close' his fist clenched hard.
***
Yuki walks the area of the beach alone, her feet leaving prints on the sand, she then halts, the wind blowing harshly around, her long brown hair swirling around, her expression dark, the bangs of her hair covering her eyes.
Her ear twitched as a sound came in like an echo to her ear, a roaring sound that only she could hear.
She turned, her hair swirling around as she did, she stared into the skies staring at a distance.