I've heard everyone's concerns on the issue with the previous chapter. However, I do plan to try and remedy the situation and hopefully rewrite chapter 40 soon, hope you all enjoy this chapter during these very unique times.

Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Stratos.

Trying something a little different, not much to say here. Although I will say I feel like I owe an apology for last chapter, seeing as it was pretty out-of-the-blue and honestly poorly written, hence why I want to rewrite chapter 40.

Ichika was at a loss for words.

It'd been some time since Thomas was abducted by Phantom Task.

The only saving grace was Thomas throwing away his Revive Pendant, but...

...Where was Thomas now?

It'd only been a mere days after the abduction.

Right after Thomas was captured by Phantom Task...Things just went cascading downhill. Police got involved, the incident reached social media, It wouldn't be too long before the public demanded an answer from the IS Academy for this incident.

Chifuyu didn't even waste hitting anyone, she yelled, screamed, and cursed quite a bit.

But now she was silent.

The aura around her was so volatile, if someone so much as twitched they risked literally being split in two by Chifuyu.

Alex was at a loss for words.

First Ichika and Thomas being fused together...And now his precious son was taken away.

Nobody had anything to say for themselves.

Thomas was gone seemingly without a trace.

How? Why? Phantom Task had gotten away with Thomas so fast...

Sure enough, relaying the shocking incident to the student body had caused an absolute riot.

Despite the disarray, everyone tried to press on. The IS Academy was ordered by the government to carry on with classes, and was left in charge of issuing a statement to the public. Additionally, due to the abduction of one student, the IS Academy had issued a temporary lock-down in order to protect the students from any further potential attacks.

Thankfully, the extent of such action went as far as an enforced curfew and restrictions to transit to and from the mainland.

But still...

What could they do now?

Thomas was in Phantom Task's clutches, and they had no clue as to where they took him. What did they want with him? What were they going to do to him? Would Ichika even be able to save Thomas?

Ichika just didn't know what he could do other than try to carry on until such a time came where he could find assurance.

It was time for class.

Things seemed normal, at least as normal as they could be without Thomas.

Ichika looked absolutely downtrodden. He was generating a depressing aura, which was slowly spreading to the other students in the classroom. Nobody had ever really seen Ichika act so...Depressed before.

Houki quickly marched up.

"Hey..." She said, "I'm sorry...For letting you down."

The rest of the girls all grouped up around Ichika in the hopes of apologizing for their screw-up.

"Ichika dear..." Cecelia went over, "I heard the news...How are you holding up?"

"Just fine...All things considered..."

"Zhe blame is on all of us." Consoled Laura, "You shouldn't take zhis burden all on your own."

"I guess..."

"If you ever need someone to talk to, we're all here." Charlotte offered.

"Thanks..."

Lingyin signaled the girls from afar, it was almost time for homeroom, meaning Lingyin couldn't come over and offer support with the others. Tyrone and Elias were also already in their classes, and were waiting for the moment they could check up on Ichika.

"Guys, I'm fine, really." Ichika tried to smile.

The girls could see how plastered and fake Ichika's smile looked on his face. He was lying through his teeth, and it was obvious just how terrible a liar he was. However, the girls simply had no idea on how to address the issue.

All they could do for now was try to offer support until some good news came their way.

The bell rang, and classes had begun.

"Good morning class." Maya greeted.

Attendance was taken quickly, and classes had started.

"Today we'll be conducting a joint basic IS training exercise with the other first-year classes in Arena 2." Instructed Chifuyu, "Orimura, group up with the other male students and hurry to the locker rooms to change."

"Y-Yes ma'am." Ichika said, hustling out of the room.

Soon enough, Ichika met up with Elias and Tyrone.

"Hey," Tyrone pulled Ichika aside, "You holding up alright?"

"Yeah...I'll be fine."

"Just make sure to talk...We're all here for you. We all miss Thomas-"

"Now you're talking like he's dead." Said Tyrone, "He ain't dead. Stop talking like he is. He's alive and somewhere in the world, we'll see him again."

"But this is unlawful abduction we're talking about." Said Elias, "Can we really be certain that we'll get Thomas back?"

"If it's the last thing I do." Said Ichika, "C'mon, we need to get changed and get to the arena before Chifuyu rips us a new one."

"Roger that..." Said Tyrone.

The three boys quickly went on their way.

There was an obvious depression in Ichika's movements, he was a little slower, and seemingly just a hint more careless. As much as Ichika said he was okay, it was clear as day everyone knew he wasn't.

After a quick warm-up, the Instructors had split all the first-year classes into several groups, students with personal IS Units were assigned as group leaders. Each group took turns in Uchigane units, with 1 IS assigned to each group.

"E-Everyone." Stuttered Elias, "Make an orderly line and attempt to move the Uchigane, be sure to be kind and courteous to the nest person in line when you've completed some basic movements."

"Alright! Everybody make a single-file line!" Instructed Tyrone, "Each of you will take a turn to warm-up with some basic moves in the Uchigane. Once everyone's gone, we'll up the difficulty as time goes on."

Ichika stood still, he was zoned out.

Chifuyu noticed, and sighed.

"Orimura!" She called.

Ichika didn't hear her.

Chifuyu growled, and promptly marched over to bop Ichika over the head.

"Ow!"

"Focus, idiot!" She scolded, "Do you want detention? I have no problem with that!"

"S-Sorry, Orimura-Sensei!"

"Get to work then!"

"Yes, Orimura-Sensei..."

Ichika took a deep breath as he approached his group.

"Okay everyone," Ichika requested, "Make a line according to...Whatever and take turns with some basic moves in the Uchigane, be sure to take reasonable turns and share the thing, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Hey...Are you alright, Orimura-Kun?"

"Yeah, you look pretty down..."

"Guys, guys." Ichika put on a smile., "I'm totally fine...Stop worrying so much, let's get this show on the road!"

Ichika's smile was quite easy to see through, but everyone pretended they didn't see him suffering and carried on as he requested.

Chifuyu stared at Ichika from afar.

It was easy to tell the shock of Thomas's abduction was still affecting him. Based on the report, Phantom Task moved so quickly and suddenly that Ichika had no time to process or understand what was happening.

Naturally, everyone was shaken by Thomas being kidnapped, but they had to carry on until such an opportunity to find Thomas and bring him home would present itself. The IS Community would most likely be completely upended.

The woman sighed, she had her own problems to worry about.

Not even Chifuyu Orimura, the Brunhilde could possibly dodge the oncoming PR shit-storm that was no doubt looming.

Sometime later...

Once classes had concluded for the day, Tyrone gathered Elias and Ichika to join him in checking up on Nana.

Nana hadn't shown up for classes that day, they had to make certain she was okay. Reasonably, she was in her room, still trying to cope with Thomas's situation. Ichika did his best to toughen up, believing that he shouldn't compare his woes to Nana's.

"Hey, Nana?" Tyrone knocked on her door, "You okay? Come on, we're here to check up on you...Miss Orimura ain't gonna be happy that you skipped class..."

Tyrone twisted the knob to find it unlocked.

"Hey...Come on, Nana..." Tyrone cooed, "Sound off for me, please?"

Nana made no response.

"Nana...?" Tyrone called, "Please tell me she didn't try hanging out like Sayori from the Literature Club..."

Tyrone opened the door and the boys entered.

They found Nana in bed, sleeping with a miserable look on her face. The stains of tear tracks and the stains on the pillowcase right next to her face revealed she had cried herself to sleep. Her hair was wild and messy. She was still in her pajamas.

There was no doubt as to what happened.

Tyrone sighed with relief.

"At least..." He paused, not wanting to tempt fate.

"Oh dear..." Whispered Elias, "What do we do? I...I've been in a similar state before...What would Maria do?"

"Maria?"

"She's...Never mind. Not important, I'll tell you of her later. Let's focus on giving Nana the support she needs."

"Yeah..." Ichika looked shaken.

"You okay?" Inquired Tyrone.

"I..." Ichika, "I guess I was pretty shaken up when Thomas got taken away...But Nana...I mean, she's hurt a lot more..."

Tyrone sighed.

"Look," Tyrone attempted, "Everyone's shook, yeah? Sure, you're not the worst case, but that doesn't mean you can't vent about it. If you bottle it up, then you're the on the road to being the worst case since everyone else is healing but you."

"But-"

"I'm tellin' yah: It's totally fine to show how upset you are. We'll all recover from this together faster and better if everyone opens up."

Nana began to stir.

Elias went to her bedside.

"Nana dear...Is everything alright?"

Nana yawned and blinked as her vision adjusted to finding Elias, Tyrone, and Ichika all standing around her bed.

"Okay..." Nana grumbled, "Did I just get reincarnated into a fucking Otome game?"

"Excuse me?"

"Ugh...Never mind...Did my roommate let you in or something?"

"Something to that degree..."

"Whatever. Doesn't matter. I'm perfectly fine."

Elias flinched.

"No...You're not." He responded.

"I am."

"You're not."

"What makes you think you're such an expert?"

Elias took a deep breath.

"I too lost something I held close. I was frightened, but unwilling to do anything to stop it. But it was those who cared for me that I found the ability to grow onward and move past such a tragedy."

Nana sat up, and took a breath.

"I-I...M'sorry...I didn't mean for you to-"

"Please, allow me to finish." Continued Elias, "The moral is, 'don't push others away, especially when they're trying to help.' It's a hard time for all of us, but it'll certainly make things better for everyone if we all work through this together."

Nana looked away as she processed Elias's words.

"It's just..." Nana finally broke, "I just didn't know what to think...It was all so sudden. One moment, it's all happy-fun times for everyone...But outta nowhere, Thomas just gets plucked right out of our hands, just like that! I...I don't..."

Nana began to whimper and cry.

"It's bullshit..." She mumbled, "S'all a bunch a' bullshit..."

Elias looked to the other boys, signaling them to assist.

"It'll change...For the better..." Elias consoled, doing his best to be hopeful.

Tyrone and Ichika both joined Elias at Nana's bedside, and rested their hands on her shoulders to offer their comfort. Nana found that she was allowed to completely let go, and proceeded to cry deeper and deeper.

She grabbed the three boys and pulled them into a group hug, which they quickly caught onto and returned.

"Ssh, ssh..." Tyrone cooed, "It's gonna be okay...We'll bring Thomas home..."

As Nana slowly calmed down, there was an obvious question on everyone's mind.

What were they going to do now?

As soon as Nana agreed to meet them at the cafeteria for dinner, Ichika made a group text to the other girls. Nana was going to need emotional support from other girls as well, that way everyone could avoid the gossip.

All they could do was hope.

Elsewhere...

Alex was on his way to the Orimura house.

His wife was either going to kill him and herself, or something far worse.

It happened again...

Yin obviously had to have heard the news by now. Alex was going to have to deal with the consequences of not protecting his son. It was bad enough hearing David had been lifted away right out of the blue.

But Yin...

Yin would go insane.

Alex rushed to the door and threw it open...

He didn't know whether to be relieved or sad at what he saw. Yin was laying on the couch, she looked completely depressed in every sense of the word. She didn't react to Alex entering the house, despite being in plain view.

"Honey..." Alex went over to Yin.

Yin finally raised her head and looked to Alex.

"Ellen..."

"I failed...I tried so hard to make sure they didn't take him but..."

"We'll get him back...We'll them back."

Yin began to silently cry as she pulled Alex in for a hug.

"Ssh...It's gonna be okay. We're gonna get our boy back. We're gonna get him back...When we do...He needs you. You have to be there for him when he comes home. So please...We can't do this anymore."

"You mean if he comes back...We failed..."

"We will. This won't end like before."

"How can you be so sure...?"

"I have to be. For you."

Alex and Yin remained still as they were frozen in each other's embrace. Yin had been through a lot, especially hearing that her son was kidnapped from right under her nose. She'd become complacent, utterly foolish and paid the price.

"You tried to do it yourself..." Alex continued, "I've been waiting for you to come back...David was waiting too."

"I know, but...I'm sorry, there's no point in excuses."

"It was understandable why you ran...I would've supported you if David wasn't born."

"I'm a terrible agent and the worst mother..."

"Don't say that...You can't be the worst if you were never one to..." Alex paused, realizing that wasn't gonna lighten the mood, "Never mind...We need to focus on finding Thomas. We'll find him if it's the last thing I do."

Yin said nothing.

All she did was keep Alex in her embrace.

Just when she thought things would be different...She was only staving off the inevitable. She'd been so foolish as to not see it coming. Or rather, she'd purposely blinded herself to the truth that Thomas was a target.

Why? Why her child?

He was still a teenage boy, he'd done nothing wrong.

It didn't change the fact he was abducted.

Many teenage boys go missing all over the world. Hell, tons of people get kidnapped all the time, they may not even have any reason to be kidnapped other than for someone's ill definition of a game.

Yin could promise many things...But now it was time to uphold those promises.

Later that day...

Nana left her dorm room, dressed in her school uniform for the first time today.

"Let's just get this over with..." Nana grumbled, wanting to get dinner and go right back to bed as soon as she was done.

Nana walked slowly, making certain to take as many detours as possible to prolong her walk to the cafeteria. She just didn't feel like going, but at the same time she didn't want to blow off everyone, lest they come and get her.

Nana knew it was best to spend time in the comfort of others...But she just wanted to be left alone.

Thomas, at first, was her only connection to everyone else at the IS Academy...

She could still get closer to everyone else, but...

"Parker-San?"

Nana turned around, and laid eyes upon Maya.

"H-Hello, Miss Yamada..."

"You weren't in class today...Is everything okay?"

Nana began to sniffle.

"N-No..."

"Ah...It's about Scott-San, right?"

"M-Mhm..."

"I apologize for anything that happened." Said Maya, "But, rest assured, Orimura-Sensei won't rest until she's found Scott-San. Until the government orders otherwise, We'll all do our part to bring him home."

"...Thanks, I feel a little better."

"Your welcome. We're here for you every step of the way. Oh! I just remembered, Orimura-San and some of the other students are asking for you in the cafeteria, you should go there as soon as you're able."

"I will, have a nice day."

"To you as well."

Nana and Maya parted ways.

As Nana was out of earshot, Maya let out a sigh.

There had to be something more they could do to help...But it was still too soon to do anything. They could say anything they so much as pleased, but it didn't change the fact that, until they had a lead, the only thing they could do was keep Thomas in their prayers.

Chifuyu would do whatever she had to to make things right.

All Maya could do was put faith in her.

Nana slowly trudged into the cafeteria, looking down to the ground.

"Guys! She's here!"

Nana looked up to find Ichika, Tyrone, Elias, Cecelia, Houki, Kanzashi, Laura, Charlotte, and the most surprising, Lingyin, all of them waiting for Nana at a table. It was pretty obvious why they were all here.

This was an intervention.

"Hey guys..." Nana said halfheartedly.

"Well? C'mon! Sit with us," Said Tyrone, "We need to talk, an' you need to be a part of it."

Lingyin stepped forward.

"It's a rough time, for all of us." Said Lingyin, "We've butt heads, yeah...But Thomas was our mutual friend. And...You got the hots for him and I don't. He's obviously got the hots for you, and it sucks because neither of you were able to say it."

"Yeah..."

"I know we're still not best buddies at all...But I just wanna say I'm sorry for being such a jerk. So...Just enjoy yourself dammit, we're all trying to adjust to not having Thomas around every five minutes."

"...Thanks."

"You can thank me by quitting being a pain in the ass. We're all here, you don't see us lying in bed about it."

Nana chuckled.

"...D'you wanna talk about things with us?" Lingyin offered.

Nana paused to weigh the options.

"...Yeah," Nana smiled, "I do."

"Alright!" Ichika cheered, "C'mon, siddown!"

The group did their best to make each other happy as Nana joined them for dinner. Though they did their best to dodge topics that involved Thomas until such a time came where Nana was ready to open up.

"Even if these are trying times," Said Elias, "We're doing our best to mend the damages we can. Though it would be rude to ignore Thomas in this plight, I daresay it'd be prudent we ensure we're all healed for when we bring Thomas back."

"I should've been there," Ichika said, being the one to finally start opening up, "If only I'd been faster, I could've stopped that one IS-Pilot before she pinned him...I'm still too weak, I can't call myself a real man..."

Elias listened as people started talking one by one.

"If we hadn't gotten distracted..." Said Houki, "If we didn't leave Thomas unattended he wouldn't have been in such a situation."

"It's everyone's fault." Lingyin reflected, "No matter what way anyone spins it, we enabled Thomas and he naturally took advantage of it. It was just outta nowhere, and that's what the bad guys were waiting for."

"Zhe situation vas simply straightforward," Laura commented, "Ve vere unprepared, it ish tragic but a matter of fact. Zhere vas no indication that ve vere to be on guard, and ve became complacent..."

"Oui..." Charlotte added, "The situation isn't trivial: This will result in an international incident. Nations have each wanted to capitalize on the discovery of male-aptitude for the IS, but no nation would be desperate enough to throw just any male into the IS Academy, they have national pride to uphold. Accusations will be made, especially seeing as the United States will want an answer for this."

Nana finally felt it was her time to talk.

"Thomas...Thomas means a lot to me. He's the reason I decided to go to the IS Academy at all, and he's the person who introduced me to all of you. I couldn't care about it being an international incident."

Everyone waited for Nana to continue, she absolutely had more to say.

"Thomas means the world to me, I want to stay with him until the end...But I don't want that end to be now. I want to be there when we go and rescue him, but...This morning I just couldn't see the point in getting out of bed because I feel like we may never find Thomas."

"You gotta have hope," Tyrone piped up, "I know we can talk all day about hopin' he comes back and all, but I absolutely ain't gonna sit on my hands when we get a lead. There's no way they're gonna keep us out of the loop."

"We're all praying for Thomas's safe return," Said Cecelia, "He's one of our own...We can't just turn our backs upon him."

"I don't know him perfectly well..." Confessed Kanzashi, "But unlawfully abducting anyone...It's just wrong."

The most the children could do was talk. They had no lead upon finding Thomas, they didn't even know where to start. Thomas could've been anywhere in the world and all they could do was make empty promises.

When the time came, it would be up to them to make the right decision.

But until that time came...They were doing all they could.

Elsewhere...

Thomas laid in a cot, looking up at the ceiling.

It was all he could do.

It'd been 2 days since Squall dragged him off...

She knocked Thomas unconscious, and by the time he came to, Thomas was locked in what appeared to be a makeshift prison cell built just for him. There was vinyl wood flooring, he'd been given a cot, there were no windows, and the door was solid metal.

Though, if what Squall said was true, Thomas might've been able to punch his way through the walls.

That was a very stupid idea and Thomas berated himself for even thinking of it.

Thomas watched anything he said or did, it was probable that anything would result in his condition growing better or worse. Though he couldn't help but feel a little rebellious if someone decided to pay a visit.

So far, the only person he'd seen was Squall.

However, Thomas knew for a fact that Squall's cronies were lurking nearby...What were they planning to do with him? Squall was no doubt going to enjoy it if Thomas suffered, seeing as he chopped off her prosthetic arm.

The day before, when Thomas first woke up this cell, Squall had just finished taking DNA samples from his body. She never said what she was doing with the samples, but she did smile and welcome him to his new lifestyle.

Thomas would be lying if he said he wasn't scared in the slightest.

He just simply couldn't tell what was to become of him. Would he die here? Would Phantom Task make him their thrall? Or perhaps something worse than death? Thomas was affected deeply by his predicament.

But overall...Thomas's patience was wearing thin.

There was nothing to do...

It was slowly starting to drive Thomas a little mad...

Just then, the lock on the door clicked and slid.

Thomas was getting a visit.

Squall entered.

Thomas glanced, but pretended to ignore her.

Squall's arm had already been replaced...Wherever they were, Squall had access to replacement prosthetic limbs. In fact, she looked good as new, with her usual temptress demeanor and sly grin.

"How are you adjusting?"

Thomas was silent, ignoring Squall at all costs.

"Well, I can't say I blame you...You brought this on yourself."

Squall stepped closer.

"It wouldn't hurt for you to talk to me a little..."

Thomas remained quiet.

Squall sighed, her smile beginning to waver.

"Honestly...Is this because you think I'm furious over you taking off my arm? I will admit I was agitated by it...But I've forgiven you. Why won't you talk? You obviously know this isn't going to make things easier on you."

Squall walked over, a tray of food in her hands.

"Here...You must be starving."

The food looked quite tasty, especially since Thomas hadn't eaten in a while...

No. It was too risky, Squall might've spiked the meal with poison or drugs, and Thomas couldn't take that risk in his current position.

Squall groaned.

"You're really playing this game?" Squall's smile finally dropped, "Thomas, do I have to hold you down and feed you myself? Do you think there's poison or aphrodisiac laced into it or something? Honestly..."

Squall picked up the tray.

"Well, I won't try to change your mind. I have a feeling you'll come around eventually. You're your own worst enemy."

Squall soon left, leaving Thomas once again to his lonesome.

Whatever tactic Squall was trying to play, Thomas was concerned this it was working.

Thomas wanted to remain strong and tough things out, but there was simply no telling how well his efforts would do in the situation. He had no idea where he was, let alone an idea of how to escape.

The infinite quiet was taking hold...It was slowly making Thomas go insane.

Just how much did Thomas take freedom for granted? He'd take it all back and start over if he could.

The quiet fear that he would die here began creeping in...

If he were to die, his regret would be that he didn't see his friends one last time before passing on. While he knew he would be missed, and certainly that people would remember him, the thought of never seeing the people he loved again...

He knew that things like abduction were traumatic, but now he knew it firsthand.

Phantom Task was slowly stripping him of his dignity...Perhaps their goal really was to convert him to their pawn after all. While Thomas could figure that out on his own, the issue was if he was able to stop them from doing so.

The most basic part of brainwashing is to first take away freedom and dignity...Like Stockholm Syndrome.

Thomas felt himself twitch...He was aching for something to do. He felt starving...Perhaps he really should've eaten the food Squall gave him when he had the chance. While Squall did seem like she'd oblige if Thomas asked for food...He couldn't risk it.

Anything at all...

Thomas yawned, and fell asleep.

He had no sense of time, Squall was no joke when it came to this...

If Thomas could turn back time...He'd do it in a heartbeat.

If only...

Thomas jolted awake to the sound of the cell door being unlocked...Oddly more frantic than any other time.

What was happening?

Rescue? No, highly unlikely, it couldn't have taken the IS Academy so quickly to track Thomas down.

Thomas sat up...This didn't seem normal...

The door slowly opened to reveal...

...Kana, panting heavily as she cautiously entered the room.

Kana rushed over to Thomas, with a strange but all-too-familiar concerned look on her face.

"Ssh...It's okay, it's okay. I'm not here to hurt you..." Kana whispered, "Don't bother talking...You didn't eat the meal Mama gave you, did you? I guess you thought it was poison or something..."

Kana pulled out an unopened energy bar, and placed it in Thomas's hands.

"Eat it quickly...You need to eat. It's not poisoned, I got it from a vending machine. Hurry up..."

Kana took the initiative and unwrapped the bar for Thomas.

Thomas had no idea what was going on.

What the hell was Kana doing?

Thomas couldn't trust Kana...She was a Phantom Task Agent...

But as the same time...Thomas was dying of hunger...

The energy bar couldn't have been poisoned, unless Kana took the time to go find a factory, manufacture both the bar and wrapper with whatever concoction she would've put in. That sounded quite ridiculous but well-founded for Thomas to consider.

But...Thomas was utterly dying of hunger.

Thomas took the energy bar and ate right through it.

Kana smiled as he did so.

"It's gonna be okay..." Kana reached her arms around Thomas, "You're gonna be alright..."

Thomas was startled, Kana was throwing him off...

But...

Thomas felt his body turn against his mind as he submitted to Kana's embrace.

The warm hug had made Thomas realize how cold his body had become.

"Ssh...You'll be safe...No lethal harm's gonna come to you...It's all gonna be okay..."

Thomas just couldn't hold back the question anymore.

"Who...Are you?"

He needed to know...

Kana gently released Thomas and stood up.

"My name is Kana Scott, and I'm your biological older sister."

A/N: Finally...Once again, I apologize for making this arc out of nowhere. I'll admit for the longest time, I inadvertently wrote myself into a corner with this arc, and clearly, Chapter 40 is a testament to that.

I'd like to make the biggest shout-out to Xenowishes for his help and support in my writing. You'd may recognize him as the writer for "I Change My Mind." I profusely thank Xenowishes for everything he's done to help me, I feel blessed to be able to talk to him.

This arc has indeed gone through several different concepts, with various different endings and even completely different routes.

I'll do my best to make the story better as I go, thank you all so much for being here with me!

As always, take extra care in these remarkably difficult and strange times, wherever you are in the world, you all mean the world to me. I hope you all are healthy and hale, and having a good day.

Next Time: The Deal

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