IS Virus: Episode 2.1 -Re-Classification- [SEASON 2 PREMIER]

Part 1: Aural Reflections

-PORT OF JUNEAU, ALASKA; ONE WEEK AFTER DEPARTURE-

The team awoke early to the sound of seagulls and ocean breezes. They ran up to the deck and saw the port sign. They had arrived, not just in a city unknown to all, but in America. They bundled up and went to town, after the captain cleared everything with them and the port authorities.

With everything that happened in Japan, they decided that they needed a break from their worries and frustrations, so they booked a cabin at a mountain resort and wasted the whole week exploring Juneau. They marveled at the perfect blending of ice and nature of Mendenhall Glacier and Ice Caves. They lost themselves among the wilderness of Douglass Island. They basked in the breeze (and humidity) of Nugget Falls. They even took a risk skinny dipping outside the port. They went everywhere, did everything they could to relax their minds.

None of it worked. Each night, they went to bed, rattling their minds with questions they will never find answers to.

One day, Sokoto was snoozing the day away in a cabin, while Autumn leaned against the tree and Madoka tucked her chin inside her legs. The two stared at the vast waters that reflected the sunset and pondered everything that was thrown in their faces last minute. What was with the overly vindictive response from the UN? Why did Chloe Chronicle show up on TV? What's up with the name in the locket? And how, in all probability, did they both come into contact with the renegade prior to their little adventure in Japan?!

ON TOP OF THE ASSLOAD OF OTHER QUESTIONS THEY HAD.

"Y'know...we could just leave him here...start a new life..." Madoka mused.

"Aren't we sorta trying to start a new life right now?" Autumn puzzled, "And where would we go, exactly?..."

"I dunno...anywhere..."

"We are wanted by the fucking UN...I don't see how wandering aimlessly would get us anywhere..."

"At least somewhere..." Madoka ran through her recent memories, "Squall's axed, Ichika's an asshole, Tabane's a walking bomb, and God knows what the Empress would give to have our heads on a silver platter..."

"And what's with Squall's last words?" So did Autumn, "Why do we have to go to London..."

"To get our asses kicked by Drill Braid Woman?"

"Hot damn..."

Through her reminiscing, Madoka caught thought of one particularly dreadful memory. The day before Laura and Lingyin sent her into exile, she took part in a family outing to a yen theater (everything's only one yen!). And they caught a rerun of Finding Nemo. She was captivated by a simplistic, yet powerful story of an overprotective father searching for his abducted son. It was the only enjoyable memory she shared with the Or-

"You're doing it again..." Autumn gave Madoka a Wet Willy.

"The fucker of all mothers, woman!" Madoka held her at swordpoint, "What's wrong with you?!"

"One: I'm still alive. Two: your little Just Keep Swimming chant."

"Ggg..." This trip has been nothing but stress for her. If only the renegade would've stayed out of their lives.

Wait, they would all be killed by now...

"I'm gonna go fish..." Madoka recalled her lance and stormed off towards the lake.

"First humans, then ISs, now fish?" Autumn quipped, deploying her Shinomure, "No wonder you lost to Chi-nee-WAZAYAK!" Blocked Madoka's Sonic Thrust.

"SHUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUUUP!" Madoka forced Autumn into a no-flight "practice bout."

Which she handily won one hour later.

"Ohhhhh...my everything hurts..." Autumn groaned.

"Let me take care of that," Madoka got ready to shove her sword into Autumn, but she was strapped with a Canceller last minute. She just picked up a couple twigs and chased her around.

Sokoto was already awake midway through the fight. He felt how much frustration they built up since they landed. He saw just what it could do. He knew he had to do something about it, but for the first time in a long time, he did not know what. This coming from the guy who was always thinking one step ahead and dragging everyone into a bigger mess than intended. As he watched Madoka and Autumn mismanaging their emotions, he wondered how much damage he really did to their psyches before he came across Silvia.

He whispered, "I see carnivores..."

Thankfully, dinner time was a lot more tame. Madoka and Autumn were covered in makeshift bandages, slowly eating Sokoto's Squirrelly Salad Special. It wasn't bad, but it certainly didn't do anything to lift Madoka's spirits. The Aurora Borealis seemed to have dazed Autumn into a dopey state.

"The hell is wrong with you?..." Madoka mumbled, "You want another stick up your ass?"

"No..." Autumn laid back with drool dripping out of her lazy smile and sleepy eyes, "I'm satisfied..."

"She's going to roll all over you, Anna..." Sokoto said.

"The fuck I am!" Madoka clopped one on his forehead.

"Oh, I wouldn't mind that one bit..." Autumn wagged a makeshift cat tail over the fire and into Madoka's nose. She noticed Madoka trying to swing her sword down, but wound up tearing a tendon in her armpit, making her sink in defeat. "Ha ha haaaa!" She taunted, "Better luck next time, NYAAdoka!"

"Shut up!" Madoka shouted, "I'll kill you next time!"

"Why ain't you kill me yet?"

"How should I know?! I don't have any of your idiot genes!"

"Oh, I'm gonna make us a comedy duo for sure!"

"Rrrrgg! I'll tear your tendons off towards the end of your ass cheeks!"

"If your BO don't do it first. Your shit STANKY!"

Sokoto left during their bickering and hiked up to the top of the hill. He wanted to see the Borealis dance across the night sky, in full view of the city and the starlight horizon. He stared at the lights, noticing how they changed color in tune with the arctic winds, shining each shade of the soul upon the city. He took it all in, unconsciously altering his own aura in tune with the dancing colors. It was five minutes until he noticed something glowing from his wrist. He was bewildered. Silvia shouldn't have been able to respond to him, or to anything. Then, he remembered what Silver showed him. When she was defeated, she put herself in Safe Mode until someone could reactivate her. But she did so willingly. Silvia was forced into hibernation. Even so, if an IS in standby mode responded to the Aurora Borealis...

He held his left wrist up and let his bracelet's glow pulse with the lights. And he started talking, "Hey...Silvia...Sorry it's been a long while, got...a lot of stuff I had to take care of...I don't usually do this, but I think we got some catching up to do... and, well, dunno if you were conscious during the whole shebang, so I'll just say it. The world is fucked. Ok, it is fucking fucked. We...me, Autumn, and Madoka, we buttfucked it all the way. And, I ran into Silver-Silverio Gospel, sorry, she's your younger sister who...sacrificed herself to save Autumn and Madoka. Dunno how ISs can come alive, but don't care. She came alive...to our rescue. That's all that matters. And as a result, Japan has been...exposed, so to say. Male prison camps, women taking men like rag dolls, the works. All on account of us being nosy assholes. Us being Phantom Task...what's left of Phantom Task...minus Squall. I ain't gonna let this go, Ponyboy...but, yeah. Squall's gone. Our mother is gone... and it looks like I gotta take over. I know, 16 years old, gonna father an 18-year brat and a 19 year old death bomb. But I... I know we're killers. I know we killed a lot of people, done some bad things...but I gotta do something. I been around the world more times than they have. If anything, and I just figured it out after I blew a gash in the world's most sacred pimple...I gotta redeem them. Redeem all of us. And the only way I can do that is by rebranding basically the only thing keeping us together. Phantom Task. Over fifty years has it been a terrorist organization. That's gotta change. We can't bring terror just for the heck of it anymore. We have to do something for the world, get it back on track. And god knows what crazy shit everyone else is up to. So, I can start rebranding...which means I gotta calm Nyanyan and Pothead over there. Whoa...they're at it again. We definitely cannot terrorize just for the sake of terror anymore." He showed his bracelet the fruits of his motor mouth. Honestly, it felt like he was watching a live action episode of Tom and Jerry, only it was Madoka and Autumn.

"Yeah...I got a lot of work to do. I hope you can help me calm these guys down...or at least talk to us someday. I miss you, Silvia. I know that that's saying a lot, considering I'm talking to a piece of jewelry, but... I really do miss you." And he hung up and...ahem...spin dashed down the hill, straight into Madoka's heiney. She slammed her face into a tree. Autumn looked back and laughed, only to be knocked down by a branch and hit the grass with spinning pupils.

"Pbbttt-D'AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!" Sokoto howled, "You two look like Grade-A whackamoles! What, you got your mother to decorate you into a Wookie?!"

For some reason, that really pissed them off. They immediately got up to their cat fighting stance and ran after him. With their ISs out of commission, they relied on their physical abilities and the forestry around them to bring him down.

They wasted the night on a fool's errand. By sunrise, all three were stretched out, lying in a triangle, completely exhausted, fighting their mistimed laughter to catch any possible breath. Well, Madoka and Autumn were. Sokoto was just chuckling. He couldn't believe how much the old scapegoat stratagem helped them let go. They were laughing so hard, their auras changed completely; they were warm and welcoming now. They all calmed down long enough to inhale and sigh in unison, then take one long minute of silence before Autumn said something.

"What's gotten into us?" she pondered.

"I dunno..." Sokoto said, "but I like it..."

"Well...we're near Canada...wanna go there next?"

"Yep. Then, I'm gonna trek across the USA again."

"Aren't we technically in America?" Autumn asked.

"This is just a satellite state, not a real one!" I take it back! Sokoto's the one who needs help! "I'm talking about the real American land, not some frosted ass excuse to get out of the 40s! Ain't that right, M?" Nothing. "Um...M?" He heard a gentle snore.

Madoka was sound asleep. More than that, she was smiling. She smiled for the first time since her childhood was taken away by her likeness to her two siblings. But apparently none of it made a difference to today.

"I'll watch her," Autumn wagged, "Why don't you go into town and get some supplies for the trip?"

"Ehh...sure..." Sokoto wasted no time in making his escape from the demon quarrel pair.

Inside the main street, he found a fashion outlet, a food and supplies market, and a gift shop, all of which were under mental siege from his previous exploits, which meant very small prices to prepare for the apocalypse, which meant three gigantic bags full of cheap crap. Although he went a little too in depth at the gift shop because of the knickknacks. He took a long breather at the center of the town, spreading his legs out to let the sweat escape.

"Oh, dickmoded...why'd I get all this crap..." he stubbed his toe trying to kick a backpack down. He hasn't eaten anything this morning, so he scanned his eyes for a possible eatery. There was one behind him, but it was a fisherwoman's pier, housing a group of people he never got along with. And he wasn't going to lug three miles just to eat a simple burger. He sucked up his pride and lugged the baggage into the pier.

And not two steps from the concierge did he begin to regret it. The waitress leered coldly, "Can I help you?"

"You have take out?"

"What do you think this is, a damn fast food muck?"

"If you don't want me to go in, then yeah."

The waitress looked behind her and back at his eyes. She was about to say something rude, but one look into his pupils instantly eradicated any ill will towards him.

"Uh...what?" He got uncomfortable, "What's with that look?"

She regained her senses and threw a tag at his face, "Fine. Just don't make a ruckus, got it?"

"Uh...huh..." he just walked right past her and went to the bar. Nearly every person out to eat turned their eyes to the tyke at the liquor area. He put on his earphones to block the aura sense and focus on the tv above him.

Tried to. "Hey, kid," the bartender snapped, "This is for adults."

"Tell the lady that gave this to me," he held up the tag. Bar, 5. Yep.

"Goddamn that..." was what she said before looking at his hair. "Aren't you that renegade kid everyone's talking about?"

He tensed up, "What? What are you going on about..."

"Relax, kid," she assured him, "I'm not gonna turn you in."

"Really?" He was genuinely surprised, "Why not?"

"Well, let's just say I'm not a fan of the way that I've been living."

"How come?" And he was interrupted by a-

"Ok, Grandma! I'm gonna go ho-" it's the waitress from before, "What the hell is he doing here?!"

"Oh, can it, Alyssa! He's not doing anything!"

"You don't know that! He made Japan go down the toilet!"

"Because they're keeping all the males in labor death camps."

"Absolute lie!" Alyssa stormed into Sokoto's face, "What did you do to those people, huh? What did they tell you about your stinking fatherhood?"

"That you melon heads ruined it?" Sokoto snapped back.

Alyssa thought about uppercutting him, but not only did his eyes turn deathly, but he positioned his leg against her stomach. She simply withdrew from the pier, but not before shouting, "It's you men that ruin everything! Why couldn't you just stay down?!"

"Wow..." Sokoto said, "What's got her panties bunched up?"

"A few days before the IS came out," the bartender gave him a glass of beer, "a group of thugs took her mother...my daughter...away. All because she butt in their drug dealings."

"What?" Sokoto DRANK THE THING NO PROBLEM! "What twisted concept do they see in that? I get beating her up, but kidnapping her? For what?"

"Retribution. She was a woman's rights activist. When she heard that the IS was females only, she went to gender rules activist. And she used those thugs as an excuse to demand that...ahem, "women be placed on to of the world," or some shit like that."

"And the thugs don't like when they're at the butt of that joke, huh?"

"Nope. They took her. They were going to take Alyssa too, but she managed to distract them with someone else to escape here. I been sheltering her since."

"Dang..." he said through his meal, "You think they could come here?"

"Nah, they wrote Alaska off as worthless. No point in going hunting in an empty iceberg, as they call it."

"Don't mind the small talk. But, still...I had no idea it got that bad."

"Well..." she gave him another glass, "Maybe if you could find out where they're keeping her and bring her back..."

"How? America's like 30 times larger than Japan. And Japan ain't no cakewalk."

"You found a way to expose the conspiracy about Rabbit Woman making a game of the world. I think this oughta be nothing."

"Heh, I'll buy it," Sokoto finished eating, "Thanks for the meal chat."

"My pleasure," the bartender took his plate and gave him a ticket, "Give that to Alyssa."

"Right," Sokoto nodded and lugged everything to the front, but he had an easier time doing it. Not because of the full tank, but because of the bewildered and ecstatic auras and looks he got from everyone inside. And Alyssa saw it all. She did not know he was the renegade until her grandmother said it. She didn't know whether to feel scared or angry. She froze when he gave her the ticket.

It was a coupon for a free meal, stamped to his receipt. He left before she could deliver her cold shoulder.

But that didn't stop her from giving the bartender the cold shoulder, "What did you tell him, Grandma?"

"Something that'll make you stop slouching around and start doing something," the bartender said bluntly.

"Why?! He won't help her! He won't do any favors for anyone!"

"Kinda like how you ignored my warning to stay away from the movement."

"Ugh! You...I just..."

"Look," she went up to her granddaughter and patted her shoulder, "I don't like it either, but he's our best chance of getting your mom back."

"We don't need him! We can just lure them over here and take them out!"

"One: they'll either leave her behind or kill her. Two: they have way more guns than we do. Three: can you use one of those IS things?" Her granddaughter clammed up and looked down, because they both know she scored a D- in the Compatibility Test. "Just trust him. He's the kind of guy to forget he ever had a life. He'll bring her back before long."

Alyssa really didn't like that choice of advice, but as it stood, she was indeed powerless. She came to terms with it and braced herself, "Does he even know what she looks like?"

"That's on you," the grandmother said as she saw more customers come in for lunch.

"God fucking dammit..." Alyssa muttered and clocked out.

Sokoto carried all that junk back to the cabin and dropped the bags. A giant thud rocked the cabin and jolted Madoka and Autumn off the couch and right at the doorway.

"Um...I'm back?" he said.

"Oh...welcome back..." Autumn sleepily muttered.

"I got the stuff from the town. Does that mean we can go now?"

"Sure," Autumn brushed herself off, "I'll commandeer something to drive. You get M ready."

Autumn ran out into town. Sokoto tiptoed over to the fireplace to gather the candles. One of them stood out from the rest, in that it was a regal blue tang candle. Oy vey...

He looked behind and saw Madoka sleeping upside down like a sloth, legs and arms spread out. He slowly reached for the candle-

"Trash it," Madoka suddenly spiked her grumpy aura and spooked him with two shield bits hovering above him, "NOW."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...hi..." Sokoto tipped the candle over and let it be, "You have a good nap?"

"I guess..." Madoka withdrew her bits and scratched her head, "Autumn said you got some things?"

"Yeah...we're going to Canada next, aren't we?"

"Yep..." Madoka stretched out, "Figured since we're all the way out here..."

"Wait, how are we gonna get from here to Canada? We can't just fly over..."

"Nah..." Madoka pointed to an empty freeway entrance, "They built that thing before we found you sand papered. No one uses it, on account of being pointless...but, what better way to use that money, huh?"

"I can think of some better uses," Sokoto smiled and veered his eyes back to the fish candle. Madoka redeployed her shield bits, but right before she could ram them into him, Autumn shredded the door.

"RENEGAAAAAAAAADE!"

"AAAAH! GODZILLA!" Sokoto screamed before whispering, "has entered her period."

"WHO...IS...THAT...WOMAN?!" Autumn panted, pointing to Alyssa of all people. Sokoto ran out to meet her like it ain't no thang. Which really ticked Autumn off, "And he just...why?!"

"They got our face all over the world," Madoka rubbed her eyes, "What did you think was gonna happen?" And after she said that, she saw them exchanging pictures, "Autumn. No. Don't even-"

"What're you doing out here?" Sokoto asked cautiously.

"Nothing that concerns you," Alyssa griped, "I'm here for them."

"They're..." Sokoto saw Autumn clawing at the door frame and Madoka trying to pull her back, "...busy...at the moment..."

"Fucking-alright, look," Alyssa shoved a picture in his chest, "Before the IS came out, my mother got snatched up by some thugs. I haven't heard from her since. Her name's Claire." She let go of him, "And that's all you'll get."

Sokoto stared intently at the picture. It showed a mother and daughter, yes, but something was off about their facial expressions. As if it physically hurt them to hug each other. He looked back up, "Couldn't hurt to show some gratitude, could it?"

"To you?" Alyssa rolled her eyes, "Please..."

"No, to your grandma."

"What are you talking about?" Alyssa protested, "I show gratitude to her all the-"

"Stop," Sokoto held his hand up to her eyes, "Your aura reeks of selfishness, regret, and the "I'd rather let my mom suffer than be rescued by those filthy dogs" vibe, lady."

"Ngh-" Alyssa couldn't get past that little number. She never wanted him to peer into her personal past, or her conflicting feelings. But her womanly instincts forced her to trust him with this mission, as well as every single secret that came with it. She turned her back to him, "Truck and keys are over there, full tank." And she ran away as fast as she could.

"Ok...I don't get it, but it looks like we're good to go!" Sokoto waved the keys to Madoka and Autumn.

Madoka crept out from the cabin, "Oh, good...then, gimme a hand with this love doll, will you?" She dragged the unconscious Autumn out, and the two stuffed her in the back, and used all the luggage to create a barricade.

-ONE HOUR LATER, ALASKA-YUKON CUSTOMS CHECKPOINT-

The most amazing thing happened.

"Hey, you're Phantom Task, aren't you?"

"Uh..."

"You guys are really popular among Canadian folk. You're like heroes to them."

"Ok, that was completely unintentional. We just found some weird looking-"

"Ok, I get it. Well, here's your papers. Everything's clear. Be careful around the Vancouver area."

"Right. Thanks."

Yes. The Canadian Customs General just let Phantom Task into Canada. With little question. Who can even? No one could even.

"So, we're heroes?" Madoka cringed at the very word, which has now lost all validity and credibility to her. Anyone who sputters the word has rendered their argument invalid by default.

"Just roll with it," Sokoto said, hands behind his head, feet at the dashboard, "You'll get used to it. Besides," he held up the picture, "As heroes, a whole new world has just opened for us. New quests, new roads, new allies, and a host of new enemies."

"This ain't a video game, kid..."

"Sure it is! And we're playing it like that one game where you only have one save file," he held up his bracelet, "So, Claire and Silvia need our help..." and he drifted his eyes toward the frozen frontier.

Madoka just looked at him like he got hurt. She couldn't help but feel concern for him, as if they knew that their lives would change irreversibly the instant their true mission begins. She did not notice her hand on his lap. But he did. And he accepted it. Because this journey will be as terrifying as it will be exciting. They'll need all the comfort they can get if their pit stop in Alaska was anything to go by.

Starting now. Because Sokoto sensed an aura, worse than all those he encountered in Japan put together...coming from behind them.

"REEEEEEEEENEEEEEEEEEGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADE..."