Story updated on: - 06/08/2010
Chapter beta read by: akiqueen

Chapter 7 (The Mission)

Five minutes ago, when they touched and wiped away their tears, Hayami felt like he'd gotten lucky and was about to fix things up with Mutio. Now someone stood in their way.

The bulkheads of the room suddenly seemed distant to Hayami. The water was cold, like hundreds of needles in his legs. Mutio looked like a small kitten as the words "what's that doing here?" boomed throughout the room.

Hayami turned and saw Kino in all her fury. She appeared taller than before, but hidden in the shallow light. She stood with her hands on her hips, and her piercing, wide-eyes looked like they would blast away anyone she saw fit.

"Is that the fucking bitch you've been interested in?" Kino snarled. "What's wrong with you? You can't stick to your own species?"

She barged forward, like an unstoppable juggernaut intent on mowing Mutio to the floor. Hayami sprang out his hand in an effort to stop her rampaging campaign, but he was unsuccessful. She barged through and headed straight for her.

Kino charged into Mutio. With a sudden blast of water, both individuals disappeared under the water.

Feeling completely helpless, Hayami kneeled and watched the frantic splashes and Kino's rants and raves. He wanted to do something, he must do something, and it was his only chance to get Mutio back.

Kino punched and kicked several times before Mutio finally fought back, biting and hitting any which way she could. She then tried to drown Mutio, obviously forgetting that she could breathe underwater. But Mutio returned the favour by dragging her under.

Moments later, Mutio was kicked out of the water and onto the hard metal plating. Kino stood, angrier then ever. Water dripped off her uniform as she climbed through the shallow end of the moon pool and approached Mutio, who was lying on the floor.

With a hard thrust with her boot, she senselessly kicked Mutio again and again. Rage swelled inside Hayami and he lunged towards Kino, forcing her away. But this only invited the full violent attention from her. However, being a man, Kino's punches had little, if no effect on him.

Wrapped up in rage, Hayami had little choice but to toss her into the cold water. "Calm down!" he barked as she splashed in the water.

"She's a fish!" Kino shouted. "You can't love a fish or whatever it is! She can't even defend herself."

Hayami stared at Kino for five seconds and then finally said, "I think you should leave!"

Hayami felt bitter about the whole situation. How was he going to tell Kino that he didn't love her? How was he going to explain that he wanted to be with Mutio? He felt like a sting on the end of a wasp, just itching to do something, but in the end, Kino was his friend.

"Kino, you know I value our friendship, but that's what it is, a friendship."

Kino basked in the darkness of her own sorrow; Hayami had no interest in her, only in that thing, Mutio. She stood as the cold salty water dripped off her fine, figure-fitting uniform. Her words were like heavy lead in her mouth. She couldn't say anything. No, wouldn't say anything. She lowered her head and finally strolled away like a disciplined puppy, leaving the two lovebirds alone.

Hayami rushed over to Mutio and examined her body for any damage. But he was way out of league, he had no idea what constituted as damage and from his initial view, she only seemed busied. He did the next best thing; he picked her up and released her into the moon pool.

She floated on the water before sinking. Then, as if a switch had been flicked, she sprang to life. Hayami sighed and sat on the edge of the moon pool; he was relived that she was alive but hated Kino's actions. He wondered why a girl like that would do such a thing, but the answers were obvious. The hybrids killed her family, and now one was trying to take away her partner. Hayami could understand, but she should control her temper.

Hayami felt very conscious about the looming threat of Kino returning with a gun, but due to his wet clothes, that thought was quickly shoved to the back of his mind. Mutio moved close to his pale face and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed as Mutio swam off to recover from her wounds.

He stood there in a small trance, trying to work out what just happened. She kissed me! he thought and then a slight glow appeared on his face.

As two crewmembers arrived on the scene, Hayami quickly regained his senses and returned to his quarters, stopping for a bite to eat on the way. He would eventually return, smoke a few more cigarettes, look at a magazine and fall asleep. His day was that interesting.

-o-

Daylight broke through the depths of the ocean, bringing a faint - but not too dim - light on the entire facility. The Deep Sea Six was still undergoing repairs and the whole facility was like a playground for the fish. Marine life climbed up the walls, swam through the tunnels and clung to windows. It was a sight to marvel at, which the crew did from the observation rooms.

Ready for any eventuality, two teams of Grampuses travelled around the perimeter watching, waiting. So far the day was progressing like all the others, no enemies and no surprises. Just the way everybody liked it.

Jake prepared himself for the meeting; his biggest thought was his dream he had about the aquatic girl. So real, yet so unreal. He couldn't get his mind around it.

As he brushed his teeth in his bathroom, he turned and noticed something in the shower drain. He stopped his rhythmic movements with the brush and investigated. Suddenly, he realized what it was. Blue hair! "My god!" he exclaimed. "It can't be a dream."

His mind underwent just the tiniest tweak of hope that the whole ordeal was not a dream and the proof was right in front of him. With thanks to the war being over, perhaps Jake could locate this girl and reassure her somehow. After all, she did run away. But for what reason, he wasn't sure. But before he could continue his entangled thoughts a call, which was announced by a high-pitched beep, came in.

"They are ready now, sir!"

"OK, I'll be right down," he finished.

-o-

The conference room looked impressive. It had the same design as a university hall with chairs everywhere on balconies. A large communication screen filled the centre of the room while several stations, perched on the high levels, were used for the translating staff. Each chair would have a small view screen that translated announcements to any desired language, and even audio was available.

An open clearing with a pedestal stood in the middle of the room.

It was not long until the room began to fill with people from all wakes of life. People from all over the world came to attend the meeting and find out what this was all about.

Each section was marked for everybody, but Hayami refused to follow protocol. He lounged around anywhere he saw fit and eventually caught the attention of Kino; in response she scrunched her noise and kept her distance.

Moments later, the room fell silent and the meeting began.

"Good morning, everyone." A man in his mid-forties stood on the stage, re-poisoned his black glasses and looked at his papers on the pedestal.

"Can everyone understand me?" he said in English.

Everybody looked at the small translator screens attached to their chairs. After reading, or listing through the headphones, they reacted with pleased expressions.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Ian Ironhart, director of the Scientific Research Foundation into World Restoration."

Hayami murmured under his breathe. "I bet that was a mouthful to get right!"

Iga looked up and gave Hayami such a look of scorn that he sat on the nearest vacant chair and listened.

"We at the institute have found a devastating discovery which Zorndyke had accidentally caused by flooding the world," Ian announced.

He then picked up a remote control device and activated the massive view screen in the background. It displayed Earth and the Moon in their respective orbits; writing also filled the void of useless space.

"We've discovered that the Moons gravitational pull on the additional water would drag the Earth out of stable orbit from the sun." Ian then carried on after changing the view on the screen to that of the Sun and Earth.

"As you can see, the Earth rotates around the sun in a 'comfort zone.' If our planet is too close, it will overheat and if it is too far, the opposite effect will happen."

"Unfortunately, the Earth is being pulled out of its safe orbit and the effects will begin to show up shortly. Unless we find a way to remove the excess water within a given timeframe, this planet will be unable to support life." Ian deactivated the screen.

"How the hell are we going to do that?" a voice within the crowd demanded.

Ian called for the element to be brought on stage. A scientist strolled on, holding a silver, cylinder-shaped tube. It contained a glass window on ether side and a small, marble-sized blue blob suspended in the middle of crystal-clear water was clearly visible.

The scientist gently handed Ian the device and then dashed off stage in a hasty fashion.

"What I am holding is here is Element Six Five Four Eight. Scientists from all over the world have been working on a cure for this problem and everybody believes they've found the solution."

He then placed the canister on the table and the scientist reluctantly strolled back with a demonstration canister the size of a small inkbottle. As before, he promptly disappeared off stage.

"I know most of you will not believe what I am about to tell you, so I have arrange a little demonstration," Ian said, walking over to a large pool of water in the middle of the room.

He twisted the cap for about five seconds, dropped the bottom into the water and then ran like hell to the other end of the room. Some people stared in disbelief, others looked worried. But Ian reassured them as he watched from a safe distance.

As the device popped open, the microscopic blue element floated down to the bottom of the tank and then burst. Immediately the freezing began. Within seconds, the bowl of water was compressed into an ice crystal while the surrounding air smoked from dried ice. The tank floor turned to a crisp white, as every unit of water was frozen solid into highly compressed ice.

However, the amount of element was miscalculated and the freezing, white weed left the tank enclosure and began to creep along the wooden floor like a disease, changing everything into ice.

Slowly, it spread in all directions, getting closer and closer towards the crowd of spectators, who sat back on their seats in fear. Then it stopped just mere inches from their feet.

Ian blurted out, "WOW…Sorry about that, but it looks like we have miscalculated the quantity."

The crowd settled down and stared at the frozen wooden floor. They then approached it with curiosity.

"It's okay, you can touch it. The freezing has finished." Ian walked closer to the onlookers as he tried to convince them.

Curious individuals touched and prodded the brittle wooden floor causing it to break under the strain. Many questions were to be asked, like, "What just happened?"

-o-

It wasn't long until word about this meeting managed to find its way back to Verg's lair, and this news only added to his annoyance.

"Damn that female, hiding out from me! I will take her back," he chanted.

One of his minions spoke into his grizzly ear about the news and Verg shot out of his chair. "Send the Musucas in for a closer look. I want to know what they are planning."

The creature also mentioned the organic vessel they've been building. Verg slowly sank back into his chair and grinned like a child. Perfect, now I will have the means to stop the humans once and for all.

This is the end of Part 2

Author Note: - Please leave a review and tell me what you think of the work done so far. Many thanks and look forward to seeing you in Part 3

Shane