Chains Of Pride

"So let me see if I got this right. You and Makoto were doing the nasty in the river last night where everyone else goes to get clean. You then realised you were being watched by a half baked Talium peeping tom. Said half-baked peeping Tom says she needs help, after which you then proceeded to turn sideways and slap her with your d.i.c.k (showing your talium powers), to bring her here. Did I miss anything?"

It was only 11 in the morning and Kura was already regretting allowing Rikona to drag her out of bed to deal with this.

"I didn't slap anybody with my di- I don't even have one of those, ask Makoto, and we weren't doing the nasty, we only kissed." Rikona was trying to defend herself from Kura's perverted description of last night's proceedings.

Numani was still trapped in the sphere and was looking at the back and forth of the two sisters before saying, "It looked like more than a kiss to me too."

"You're not involved in this." Rikona quipped back.

"I'm feeling pretty involved," said their new captive looking around her temporary prison as she spoke.

"People focus! We were located by a half-baked Talium, which means the association can do the same. As far as I'm concerned, this location is no longer safe, and we need to move!"

Surprisingly, Makoto was the voice of reason this time around. He barely got any rest last night, because he was too tense to fall asleep.

This building may not be the best, but the location was secluded, guaranteed as such by one of his connections. These were people who never failed him yet, so this shook his confidence in them a bit.

Even though they were people in high places, it was good they didn't ask him too many questions, as they owed Makoto a lot.

"Who are you to call someone a half-baked Talium, when you're still in the dough form for as far as humans go." Yang Min let loose another barb in Makoto's direction, to which the latter couldn't be bothered to get in another back and forth with her.

"Yang Min, any other day I would have taken you on, but not today." She was about to respond once again, but when she saw his serious expression, she decided to keep quiet instead.

"Makoto's right, we need to deal with this accordingly, first off, let's have this Numani explain herself." Kura decided. They were in the meeting room once again, this would give them the privacy they needed.

In the room with them also was Zutto Shu and Gin. Of course, both of them were quiet, deciding to listen first before saying anything at all, or in Zutto Shu's case, to just listen.

When Numani saw everyone staring at her, she grew nervous. However, she was well aware that she needed their help, going it alone was no longer an option. So she took a deep breath and started to explain.

"I am Kyros Numani, my objective in locating you guys is to ask for help. I have been running from the association for a little over a year now. I have been able to evade them at every turn, but it's getting harder and harder as time went by."

"In the beginning, I went to the police....bad idea. At the time, I didn't know how far their influence spread. Of course, because of my talent, I was able to escape, but with no one to help. I turned to the one skill I had utilised that allowed me to put food on the table." When she spoke up to here, she lowered her head. As if ashamed of what she was about to say.

Rikona looked at her with a contemplative gaze before saying, "If you want our help, you need to tell us everything. Apart from one, every other Talium here were those who we managed to save from the association. There are only about 10 or so of us in total, excluding who you see in this room."

"I know! Your fights against the association were inspiring. You actually fought them head-on, not just once or twice, but several times! It's why I had to seek you out!" Numani had a smile plastered on her face as she spoke about this.

"How do you know about that?" Both sisters were surprised, even Makoto wasn't there for every one of their fights himself. Yet this girl was talking as if she was there for every single one of them.

When the question reached her ears, she quickly shut her mouth, but for only a moment. 'Sighs,' she composed herself and decided to continue, "I uh, uhm, m-might be a bit more competent with c-computers than the average person …" Her voice trailed off near the end.

"You're a hacker." It was Gin who spoke with this time. "And not just your run of the mill hacker either. You've been using your skills to steer clear of the association. To be able to do that on your own for over a year is no small feat."

"You seem to be attaching a lot of value to this Gin. Is it really that impressive?"After seeing his Gin's apparent shock, Rikono couldn't help but ask.

"More than just impressive, it's downright inconceivable! The number of security protocols she would need to go through to keep tabs on the same people hunting her down is staggering alone. Then she goes and monitors the fights heh, let me guess security cameras?" Gin asked, curious as to how she was able to witness the fights.

"Uhm, satellites actually, I've hacked a few to keep an eye on you guys. D-Don't worry, though! I-I made sure the feed only gets to me, so whoever the satellite belongs to could never see what I see." She quickly justified herself, not letting them think that more people knew about them.

"Satellites?! Okay, your skills must be otherworldly to pull that off in this age." Gin wasn't wrong, hacking in itself was not something so simple, to begin with. To take over satellites for her personal use was a skill that they sorely needed.

"Hacking is a crime, so you thought that would make us feel apprehensive or not accept you. Personally, I could care less about that, as far as I'm concerned, your skills are just about as necessary as anything else. With your level of expertise, I don't think the association will be able to find this place as easily as you did." Gin said, understanding her reticence.

"How can you already believe her? We need to be sure. What information on the association can you give us Numani?" It was Makoto who spoke up at this time.

Gin eyes darted to Makoto who just spoke, "Who are you to question me, human!? I don't even know why the sister's put up with yo-"

"GIN! Don't you got too far! We have already warned every single one of you, that with Makoto no disrespect is tolerated!" It was Kura who spoke up to this point. Rikona said nothing but stared daggers in his direction.

"Tch!" He said nothing else. He only turned on his heel and left the room with a slam of the door, signalling his retreat. He couldn't even get the attention of Lady Kura; instead, she got angry at him, and for a human no less.

Plus that same man somehow receives warmth from Lady Rikona! He found it hard to tolerate, having said human speak amongst them should have been enough of a gift.

Makoto had once faced backlash from the group of Taliums they were with. The massive difference in frequency made it hard for them to accept him. It was through the combined effort of the two sisters that they learned to tolerate him. However, Makoto didn't care, his goal was to help Kura and Rikona further their goals.

The reason why the sisters could love Makoto even now was because they learned to love and appreciate him before they had awakened. Additionally, his loyalty of helping them in their times of danger even after they were awakened, only cemented that love for him, human or Talium. For Taliums who awakened after, it would take quite some time.

"Uhm, I can give you information on the association's bases and their headquarters. I'm too weak by myself, so I couldn't do anything with the information." Seeing everyone in an awkward state, she took the chance to explain what she was able to offer.

Upon hearing this, not just the sisters, but all the eyes in the room shifted to Numani. Rikona walked up to her, dispelling the energy shield that was still up and grabbed Numani by the shoulders shaking her as she asked, "Did you just say you have vital information about the association we can use to effectively launch a counter-attack?"

"Y-Y-es …st-op s-shaking m-me." Rikona was a bit too overwhelmed by the news but quickly regained control of herself.

Everyone's face was filled with shock, "Tell you what, we're gonna take you for a spin. We'll take out a small base, as per your info. If you're legit, if you're truly on our side, then that help you've been looking for, you've got it."Kura looked at her thoughtfully as she spoke.

"Yang Min, Zutto Shu, gather the other Taliums, they may not be able to make Constructs like Kura and me, but the help they can render goes without saying. Let em know we'll be hitting back, hard and fast."

"Yes Master Amachi." Yang Min quickly bowed in her direction and promptly left to attend to her duties, followed by Zutto Shu.

"I'll be by your side so I can make a comprehensive plan as we go along," said Kura to Numani.

"Oh, o-okay, sure." Numani was glad to have one of the sisters with her and quickly followed Kura's lead in leaving the room.

Rikona nodded in Kura's direction as she was leaving, gently closing the door behind them as she departed.

"So I guess we got a hit back plan huh, you sure we can trust her?" Makoto asked while looking Rikona in the eyes.

She looked back at him, glad that Gin's attitude didn't affect him too much before she responded. "I didn't see any sign of her lying when she spoke, so I'll trust her for now. Looks like I finally got my stick, and oh, how long and prickly it is."