Byaku and Kazuma moved up the steps at a snails pace. The incident at the gate left them both slightly muted and unable to look at one another straight without feeling awkward about it.
"....Up the steps here and straight forward," Kazuma mumbled, though Byaku nodded to it anyway. During the first hour of their impromptu partnership, he had taken to stopping himself from making even a single whisper for fear of her hearing it. While her face had nothing obviously abnormal about it, he had a gut feeling that she had some advanced form of augmented hearing. The only way to keep things to himself was keeping quiet and thinking about it.
Byaku had been acting different ever since earlier. No longer did she point out every idle fancy that stroked her fancy or make random comments on things she was curious about. Hell, the only indication that she was still looking around was the fact that her stare lingered just a bit longer than normal on some of the objects they passed.
'Must be excited that she'll finally be free...' Kazuma gripped the pistol tightly like some sort of safety net, 'I just hope we can get to the research lab without any more problems. The last thing we need is that mechanical Frankenstein from earlier catching up to us and making more problems,'
"Hehehehehe~" The sound of giggling reached his ears and he gave her a short glance, finding her smiling gleefully at a butterfly she had cupped into her pale hands. She was made as a weapon, some kind of hybrid that could destroy with a simple thought. Why did she act so.....childlike? Was it a fault in her programming or something? Was she even programmed? He didn't know where the machinery started and the humanity ended.
One thing was for sure: She had abilities and things he could only imagine. The ability to fly with a simple thought. To be able to analyze and solve the worlds greatest enigma's simply within a few seconds. And the firepower to destroy cities in less than an hour. She had all these abilities and more, but whether she cared to acknowledge them or not was her choice.
"If we get the chance, you should get a change of clothes," He gave an uncomfortable glance at the torn dress she wore, "Your legs are exposed there and those boot things you're wearing look like they're really not good for running. I have a feeling we'll have to run alot soon."
"Sure," She gave him a small nod and continued to make smiley faces at the butterfly in her hands.
"Well, we're almost there," He pointed to the top of the steps. A large hanging poster was plastered on the wall with the face of some random American woman wielding an IS. At the bottom part of the poster were the words 'The pilot's are the future' emblazoned in giant gold letters underneath it.
"Vanity Fairbanks, current IS representative candidate," Byaku informed him, "Data files record that she's the younger sister of Former representative candidate, Natasha Fairbanks. At the young age of 17, she's shown to be better than most pilots above her age in both training and natural skills."
"Hmm..." Kazuma narrowed his eyes at the poster. He was pretty sure the Natasha Fairbanks was involved with deals with Phantom Task and the experimentation on the Silverio Gospel. Whether her sister knew anything about that was up in the air, but it was still as good a lead as any. Maybe he should find her after he got the data.
His traveling companion had evidently seen the odd way he was staring at the poster and got suspicious. While the clone didn't talk much unless it was necessary, his facial expressions had an odd way of marking his intentions.
"Kazuma, don't tell me you're planning to go after her?" Byaku narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him, "I know you're not going to listen to me, but I really don't think going after someone who's well protected and an idol to most of the masses is such a good idea. You're by yourself and no one will help you if your screw up.
And here came her odd instances of maturity. While she was mostly childlike and innocent when it came to things, she tended to speak and act differently whenever she was concerned or angry.
"Don't worry, I'm not planning anything," He neglected to say 'yet' at the end, "Let's just get to the research lab before-"
"Here you go, you sons of bitches!"
He didn't get to finish. Instinct immediately gripped him and he grabbed Byaky by the shoulders and pulled her down with him. Not a second later the feeling of intense heat and some kind of projectile soared over the two of them and hit the poster, dousing the crimson cloth in burning flame.
The one who threw the projectile was a male dressed in all red clothing. His features were obscured by the hat and handkerchief he wore on his face, but that didn't really matter since the molotov's he held in his hands were where most of the attention was focused on.
"Your homes are ours!" He threw another molotov, this time hitting a tree and sending it up in flames, "Your lives are ours!" Another throw, this time nearly hitting a running civilian, "Your wives are ours!" This time he actually did hit someone; an unlucky teen whose clothes caught on fire. He immediately started rolling on the floor to get rid of the flames, "It all belongs to the VOX!"
The effect was instantaneous. The few people who were walking around calmly had started to scramble around frantically, desperately looking for an escape from the attack. Kazuma held onto Byaku's arm tightly and dragged her forward, ignoring the loud cries all around him.
"What's happening?" Byaku held onto him tightly as she watched the ensuing chaos, "Where are these people going?"
"Wherever the Vox populii aren't," While his left hand was holding onto Byaku, his right hand was holding up the gun like his life depended on it. While they were brave when it came to harassing innocent civilians, they generally thought twice when it came to putting actual risk to themselves.
For the unaware: The Vox Populii/The voice of the people was a rebel organization formed to fight the oppression the new government placed on the people. However, while their goals were sound, their methods had eventually turned more and more depraved. Murders, rapes, thievery, and all other forms of illicit activities became commonplace for most members and leaders. While the general population hated the current regime, the Vox weren't exactly the saviors they called themselves.
At some point they changed their ideals from 'Everything should belong to everyone' to 'Everything should belong to us'. The old saying 'He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.' came to Kazuma's mind whenever he thought of them.
"Keep moving," He pulled her somewhat forcefully up the steps. All around him he could see people getting mugged and beaten, but he ignored them. There was nothing he could do for them without an weapons on him. Besides, they would live through it anyway. Death wasn't coming for them yet.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could make out the shape of a blimp. They were pretty common in the colony and were often used as weapons of intimidation and attack due to their high storage capacity. It was yet another reason for him not to get involved.
"What the hell is this, huh?" At the top of the stairs, they saw a Vox member push a well dressed man off the steps. Byaku flinched as she heard the sickening crack that resounded when the mans head his the pavement. "And what the hell's your problem, tough guy? You his friend or something."
Kazuma didn't say anything. When he made a threatening gesture, Kazuma held up the pilfered gun and shook it slowly. He seemed to get the gesture and backed off a few steps from them as they passed him.
Another few steps forward and they saw a man leaning on a bridge with his hands in the air. Not a second later, he jumped and was completely out of their sight.
"People are killing themselves on the street," Another well dressed man was tackled by a charging brute wearing all red, "This will make getting to the research lab harder."
"I...I could probably fly us across," Byaku commented meekly.
"No, that won't work. We'll just end up getting shot down if we do that. Best if we don't draw attention to ourselves and just try to-"
"Hey, little girl~!" The brute from earlier had evidently finished his beating and focused his attention on them. He gave the two of them, or rather Byaku, a disgusting leer and wide smile.
"Kazuma....." She got closer to him and tightened her grip on his shoulders.
"Listen friend, we don't want any trouble," He pointed the gun straight at his head as a sign of said words.
"Ha. Yeah, alright then," He gave Kazuma a sneer and the middle finger, but he still retreated nevertheless. The gun was working wonders for the both of them.
Both of them quickened their steps up the stairway till the sounds of screaming were left behind him.
"Lets stop for a few minutes," He gestured at an intact bench, "After this we'll be straight at the research lab."
"Alright," Byaku nodded at the suggestion and all but collapsed on the bench. With the way she was positioned, her chest and bare shoulders were heavily exposed. It was a good thing for him that they were programmed with a block that prevented arousal or sex drive. Technically the block was supposed to extend to emotions too, but that was a failure.
"Hey, about what you said at the shop-"
"Let's not discuss it-"
"No, we should," He gave her his full attention, "What did that thing do to you?"
"If he were to take me back. That's death Kazuma, or something so like it I can't tell the difference," She shivered at the memories, "I know you may think I'm not really alive, but I'm truly afraid of him. I've known him for years now."
".....Well, you won't have to worry anymore," He stood up from the seat and stretched, "Once we get to the research lab, they should be able to get you out of here and you'll be free." He gestured back to her, "Come on, we should go."
".....Yeah," She gave a small smile and followed after him.