Faster Than Angels | Part 22.1
Well, looks like my schedule has gone up in smoke, only because I don't follow it. Have a new part today.
The referenced album title of Part 21 was 'How I Learned to Stop Giving A Sh*t and Love Mindless Self Indulgence' [takes a breath] by Mindless Self Indulgence
[s2_14.1: Part 22.1] The Eliminator Brings Rivalry
<22120531>
Sunday, May 31st, 2212
Angelus HQ, Perth, Australia
20:50:17
The team were preparing for an otherwise ordinary eliminator event of the season, taking place on Sol 3. The simulators were warming up, as the one pilot that qualified got ready.
Gareth walked up to Kyoko, opening his mouth to speak to her. She instantly held her hand up.
"Stop. You always attempt to speak to me at the most inconvenient times. Why?"
"Isn't it obvious? You are never here unless there's a race! You disappear for days, then turn up when a race is on. These are the only times I can speak to you!"
"Hmph... thank you."
"A-... what? 'Thank you'?"
"Yes, thank you. You have gotten me angry enough to actually do well in this event. I am now in the right mood for an eliminator event. I thank you!" She bowed at him.
Gareth had a surprised expression on his face, which turned into a frown. He opened his mouth one more time, then walked off. Kyoko then turned around, entering her simulator, ready to race...
3, 2, 1... GO!
<21:00:00_>
<sol 3: short fwd_>
<eliminator: lap 01_>
<system error | andy hunter°_>
All 26 craft set off, all aiming for destruction. Despite qualifying, Kyoko was at the rear of the pack, only just being able to qualify for the 26th position. This event was not going to be gentle on the team known for pure racing due to their somewhat weak shields. Somehow, though, Kyoko wasn't eliminated as much as Brandon had anticipated, as her racing skill allowed her to avoid a lot of her opponent's attacks.
The event went as planned, but every so often, Kyoko had to flip around and slow down so she didn't go too far ahead of the pack. Once she got a feel of the rhythm, though, her racing style changed, now focusing on attacking the competition, venting her anger at Gareth into her opponents.
"HAADADADADADA!" She yelled as she fired weapon after weapon into the various craft.
Brandon's constant smile wavered a bit, his eyes widened slightly.
"This... does not seem good." He muttered, looking closer and observing her actions more carefully.
<contender eliminated_>
It wasn't the first elimination in the match, but it was Kyoko's first kill.
<contender eliminated_>
Instantly, though, she was eliminated by Crinale.
"Hah... of course. Where were you this whole time?! I had to wreck someone else!"
Finally, the rivalry began, the race splitting into two: Angelus vs. Crinale, and the rest of the teams against each other. With that, the eliminations suddenly started to rise tremendously. Despite that, however, the two teams had more or less equal points with each other.
"Give up, Angelus! You can never defeat us in battle!" Lucia taunted.
"Our similar scores say otherwise." Kyoko retorted.
"Pure coincidence!..."
<contender eliminated_>
"...you are nothing but our plaything, a mere toy we can destroy over and over again! UGH!"
<contender eliminated_>
"Rethink your strategy, prodigy. Your current one is getting you nowhere."
"I need to rethink nothing! Everything is perfect!"
"Perfect? Allow me to show you why it really is not!"
The female racers continued their battle; the perfectionist prodigy, hell bent on destruction of the one team in particular; and the helmeted purist, shrouded in mystery, being forced to play to the tune of the race's rules. They continued their battle, getting even more forceful as they progressed, all culminating in the inevitable, a final attack by both teams that would bring the entire race – and much more – to a grinding halt.
Crinale were ahead of Angelus by a fair amount, speeding over a weapons pad and getting their super-weapon. Kyoko already had Angelus' super-weapon at the ready, knowing that she'd be able to attack them with the high speed of the railgun charge. What she wasn't counting on was Crinale using their weapon.
The instant they picked it up, they flipped their craft around, firing the Quantum Destabiliser the instant the white craft came into view. However, Kyoko saw the black craft and had fired her EMP Railgun at the exact same time. The instant the charged pulse hit the energy beam, the simulator stuttered, then all visuals began to warp as the physics engine broke from attempting to process the attacks' collision. Finally, it gave up, and the entire ser///__
<FATAL SYSTEM ERROR: STOP command at 0x00000080_>
*** WPNCOLLS.OPD - Address 16AD874F base at FC7F0000, DateStamp 0001C7F70564
The final line has some data that isn't just random hexadecimal, even though it looks like it. Running the DateStamp through a hex to decimal converter, it gives a value of 7649822052, which is Unix time for Sunday, 31 May 2212 14:34:12 GMT, or 22:34 in Perth. The other numbers? Random typings that make it look like hexadecimal, so only 0-9 and A-F are used.
The file that caused the error is in a short filename, or 8.3 format (8 characters for the name, and 3 for the extension, or file type). The name is just Weapon Collisions. The extension, however, gives a little insight into a certain thing to do with the F12000. The PD means Physics Data, but the O? I'll let you try and figure that out, shouldn't be too hard
Faster Than Angels | Part 22.2
It's Friday, have a thing.
The referenced album title of Part 22.1 was The Sea Brings Rivalry by MOOG... Tell me you guys have seen Mighty Car Mods.
[s2_14.2: Part 22.2] Never Trust the Racing Commission
<22120531>
Sunday, May 31st, 2212
22:34:10
The screens had shut off, then filled with text, scrolling through lines and lines of code, showing various processes that were running. Finally, in red text, the last two lines of code appeared.
<FATAL SYSTEM ERROR: STOP command at 0x00000080_>
*** WPNCOLLS.OPD - Address 16AD874F base at FC7F0000, DateStamp 0001C7F70564
Naturally, all over the world, every team other than Angelus and Crinale were confused, wondering what it was exactly that cause the whole system to crash and die.
Meanwhile, in the cockpit of one Angelus simulator, Kyoko was just sitting back, staring at the crash error, twiddling her fingers.
'Nnngh... was that my fault?' She thought, 'No, it was probably both our faults. Anyway, sitting around here won't help, might as well head to the lounge.'
She got out and went to the lounge, where she presumed everyone else was. She was right, as soon as she entered, she saw several employees, including Gareth, conversing with Brandon. When he saw Kyoko, he stood up, and slid his hands in his coat's pockets.
"Kyoko, we need to talk about something." He said, his constant smile unwavering.
When they entered his office, she opened her helmet for some fresh air. She did that only when she was alone, or with Brandon, the only one who knew her true identity. When he was sure they were alone, he dropped his act, his smile instantly snapping down into a look of discontent.
"What was that all about?" He asked. "Your racing has become more violent than usual."
"I-" She began.
Brandon raised a hand to stop her, "I know what you're going to say, and I am willing to overlook this incident, considering what type of race it was. However, if you display that kind of behaviour in an actual race, I will be forced to take necessary action. Your status, your identity... doesn't matter."
"...fine. If all you wanted was to berate me for my performance, then I shall just take me leave for the night." She said, closing down her helmet and walking out, before turning back. "You know, I think you're the one that's changed."
Brandon blinked. "Me?"
"Yes, even though you never looked it, you've grown very cold recently."
"So what if I have? My views still remain the same. I still want the F12000 dead, I still want a pure league."
"I don't like it... I-I mean, I do agree with your views, I just don't like the way you're going about it."
Brandon closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Maybe I'm going about it wrong... maybe I'm not. I don't know what's right or wrong anymore. I've lived for 53 years and I'm not even halfway through my lifespan. You know... sometimes this extended life is a gift... and sometimes it's a curse."
Kyoko stepped back, realising that she had entered a sensitive part of Brandon's past. However, she continued. "Do... do you regret it? Extending your life."
"That decision was not my own, my parents did it when I was born."
"Did you berate them for it when you found out?"
"No, I just accepted it. It's not an easy thing to fix, if not impossible." He looked at the clock on his computer. "Anyway, don't worry about me though, we need to go see what the Commission has to say about the incident. Let's go."
They walked out of his office, into the main lounge, where several people were sitting there.
"Have they said anything yet?" He asked Gareth.
"Not yet, no. I think they may be still trying to clean up this mess."
"Great. I want to see what they have to say about it, do we send the pilots back out, or will it just end like that?"
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long, the Racing Commission had made their decision.
"As you are no doubt aware, a systems error was the cause of our event suddenly being halted. We have discussed the action that is to be taken, and we have decided to end the event. The scores were as such before the event ended."
The screen showed the pilots' positions and scores, listed in order.
"As you can see, Crinale has obtained 1st place, with Angelus surprisingly taking second! Maybe they aren't as against weapons as they made out to be!"
"ASSHOLE!" Brandon called out, and walked out the room, back to his office. As he entered, he got on his computer, and continued his private research into the spy Nikole told him about. However, without a lead, Brandon could find nothing. The data he obtained at the Sidewinder race only got him so far.
The data... he obtained?
"I'm just going to get right to it: There is a spy amidst your team. We have obtained sufficient evidence to support our claims, including intercepted documents from the spy themselves. It is the irrefutable truth."...
...
..."We don't know, they have assumed the identity of one of your team members."
'My... team members?' He thought. 'No, it can't be!... can it?' Finally, he made his decision. '[sigh], fine... Sorry to do this, but it's because I trust in you all.'
He started to search though Angelus' own database and logs, searching through the emails of all of the team members. Nothing. He went deeper, searching through the logs of the data sent through the team's internet.
[22120227 15:50:38]angelus plan to overthrow current crinale leadership, part of greater plan to destroy f12000. -ΣΣ17
"Sigma Sigma 17? Finally, I have a lead... two, even. That information doesn't add up to when I first revealed it... [gasp]! The 'Loose Thread'!"
Brandon finally had the info he was looking for, he knew that with that, any and all further information would be easier to obtain. Like pulling a loose thread, the entire fabric would eventually fall apart, hence why he called it such. He went all in, searching high and low for the codename ΣΣ17, along with the one person he told the plan to recently...
Alexandra Kotova.
Faster Than Angels | Part 23
After proof-reading this, I realised it may be considered filler. Maybe. I dunno.
The referenced album title of Part 22.2 was Never Trust the Chinese by Mr. Meeble.
[s2_15.0: Part 23.0] Recognition
<22120601>
Monday, June 1st, 2212
Angelus R&D HQ, Perth, Australia.
23:03:27
"... how? How did I allow this to happen right under my nose?!"
Brandon was at his desk, scrolling thorugh the data he had obtained, staying up late to obtain the information he needed.
"Pfft, that's right, she's an international spy apparently, I doubt anyone would notice if they were infiltrated like that."
He reached into his pocket and took out a small USB drive.
"... Ugh, I don't want to use that... not for this."
Suddenly, his phone rang, making him drop the drive in surprise.
"Sh*t, no! That's still important to me though!"
He picked up the drive, slipped it back into his pocket, then took out his phone and answered it, without looking at the caller ID.
"Yeah?
...
"I'm at HQ, why?
...
"O...kay? I- huh? The hell, why did you just hang up? Whatever..." He slipped his phone back in his pocket, kept his hand in there for a few moments as he thought, then pulled out the thumb drive.
"Screw this, I'm desperate. I need this info." He said, plugging it in and running the control program inside it, to collect even more data.
About 20 minutes later, he heard someone enter.
"You are an idiot. Get some sleep, now."
------------
At the dead of night, the black car screamed up the gravel driveway, the red body lights activated as the driver entered. As it raced up to the top of the driveway to the house, it skidded to a halt, the helmeted driver leaping out before it had even stopped. Kyoko ran up to the door and knocked on it several times, before trying the doorbell.
"Come on, damnit, answer!"
It was then she realised the lights were off. Brandon was not home.
"What?! It's 10pm! Are you're sleeping?" She took out her phone and phoned him.
"Of course you are not answering the door when I need your assistance the most, argh!"
"Yeah?" The voice came from the other end of the line.
"Where the hell are you?!"
"I'm at HQ, why?"
"... Ugh, no reason. じゃあね1."
She hung up at that point. Not wasting any more time, she re-entered her car and raced to Angelus HQ, switching off the red lights the moment she got back on the roads... but nearly lost it in the process, her AG racing skills bringing the car back in control. However, she was getting more and more emotional.
"Ngh! Damnit, I hate this car... it handles like sh*t, it's always handled like sh*t and it will forever handle like sh*t, no matter what I do to it."
------------
After being waved through by security, the modified R210 GT flew up the levels of the multi-story carpark, only stopping when Kyoko had reached her reserved parking space. She got out and ran towards Brandon's office.
"Idiot, idiot, idiot! Why is that idiot still here?! He should be home, not pushing himself with whatever work he's doing! Argh!"
Finally, she reached Brandon's office. Opening the door, she said, "You are an idiot. Get some sleep, now."
"No, why should I? You don't know what I have to deal with."
"No, of course I don't, but you still need sleep to function properly!"
Brandon tool a large drink from the energy drink sitting on his desk, smiling unemotionally as he put up his mask. "No, I don't. And time is of the essence here, this is some rather... unorthodox work I'm doing here, and the sooner I find the solution to this massive problem on my hands, the better off everyone will be."
"Sure, I may be just a damn pilot, but that doesn't mean you have to deal with problems on your own. Now, tell me just what the f*ck is going on with you?!"
"You want to know? Really? Okay. I'll tell you then. Basically..." he stressed every word after, just to drive the point home, "I'm being forced to doubt my team members, to distrust them, all because of a single possibility that has become a reality. But I need to find some physical, definitive evidence, not circumstantial possibilities."
"Who and what?" She asked, not backing down. In response, Brandon dropped his head onto his desk with a resounding thud.
"You're assuming I have no leads to collect evidence, but I do, I'm collecting massive amounts of evidence at an equally massive rate. In fact, it's going so fast, I have no time to look it over, until the program I'm running finishes collecting it. Then, I'll investigate, examining every piece carefully, collating the most relevant and most incriminating of the files I have... and confronting the culprit with it."
SLAP
"IDIOT!" Kyoko screamed. "I'm trying to help you, and you just push me away! I can help you examine the evidence, but you're being too damn idiotic! LET ME HELP, YOU IDIOT!"
Brandon turned his head slowly back to face Kyoko after being slapped, "You really love slapping people when things don't go your way, do you? That's... rather unbecoming of you. Fine, I'll let you in on it, but this must be kept secret."
"Do you know who you're talking to right now, Brandon?"
"...of course... I understand. Well, here goes...
"I'm suspecting the one you know as Alexandra Kotova of being an international spy."
1Jā ne, See ya
Faster Than Angels | Part 24.1
Thanks to Bardic for writing out half of both this and the next part!
The referenced album title of Part 23 was RE:COGNITION by [ cell 7 ].
[s2_16.1: Part 24.1] Australian Noir
<22120527>
Wednesday, May 27th, 2212
Perth, Australia.
11:32:40
Nikole had instructed Katsuo to meet with her, but ended up visiting the grave where Matt had been buried. Nikole had tried to contact her old friend yesterday, if only to apologize for how she had treated him two years before. She understood why she had to find out herself, and it filled her with guilt. Katsuo ended up finding Nikole on her own, only to find out about Matt's fate herself. Nikole acknowledged Kat's presence on arrival, but stayed silent.
"Did he go peacefully?" Kat asked, trying to be comforting.
"He saw Ramaela, then Brandon, then asked to be cut-off. That's all I found out."
"You can still redeem yourself." Katsuo said. "Even if Matt isn't here to see it, it's never too late."
Nikole had grabbed a handkerchief out of her coat pocket. "Meet me in my car," she said in an attempt to divert her emotions, "We need to make sure no one eavesdrops on us."
"I understand." Kat said, as though she were simply asked to give Nikole her own moment.
------------
20 minutes later...
Nikole stepped into the driver's seat of her car along side Katsuo. "One of our colleges had intercepted a signal headed to Angelus HQ sometime in early to mid 2211. It was a hack into their security systems, allowing the fob panels to accept another code that had previously been unsupported."
"So there's a spy in Angelus?"
"It could be that they haven't been infiltrated yet, but it would be to their benefit to strike as soon as there transmission is set. I was going stay out of this, since Brandon has no faith in me being honest, but I can't let this happen... I need to makes things right."
"You're not taking this personally, are you?"
"I've had time to think about it... and what I'm going to ask of you might be uncomfortable, but it's ultimately the right thing."
"Anything that needs to be done..."
"I need you to keep an eye on the four most important members of Angelus: Brandon Smith, Alexandra Kotova, Gareth Ardos, and Kyoko Fujisaki. If they seem at all suspicious, keep a note of it and tell me when we meet again. If you find out one of them is missing or an imposter, pull out and contact me as soon as you can."
"Yeah, I can do that." Kat said, about to open the door.
"One more thing," Nikole said to stop Katsuo. "Stay in public areas, and don't go anywhere you're not supposed to."
"What? Why, how am I supp-"
"Katsuo, there's been enough done-"
"This is serious. Why should we sit by and let these people-"
"Please... for the sake of my peace... don't intrude into their personal lives."
Katsuo thought about Nikole reasoning and took a deep breathe to keep from getting frustrated. "Okay," she said reluctantly, "I'll stay in public areas then." then stepped out of the car.
------------
<22120528>
Thursday, May 28th, 2212
Angelus R&D HQ, Perth, Australia.
15:07:39
Kat was able to sneak into Angelus HQ without being noticed by the tighter security, she thought that maybe the beanie she was wearing might have had something to do with it. She made her way to the lounge, where she saw Brandon, Gareth and Alex conversing. Hiding herself behind the door, she listened in.
"...don't have the info we need, so it will be some time before we are able to attack." She heard Brandon explain.
"How difficult is it to get the info we need?" Gareth asked
"Is that a rhetorical question? This is Crinale we're talking about, they'd be hiding pretty much any and all sensitive information really well. It'd be almost impossible to obtain the info we need through legal means."
"... Are you insinuating what I think you are?"
"Maybe. Not really. I will definitely try to get everything legally, don't worry. However, sometimes you need to fight fire with fire... wait. How did I not notice that before?"
"Huh?" Alex spoke up for the first time.
"Your hair, it's different."
"...sh*t, I'll be back." Alex ran out of the room, right past Kat. Thankfully, she didn't notice her. She decided to follow her to see where she was going. Alex entered a storeroom, took out her bag, and rushed to her next location: one of the bathrooms. As she walked in, she looked at her reflection in the mirror.
"Wh-? Damn it." She exclaimed, staring at her hair, which was a very dark, almost unnoticeable brown. She reached into her bag and took out an object. Kat noticed it immediately as a device used to change the hair colour of the user. Alex used it on her hair, changing it to her usual black. She then stuffed the device back into her bag and walked out, replacing her bag in the storeroom and returning to the lounge. Brandon, upon seeing her, had a slight suspicious look on his face, but made no comment on her hair changing again.
Faster Than Angels | Part 24.2
The referenced album title of Part 24.1 was California Noir by Julien-K.
[s2_16.2: Part 24.2] That Crooked Vulture
<22120601>
Monday, June 1st, 2212
Brandon's house, Perth, Australia.
23:09:31
"Come on, damnit, answer!"
Kat had had enough, she wasn't going to play by Nikole's rules, she was going to find out about the spy by any means necessary. She had followed Kyoko to Brandon's house, and was seeing her bang on his door.
"What?! It's 10pm! Are you're sleeping?" She took out her phone and phoned him. "Of course you are not answering the door when I need your assistance the most, argh!"
"Where the hell are you?!
"...
"... Ugh, no reason. じゃあね."
She hung up at that point. Not wasting any more time, she re-entered her car and set off, switching off the red lights the moment she got back on the roads... but nearly lost it in the process, her AG racing skills bringing the car back in control. Kat continued following her, all the way to Angelus HQ.
Donning her beanie again, she snuck into the building, following Kyoko right up to Brandon's office. Cracking the door open slightly, she listened in.
"-ow what I have to deal with."
"No, of course I don't, but you still need sleep to function properly!"
Kat listened in to their entire conversation, complete with Kyoko slapping Brandon in the face. The conversation suddenly changed when they finished discussing the spy.
"How are you holding up?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. Your identity. How are you holding up keeping it covered?"
"Oh, that... well, once I got used to it, it's pretty easy."
"Good, good."
"Although, I won't say that it wasn't tiring, because it was."
Kyoko removed her helmet to cool off and sat down, continuing their conversation. Katsuo was about to leave, but there was one thing she couldn't let go of.
She had to see her face.
Katsuo cracked the door just enough to get an eye into the door. She used the window behind the desk to catch a reflection of her head. There was a slight chill from the sight she had beheld, but not enough to make her look away. She kept her eye on the face for a solid minute just to make sure she knew exactly what it was. After this realization, Katsuo couldn't help herself from staying to listen to the conversation they had, learning what should never leave the office, up until the last possible moment she could stay.
------------
<22120602>
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2212
Public underground carpark, Perth, Australia.
08:59:19
There was no way to know how much longer there was until any effort to find the spy became moot. Nikole was anxiously waiting in her car for Katsuo as a result of the issue. She showed up to the meeting point 15 minutes early just to fool herself into thinking she would get her information earlier, and now she has sat alone for another 15 minutes before Katsuo had arrived with the news.
“They're attacking Crinale.” Katsuo started.
“Attacking? What do you mean attacking?”
“Couldn't tell you much more then that, just that they might not be playing fair for a while.”
Nikole spaced out from realizing the complications of a company with those intentions being infiltrated, or even manipulated from the inside.
"Any other requests?"
Nikole snapped out of her trance. "Brandon Smith, anything about him?"
"I heard him say he was trying to find the spy, in a roundabout way. He's in the clear."
"Alright, at least we avoided a worst case scenario."
"If you thought he was the spy, then why did you tell him about it?"
"I had to tell someone, and Brandon was the least likely. He's the one that everyone would see everyday. Did you spot Kyoko at all?"
"If she ever leaves her home, she wasn't in her favourite anonymous racing suit of secretness. Still, though, she and Brandon are too close for a spy to not get caught as her. She apparently only shows her helmet on a raceday anyway, which would make for the world's laziest informant."
"Gareth Ardos?"
"It could be him, he was a bit sociable, though. It'd be hard for him to stay undetected with how he acts, but it could be done, I suppose."
"And Alexandra Kotova?"
"Something was off about her... I almost didn't even see it. Apparently her hair had looked different or something. I though maybe she just changed it's colour overnight, but that would mean that whenever someone notices, she changes it back."
"You saw her change her hair colour after someone saw it was different?"
"Yeah, she went to the bathroom just to do it. That's all the weird stuff I saw her do, though."
"Right... anything else I should know?"
Katsuo looked up, as though she was debating with herself on what to say.
"What is it... If it's that important, just tell me."
After taking a large breath, Katsuo opened her mouth. "I know where Tarah Andrews is."
"...How do you know this." Nikole said sternly, already knowing the answer.
"Did you think I was going to find her grocery shopping? I had to, I couldn't get to her any other way?"
Nikole laid her head on the steering wheel in frustration, then sat up in a slightly calmer state. "Maybe you were right. Just... don't tell me what you heard."
"But she-"
"If Tarah's been under the radar for this long, she hasn't been making any problems. We'll deal with the spy first, then we'll see what happens. You can go now."
"Nikole-"
"I don't want to hear it. Enjoy the rest of your day however you like, your job is done for now."
Katsuo still felt she had more to say, but knew she couldn't convince Nikole to hear her out. After a bit of hesitation, she eventually exited Nikole's car, which promptly left the carpark, and went back into her own. It wasn't until she had managed to fully distract herself from the subject with whatever she had on hand before she went back to the outside world herself.