Chains Of Pride

Makoto ran all over, collecting Yang Min, Gin along with the additional Zutto Shu, and then coming back for Rikona to escort her to the lower levels, he was wiped out.

"Haah, hah, haaahh, I- whew…" Using this time to breath, Makoto's struggle with air and the clacking of the keyboard were the only sounds audible in the lower level.

Numani was using a solar powered laptop, something she built herself while she was on the run. It was powerful, up to date, and for Numani's needs extremely covert, though not enough to cover up what she did before.

"So how do we do this?" Rikona asked, looking a lot better earlier. The regenerative ability of an Avartel was no joke.

"Well these codes are not entered manually, honestly, each code is a 1,000 chararacter encrypted access key. You have to send over the code wirelessly for the collars to accept it. After that, the collars will unlock and the small node from the last appendage currently drilled into their heads with the explosive, will detach itself and fall out."

Numani explained to them the process on the surface, never taking her eyes off the screen. Nothing but codes could be seen appearing and disappearing on the screen. Attached to her laptop was a strange metal cube shaped device.

She managed to build it during her several 'visits' to the Association with Rikona. This device should be able to send the signal the collar was able to accept, which would result in the Taliums being freed from the Association's grip.

"Well, you have the floor Numani, do your thing." Rikona encouraged her.

"Ok!" Numani got everything ready and signaled to Rikona that she was all set.

Seeing this, Rikona erected another large barrier like the ones the Taliums were in, around herself and the entire group. She then dispelled the barrier around the Taliums, this way, no signals from the outside could penetrate while they carried out basic actions.

This was how they kept these inert beings fed all this time, among other things. A feat that was very appreciated by Rikona yet hated by the ones who did it.

Vvrrrrrrr.....!!!!

The device connected to the laptop started to emit a whirring sound as if it was starting up.

Rikona looked towards Gin, Yang Min and Zutto Shu advising them to get ready for any unexpected situations.

She and Makoto looked towards Numani's screen where a loading bar could be seen. When it finally capped off, the machine's sound calmed down significantly, leaving only a low almost quiet humming.

A window opened up where nothing but complex characters could be seen. On the screen, a specific one was selected after Numani scrutinised one of the collars, possibly for an identifying feature.

Everyone was nervous, sweat trickled down their faces and all else as they waited for the moment of truth. Especially yang Min, her small fists were balled up so tight that the knuckles had whitened.

The extremely long and complex code was fed to the machine whose humming droned up to a higher level. It remained like this for about 10 seconds before it retained its normal humming sound.

"I-Is that it?"

Tsssssshhhhhh…

Not long after Gin spoke, the collar around the neck of the closest Talium broke into pieces and fell off. The section where they separated released a vicious hissing sound while something like steam escaped from it, forming a small cloud that eventually dissipated in the air.

.

After this, a long thin appendage started to reel from the Talium's head with a whirring sound, the end of which held an extremely small metallic node. Most likely the explosive that would kill them should the collar be tampered with.

Numani wiped the sweat from her forehead as she sighed in relief, "Done."

"I can't believe it, it worked! It really worked!!!" Yang Min practically leapt up in joy at this. The faint rise and fall told them that the Talium was still alive even though the collar was removed.

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief, even Rikona couldn't help smiling when she saw this. The earlier disappointment was now offset by this positive state of affairs.

She thought to herself, "That's right, I still have others I need to lead, my sister is still alive and I need only get stronger to wake her up. I have not lost anything from this, instead, on this day I have gained much more."

Suddenly she looked to Yang Min, "Call Lerner down here, even though these things are coming out of their heads with no trouble, I want her to heal them ASAP. Something about a hole in the back of the head doesn't sit well with me."

"Yes Master Rikona" Yang Min didn't move from her spot, she only sent a telepathic message to the loli-sized doctor.

Rikona thought it so stupid that they didn't use this form of communication more frequently. It was faster than having to round up everyone by calling for a meeting at the top of their lungs, plus it was becoming more popular, especially with the increase in number of Geneses in this place.

It didn't take long for Lerner to arrive, Rikona did the same thing before as she told Lerner to stand as close to the barrier as possible. As she never wanted to leave this place open to the outside world in an attempt to stop any signals sent by the Association, she erected another barrier, and dispelled the older one beckong their little doctor to come closer.

Lerner was one of the few Taliums able to use her ability as a Genesis. Though it was incomparably weak, healing a wound such as a tiny hole did not pose much of a problem.

"Mhhm…"

Suddenly, one of the Taliums, specifically the that that had been freed and healed by Lerner first had awoken.

Rikona had rushed to his side to support him, holding him in her arms, Rikona injected a gentle stream of energy to get him to calm down. She remembered how this worked with Zutto Shu, Yang Min and other Taliums they had freed.

Rikona looked deeply in his eyes much like a mother to a child waiting for the hazy look to disappear as she asked in a gentle voice, "Are, are you okay, how do you feel?"

"...Hhm, wha… t-thank you, I-I, G-Gin is that you?" Staring wide eyed at Gin who was staring at the other Taliums being awakened, the newly awakened Talium nearly blurted out..

Turning his eyes to see who had called him, Gin evinced an expression of shock, "Nehone? [pronounced: nee-hone] Hokori Nehone is that you?!"