Elsewhere...
Smiling as she saw her three younger sisters come back into the base, Uno walked up to them while wiping her hands. Sometimes Jail's experiments were quite messy. Though why he decided he needed to see if he could make explosive paint, Uno would never figure out. "Welcome back."
"Un-nee!" Wendi squealed and glomped her older sister. "Your coaching worked so well! I almost didn't feel weird out there without my suit on." She then grinned as she grabbed her shirt. "I'm going to go put it on now!"
Uno, Dieci and Nove all sweat-dropped as Wendi ran out, stripping the whole way. "...I never thought someone would like the spandex so much." Uno shook her head and looked at the remaining two. "So, it went well then?"
Nove nodded at her. "Yeah... It was weird... Oh!" Her eyes widened as she reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a data strip. "Sein wanted you to look this over for her."
Taking it, Uno shrugged and pulled up a holographic terminal. "What? Sein's got some porn she wants to share with us to make Tre jealous?" As the video in the data strip played, Uno frowned softly. "Huh... Didn't know Sein was... Wait a second." If her eyes were any less sharp, she may have missed a minor, extremely minor hiccup in the recording. Then again, her I.S. and the equipment she was using was also a big help in that matter. "...This may take awhile... Nove, clean up Wendi's mess, and make sure that she's not harassing the twins again."
Nove nodded, wondering why Wendi was so... Excitable all the time.
Uno personally thought that Wendi just needed to get her own vibrator so she wouldn't pester everyone all the time.
Dieci was just glad that the drugs she was taking kept her emotions in check. "Excuse me..." She walked away, rubbing her arm the whole time.
Watching her leave, Nove sighed and looked at Uno. "Un-nee... My sisters... None of them are ever going to be able to live like they should, right?"
Uno looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "...I think you were around normal people too much, Nove..." The girl flushed and looked away, causing Uno to snort. "Yeah, out of all of us, only you and Sein have any chance at a normal life." Nove looked at her and blinked. "What? Due, Tre and myself are utterly loyal to Jail, Quattro wouldn't mix well with society, Cinque and Dieci are monsters if they lose their tempers, Otto, Deed, Wendi and Sette are part Dragon and have tempers on them... Well, Wendi doesn't, she's just too excitable. You think any of us have a chance to live a normal life even if we were given a chance?"
Nove just watched as Uno turned and walked away, working on the data strip that Sein had sent back. She really wanted to ask Uno what she meant, but the words just chilled her to the bone for some reason.
Looking at her hands, which were shaking, the short redhead balled them into fists and looked at them as she tried to stop them from shaking. "...Then I'll protect all of you. I'll make sure that you all get a chance to live a normal life."
Nove wouldn't abandon them. Even if Quattro was weird and gave off a weird vibe, she was still one of her sisters.
Running down the corridor, Nove narrowed her eyes, she had some practice to do... And she needed to make sure that her Revolver Gauntlet and Gun Knuckle were modified properly.
After all, she didn't think that the tomato juice it spewed out last time was supposed to smell that bad. 'Though, I don't recall asking for tomato juice for the Gun Knuckle.' She thought to herself.
(---)
Meanwhile...
"Come in." Regius blinked as Quint came through his door with a rather... Upset look on her face. "Nakajima..." He trailed off as she closed and locked the door behind her. "...What do you want to know?" As she walked closer to his desk, he realized that she was holding a folder that she threw onto his desk, which flipped open to reveal a certain report. "...The combat cyborg investigation? That was closed years ago."
"I know." Quint narrowed her eyes at him. "But I met someone today that makes me think that Subaru and Ginga weren't the only Combat Cyborgs out there. She looked too much like Subaru to be a coincidence." When Regius said nothing, Quint leaned forward on his desk, giving him an excellent view down her shirt, had he been looking at her chest rather than her eyes. "Tell me, Regius, that girl that injured myself, Zest and ended up killing Megane... Was she a combat cyborg?"
"You're treading into dangerous waters, Quint." Regius surprised her when he called her by her first name. "I can tell you a lot of stuff, but the question is, what will you do when you find out the truth?"
Quint was quiet, before her eyes widened and horror dawned on her. "...You knew, didn't you? You know all about it, don't you?"
"Yes." There was no more point in hiding it. Standing up, Regius turned away from her and looked out the window. "...Do you know of Jail Scagiletti?"
"The scientist who was involved in more than a dozen illegal schemes? What about him?"
"He was involved in Project F, laid the ground work that Precia Testarossa perfected." Regius said softly. "But that's not all he did... Under orders of the High Council," Regius turned his head to look at Quint, who was visibly pale at that moment, "under their orders, he was ordered to find a faster, more effective way to create artificial mages."
"But, the problem with that is that they're almost always failures somehow..." Quint could barely speak at that moment. "Project F was stated to be the most successful version of that, if the reports on Fate Testarossa's abilities are any indication."
"A few exceptions exist, but for the most part you're correct. However, the combat cyborg program... Your daughters were the first two..." He raised an eyebrow as she looked away. "Yes, well..." Regius didn't have to dig too deeply, he had a feeling that Quint had, shortly after finding out that she couldn't have children, done something to find a way to have some children some way and was disgusted by what the end result was. Of course, he couldn't prove it, and he didn't wish to ask, since it wasn't completely illegal to do something like that in the first place. "He also created several Combat Cyborgs, like your daughters, he started with cloning... But he revealed that he could create the Combat Cyborgs without cloning, by inducing invitro fertilization into a woman and they would be born naturally."
"...What... Regius, how do you..?"
"Quint," he narrowed his eyes at her, "I have a lot of dirty laundry and skeletons in my closet. I became so desperate to save Mid-Childa that I would have made a deal with the devil to accomplish my goal... If that meant breaking a few laws and having a criminal create an army of combat-capable individuals in under a decade, I would do so."
"...You asked... You..."
"Yes, I worked with Jail, providing him cover and supplies to create combat cyborgs... And I don't know how many he created. The last I heard, he had successfully created twelve, but not all were active."
Quint sat down and trembled. "...Why are you telling me this?"
"I could have kept it to myself, but the question is, what will you do now?" Regius turned to look out at Mid-Childa. "Certainly, you have enough dirt on me to have me thrown in prison for a long time, however, that Riot Force that I'm helping to create, which will undoubtedly come into contact with Jail at one point or another, may in fact fail if this information is leaked out to the public. After all, I might be using it to give Jail more materials that he could use to make more Combat Cyborgs."
"...What do you hope to gain with this?"
"Quint, I need someone who can make sure that if the Riot Force does, in fact, come into contact with Jail, that the group can prepare for the worst." He looked at her. "You and your daughters are more connected to Jail than anyone besides those who were made by Project F." When she looked like she was about to speak, he continued. "And I want someone I trust with this information, someone who won't draw suspicion if they're digging up highly classified information on the Combat Cyborgs." He walked over to the desk and opened a drawer before pulling out a folder and handing it to her. "These will be the people you will be working with."
"Regius... Why not Zest?"
"I trust him, I do, but he might draw suspicion my way." Regius leaned on the table and looked at Quint seriously. "The High Council and many other members of the Bureau aren't to be trusted, Quint. And I was one of them. I need you to trust me now, I need you to be my eyes and ears."
Quint nodded and took the folder before standing up and saluting him. "Yes, sir. But, may I ask one thing?" He nodded at her. "What are you hoping for?"
"I'm hoping that my gut feeling is wrong... That something bad isn't coming and that I'm paranoid, considering what's going on... I just don't trust anyone but you and Zest right now."
"Very well, sir, consider it done." She nodded at him and opened the folder, blinking at the first picture. "...Hayate Yagami?"
Regius nodded and turned away to look out the window again. "Quint... When this is over, you can do whatever you want with the information I gave you, including exposing me for criminal activity."
"If you did have Jail create more Combat Cyborgs, I don't know if I can stay mad at you." Quint closed the folder and headed to the door. "After all... I have another daughter out there now."