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Chapter 1 - Aberration
Ayumi walked up the worn-out stone steps outside of the block that included Kaede's prison. Azuma was leading the way, dragging a nonchalant, chained and still blindfolded Kaede behind him. Azuma stared towards a heavy metalized door of what looked like a old-rugged tower that he unlocked. Azuma, as a gesture, let Ayumi enter first and then pleased himself by dragging Kaede by his hair into the tower. They all walked through a long alley before reaching the center-room.
Ayumi: That will do! Azuma, is it? Could you please remove the blindfolding mask of our prisoner?
Azuma obliged himself ungratefully as Kaede had a cheeky smile on his lips as he saw light after a long time.
Ayumi: Thank you. Now, could you wait outside the tower and lock the door? I'd prefer some privacy talk with the Prisoner No. 329.
Azuma: But he's one of the most elite criminals. That's...
Ayumi: It's an order and don't worry about his security. I'll handle it and in any case, his hands and feet are still cuffed.
Kaede: Come on, the madame just gave you an order. Don't tell me your brain takes so much time to decipher it.
Azuma: Insolent bastard...you...
Kaede's smile was growing more and more wicked; as the fancy sight of an enraged Azuma gave him even more pleasure. Azuma, meanwhile walked away through the alley as a loud thud was heard seconds later.
Ayumi: I guess, we are now all alone!
Kaede: Kinky choice of words but given that I perceive no distinct quiverings on your body, I suppose those words weren't made out of any sexual urge from your side.
Ayumi: You are impertinent but I do like your brazen attitude. But indeed, I'm here to talk more serious issues.
Kaede: I'm all yours; though I suppose you wouldn't find me less appealing if I sit down while you explain to me, why my second visitor in nine years' captivity is an elegantly sumptuous lady, who happens to also be the Chief Inspector of the CIA?
Ayumi: I opted to be a gratifying visitor nonetheless for you. So, I hope you would co-operate with me.
Kaede: Why not? Besides, breathing fresh oxygen air with an invigorating, polluted yet verdant, smell feels almost like a nectar for nostrils. So, if you plan on visiting me regularly, I courteously say, yes.
Ayumi: Daily visits might be a heavy agenda. However, how about I provide you fresh air and liberty unconditionally?
Kaede, who was perfunctory to Ayumi's talking till now, suddenly looked upon her with a brief smirk.
Kaede: ...I'm tempted to smile right now but I'd rather hear the whole deal.
Ayumi: I'm glad you finally want to hear business. So, here's the undisguised pact - you help the CIA with your skills and I'll provide you a new spotless life.
The aloofness in Kaede faded completely by now, as his eyes gazed onto her with more vigor, to judge her honesty.
Kaede: Ayumi-san, I'm elated of your noble thoughts to lead me back to an enlightened living-hood but being only an Inspector, you should target reachable goals.
Ayumi: Meaning?
Kaede: Don't play dumb. This prison is a secret base from the eye of world but since you came to my whereabouts, I'm positive that you do have a minimum of knowledge about why I'm here and how I can't be a part of normal population. I'm an...
Ayumi: ...an anomaly.
Ayumi slowly pulled out a file-record from her vest, as Kaede gave her a forlorn gaze, that was a sad affirmation from his side, to what Ayumi just said. Ayumi, then pursued by reading some of the information from the file.
Ayumi: Kaede Shindou. Age - 27. Reason of captivity: Top-Secret. Percept Grade: Top-Secret. Sensyl Average Value: 3. Even if I already deciphered what is kept as 'Top-Secret', I'm sure the swift talker that you are, will gladly remove the classified information.
Ayumi provoked Kaede with eye-contact and even if she guessed that Kaede wasn't elated by now, the latter sighed with an alluring stoicism as he began exclaiming with a heavier tone.
Kaede: The reason of my captivity is because I'm a potential cataclysmic trigger of chaos. I'm a chained, locked-away aberration for the sake of humanity. An aberration who can make this rotten society transform from a utopian one into an absolute dystopia. An aberration who can make the world's bogus peace crumbles within instants. An aberration who, by fate, defied the principles of Sensyl Mutation with an average Sensyl Average Value of 3 but a Percept Grade of 0.
Kaede clung on to his serene look but one didn't required advanced senses to guess how he was enraged inside.
Ayumi: You're no aberration, Kaede. What you are, is a once-in-a-lifetime prodigy who has been unfairly sealed away into oblivion by a cowardly justice system.
Kaede: No matter how sincere your sympathy is, you cannot help me. You serve that same cowardly justice system while I'm a recluse whose destiny is to rot here. Our paths will never be inter-connected.
Ayumi: Your inherent skills are meant to serve for the good cause, Kaede. You were blessed with an oddity, so that you could become a hero of this era.
Kaede: This is impossi...
Ayumi: Drop your pessimists thoughts and stop being such a wussy. Your tragic and cynical poker-face ain't gonna make me turn away. You are meant for greater heroics than staying in a ghost jail for the rest of your life.
Kaede looked upon Ayumi - a girl who had just flabbergasted him with hard-hitting words that sounded like pure fantasy mouthing; yet his eyes wasn't noticing any sign of fraudulence in her. Deep inside his soul that was forged with narcissism, he knew that whatever she blattered, were words that were her beliefs in the truest and purest form.
Kaede: Even if you're delusional, suppose I believe that you may indeed provide me a new prospect in life. Still, I'm certain that most of the CIA force is filled with agents having nearly all, at minimum Sensyl Value: 3. So, why did you choose me?
Ayumi: Because you are unique.
Kaede: I may be an exception who, not only did not have to lose any of his senses but also mutated all my senses to Sensyl Value: 3. But logically speaking, you can easily form a crew of Sensyl Value: 3 agents who would compensate for each other. Why am I such a necessity?
Ayumi: What I'm after is your knowledge; not your skills. You have something that no assemblage of top-notch agents could provide me.
Ayumi's lauding was definitely flattering Kaede. Knowing that someone requires you while you were treated like shit for years, gives altogether a blissful feeling that Kaede was trying not to succumb into as he replied with a wry smile.
Kaede: Apart from my abilities and drop-dead gorgeous body, I wonder what do I have more than them?
Ayumi: They cannot reveal to me what happened on Yukishima Island 9 years ago.
Kaede's body froze literally as he was suddenly realizing what was the reason Ayumi truly sought after him.
Kaede: You should not venture yourself into exploring those territories...
Ayumi: My territory is to protect the people and knowing what happened there, is crucial for the continuation of mankind.
Ayumi psych out Kaede completely and there was nothing that Kaede detested more than losing the upper-hand.
Kaede: How much can a story of the past help mankind?
Ayumi: This story is the only true speaking lead we've got on "him".
Kaede: "Him"?
Ayumi: A nameless devil to the world. Whether he's a myth or the most fearsome face of this era is still unknown but most higher-ups secretly understand that he is linked somehow behind most criminal atrocities. Ever since the Isfet Impact, amount of felonies and homicides decreased considerably. However, in the past decades, there has been a worrying increase. The CIA now got a 13.4% of unresolved criminal cases; compared to a feeble 1.9% around a decade ago.
Kaede: So, that's the real reason you need me? Because CIA has been slacking off in past 10 years and I would be a nice recruit?
Ayumi: The cases are not unresolved because of slackness. They are unresolved because they are all perfect crimes - without witness, without evidence, without any lead. And this rise can all be attributed to that one incognito face of terror. We can, no more, rest on our laurels because slowly, we cannot hide those rates of crimes anymore. Words of the unrestrained devil are slowly buzzing and some even named him the Azazel Enigma.
Kaede: Even if there is an Azazel Enigma who is somekind of modern devil, what is the relation with Yukishima Island and me?
Ayumi: Because the tales of atrocity of The Azazel Enigma intensified some short time after an 18-year old feeble boy was found under debris of total carnage by a special CIA task force in the small ravaged Yukishima Island. Though I have no concrete proof, I'm confident that the Azazel Enigma's true legacy took off on that day.
Kaede knew that he finally got swerved towards what Ayumi was aiming all this time. However, before he could create a vacuum for Ayumi's spoken words, buried memories resurfaced. Flashes of bloody carnage scenes, carcasses sloshing, incendiary destruction & screams of despair were invading his head along with nefarious glances of the dead. In that phantasm of his, he saw a dying man saying some last mute words and a egregious smile before he finally got a hold of himself. Kaede started sweating for the first time as he tried to speak.
Kaede: Tt-t-hhe-re is no d-devil. No Azazel Enigma. Consider it a myth and leave me alone...
Ayumi didn't missed a glance on how Kaede stammered. On the other side, Kaede got the drift that Ayumi trapped him. It was, as if both his rooks and knights were gone and as much as this pissed him off, right now, all that he could do, was to stall off Ayumi's checkmate.
Ayumi: You cannot rebuff me after coming all along. You are the sole witness of that fateful day and you are perhaps the sole living witness who may know something about him. Whatever it is, his face, name, acts, anything...
Kaede: You are wasting your time, I can't tell anything about that. My lips are sealed.
Ayumi: Help yourself, Kaede. You have saw the light moments ago - a glimpse of hope of being a hero. I beg of you - lend us your help to capture the Azazel Enigma.
Kaede: I cannot tell a word about that.
Ayumi: Please, your confession can provide you a new life. In fact, apart from freedom, I can even provide you money, luxuries...
Kaede: I'm grateful that you gave me a momentary chance to regain a new life and to give me a new purpose. However, nothing that you may add, can make me break my silence.
Ayumi: Proving that you are an aberration that is fated to lead the world to its salvation; and not its havoc. Is that purpose not sufficient for you? What is it that you are unwilling to reveal more of that day's incident?
Desperation was heavily emphasized on every sentence of Ayumi now. Kaede ended up, conceding that it's for his betterment that he forgets that he did have an elusive chance out of this jail. His resolve to keep his secret, was absolute - even if it was to his, to Ayumi and to perhaps mankind's detriment.
Kaede: I have my own reasons; for which I must let those events remain concealed. Your offer doesn't weigh enough to derail me off my decision.
Ayumi: And if I were to add a further "something" to this deal.
Kaede: Extravagance in life doesn't tempt me.
Ayumi: And how about meeting your blood-related brother that you never knew?
In a complete swoop, Kaede felt as if Ayumi sent a thunderbolt arrow right through his heart. He was lurid of how Ayumi used a cheap move against him, in what was seemed like a pitiful attempt to floor him.
Kaede: What the hell are you talking about? Stop bluffing with me! I don't have any brother...
Ayumi: What happened to your perceptive eyes and smell? If I'm bluffing, you should be able to sense it, don't you?
Kaede was dumb-founded. Astounded. Completely dazed. He comprehended how he indeed didn't analyzed Ayumi at all, this time. But not only was he bowled out of words, his sharp mind wasn't functioning anymore as Ayumi kept her onslaught.
Ayumi: How do you think that I was able to know of your existence, trace you back and even know about a 9-years old incident which dates before I joined the CIA...
Kaede: There must be some records or some sort...
Ayumi: There's no dossier. No file. Nothing. Nearly all information around you are either classified as top-secret or they have been vanquished.
Kaede: This cannot be! You must be tricking me by some means. I do not have any siblings. I don't even have any family ties anymore.
Ayumi: You have a brother, Kaede. I'm not lying to you - I swear to God! You do have a brother!
'You have a brother! You have a brother'! - those sentences were reverberating in an unceasing echo.
Ayumi: I cannot add any additional factors in my deal to you. This is my last token - I give you the sole opportunity to not only get out of here, to not only prove yourself as a hero but also to meet your brother who is your last bond in this world.
Kaede: ....
Kaede maintained his silence. Ayumi had just checkmated him using a swift heap of emotion slice.
Ayumi: So what would it be?
Kaede had underestimated Ayumi and her tactful approach. Besides that frail, poise and gorgeous face that preaches for help, resided a cerebral genius. He was cornered to accept her deal. Not that he didn't wanted to go out but this shouldn't have been at the cost of revealing the secrets of Yukishima Island. But now, he was lured by a potential meeting with a brother that he never heard of. The possibility of reuniting himself with the last bond of his life. His fraternal bond was over weighing the bond of secret with Yukishima Island.
Kaede: I agree to help the CIA in the Azazel Enigma enquiry and I will give you a recount of what happened on Yukishima Island, only if I get to know my brother first.
Ayumi: You will get to know your brother, only when the CIA will have its hands on the Azazel Enigma.
Kaede: You need to know the events of the past to get a lead on the Azazel Enigma. So, you better give me what I want.
Ayumi: Suppose I accept your conditions, what guarantee do I have that you'll still help us once you get to know your brother? Clearly, your love for your brother is greater than the love to help society. How can I believe the words of such a man with barely any scrupulosity?
Kaede: It's rhetorical, Ayumi-san. What guarantee do I have of an inspector who is a bluff expert and who serves a corrupted system?
Ayumi: And what if I do give you a guarantee?
Kaede: What will you do? Swear to God? Take a vow?
Ayumi: I'll give you concrete proof that your brother does exists. Once you get to know this, I'm confident you would understand that I spoke no lies to you today. As a return gesture, you would reveal the events of Yukishima Island and once - and only, once - we got hold on the Azazel Enigma, I'll give you more than proof of your brother's existence. Fairer deal, don't you think so?
Kaede was erupting of jealousy towards Ayumi - how she kept swerving him on every naivety he committed. Yet, he had nothing to lose now. If Ayumi truly had proof of his brother's existence, then he would feel less remorse to reveal his secrets.
Kaede: Let's shake hands, Ayumi-san.
Kaede and Ayumi walked towards each other and made a pact by shaking hands, when a last thought struck Kaede.
Kaede: By the way, Ayumi-san, now that I have agreed to help, how do I go back into society? With the Sensyl Chip, I would instantly attract all the drones and police forces due to my anomaly value. Not to mention that you have proposed me to help the CIA, where the Crime Branch Office would be full of those drones and more.
Ayumi: I've think of two alternatives - it's up to you to choose which you prefer.
Kaede was skeptical but given that Ayumi is far more shrewd than what she looked, he decided to believe in her.
Kaede: So what are the ideas?
Ayumi: The first one is that you, me and a small group will be exclusive enquirers on the Azazel Enigma Case. In that way, you'll constantly be in migration; in preferably private transports and houses, so that no drones analyse your Sensyl Values and Percept Grade.
Kaede: Cool idea but how are we supposed to catch a 'perfect' criminal - that we're yet to determine its existence - who leaves no evidences, without full-usage of the Crime Branch resources?
Ayumi: Then, how about Option 2?
Kaede: Which is?
Ayumi, all at once, wore a nasty evil smile on her face as she removed one metallic hair clip that was holding her dark-brown chevelure.
Ayumi: I'm glad you asked. The Option 2 is...
She then clicked on a lighter and Kaede made back-steps.
Ayumi: ...to change your Percept Grade.
Kaede was a bit perplexed about Ayumi's idea but most of all, he was terrified as Ayumi's hair was disheveled as she was holding a lighter in one hand and a hair clip in the other, that almost looked like a knife.
Ayumi: It's a childish theory, Kaede-kun. Your Percept Grade is nil and is non-compatible with your Sensyl Value: 3 since all your five senses work. However, if we were to remove two of your senses, then it would, no more, pose any problem, will it?
Ayumi's sangfroid was freezing Kaede's blood on the spot. He knew that she could be wickedly cunning but now, he was spooked with her intense heartless rationalization; as she was heating up her hair clip with the lighter.
Kaede: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?
Ayumi: You still haven't guessed, Kaede-kun? I thought you were more perceptive and intelligent. I, who thought so high of you. I'm heating the clip so that I could get the job done. By common sense, I can only remove your sight and hearing senses. That's why I'm making the clip piping-hot as I heard that it hurt less.
Kaede quickly retreated backwards out of fear. He was hoping that his sharp eyes were deceiving him and that unlike what he was perceiving, Ayumi was not serious about it.
Kaede: B-b-b-ut, d-d-i-d-dn't you c-came here because I have extra abilities? It would be a shame to destroy them, won't it?
Ayumi: But wasn't it you who said that a small batch of good CIA agents would be better than you?
Kaede: T-that was a joke. I think, I'll choose Alternative 1 afterall. It shouldn't be too difficult to catch up a criminal while moving, when I re-think of it.
Ayumi: You sure?
Kaede: Yes, yes!
Ayumi stared at him with nefarious eyes before getting back to her calmer self. Kaede sighed as Ayumi threw the clip away and he realized how scary Ayumi can be. Given all devilish attributes of Ayumi, Kaede started hoping that his brother better be someone grateful and lovable - for all the risk Kaede was taking by sticking with Ayumi. He wiped his sweats and started walking through the exit alley alongside Ayumi.
Kaede: My God, you are one wild girl when you want. I wonder, what the guys go through in bed, with you?
Ayumi: Kaede-kun, you're my subordinate now. So, you better stop those flirty lines or I will go and pick back that hair clip. And this time, I'm gonna shove it somewhere else than your eyeballs.
Kaede gave a dry smile back to Ayumi and nodded in affirmation to Ayumi.
Kaede: So, where are we going for the first step of the enquiry?
Ayumi: You shall know very soon...
~END OF CHAPTER~
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I mean, who knows 
