Eevee Therapy for Little Magi Chapter 39: Weapons Old and New

“You seem better at ease recently. I think seeing your family has done you well,” Amelie remarked to her partner. Kiritsugu was looking out the window of their car as it rolled through the near-pastoral landscape, cutting over rivers and between low mountains. “Do you wish you could’ve stayed longer? I’m sure Looker could’ve given us a few more days.”

“I do. But I also want to ensure Team Flare won’t be a problem for them,” Kiritsugu admitted, his eyes entirely fixated on the road. “Besides, they also are on their journey. It would be a massive cultural faux pas to delay it even more.”

“Yeah, that’s the right read,” Elle said from the passenger’s seat. “I think your kids would’ve been alright with you sticking close to them, but most people would’ve been looking at us weird.” She checked the map as they approached a fork, briefly waving to direct Kerry towards the left. “And this is real work; something we can do while the League gets their act together.”

Kerry grunted. “Renault’s death is unfortunate, as were those riots in Castelia. Seems like it’s not just Flare causing trouble.”

“Not hardly. Rocket’s making a comeback in Nippon, I’ve heard rumors about Hoenn’s conservation groups militarizing, and there’s always domestic crime,” Elle sighed. “Following this lead is important, but it’s not something that needs a lot of firepower in the wings.” She paused. “Hopefully.”

“We should probably keep a few ACE trainers on standby in case it does,” Kiritsugu suggested, considering things. “While we aren’t expecting trouble, we have access to League resources. It would be a waste to not use them if needed.”

“...I can give my old ex a call,” Elle mused. “He’s a good guy, Psychic type specialist. He’d probably be willing to pop over just to hear about Hoopa.”

“Ex?” Amelie asked, a fae smile stretching across her face.

“Not a bad guy, just couldn’t handle long distance. We’re both too busy to interact with people who aren’t actually around.” Elle waved off the grin. “Yeah, I’ll call him. Not sure how soon he could get here, of course.”

Kiritsugu nodded as they turned towards Langres. “Well, we shouldn’t need him immediately, but the sooner we can get in contact, the better.” He casually banged on the roof. “Everyone alright up there?”

Frogadier curled their body so they could see into the passenger side window. “We are doing fine, the view is wonderful. No enemies sighted yet.”

“I’ve been staring into my flames, but beyond a vague feeling of danger, nothing,” Braixen reported, sounding a bit annoyed at that. “I’d recommend being careful as we enter the lab.”

“Yes ma’am!” Quilladin chirped. “What Lady Braixen said.”

“Stop it with the Knight LARP, brat. You know you aren’t required to do it, right?” The fox muttered, more fond than annoyed.

“Yeah, but it’s fun. Also, gotta prep for my next evolution,” the grass type said, Kiritsugu hearing him wiggle around on top of the car. “Hey, we’re all middle evolutions now. Wonder which one of us will evolve first?”

“Amelie or myself, likely,” Frogadier croaked. “We are both of an age for it.”

“Screw you, frog. I’m going to beat you there.” Braixen cried back competitively, Amelie helpfully providing an illusion of them glaring at each other, sparks erupting between their eyes like some kind of anime.

Kerry shot his partner a bit of attention, still not taking his eyes off the road. “...do they know you’ve only been keeping from evolving to stay shoulder sized?” he murmured to his first partner.

“...I don’t know what you’re talking about, and they definitely don’t know what you’re talking about.” Amelie responded impishly.

Elle finished texting and looked back up at the road. “Good news, bad news, and good news again. Good news is that he can join us for a while; there’s something he’s preparing for in a year or so, but this’ll be good practice. Bad news, he can’t come immediately. Good news again, he can get over here within an hour once he’s free from his current engagement.”

“He has a teleporter on call?” Kerry asked, raising one eyebrow.

“More than one.” Elle said as they started to pass more buildings. “He’ll have to do several teleports, though. He can get to Luminoise in one jump, but then will have to close in with shorter hops settlement to settlement.”

“That’s good news,” Kiritsugu agreed, eyes minutely widening as he looked at where they were. “We’re close. One more exit.”

“Alright. So, we’re going to meet with the Professor’s assistant, figure out why he never properly inventoried and locked down his lab, and work from there to figure out what else besides that Master Ball ended up being lost.” Elle said, straightening up and checking her watch. “Corruption is an old song, I suppose.”

Kiritsugu sighed. “Yes. Let’s hope he comes quietly.”

--(0)--

“I’m sorry, did you say Adrien has been missing for three years?” Elle shook her head, nearly spasming in confusion.

The mayor of Langres, an older woman with a pinched face, shook her head. “Not officially.” She sighed. “Monsieur Gallant was the Professor’s arms and legs during his waning years. But they had a very close relationship; I would say something akin to father and son, or perhaps uncle and nephew. From what I understand, the Professor in one of his more lucid moments asked Adrien to go into the wilds, searching for something before his faculties took a turn for the worst. Him being gone for a whole year was not unexpected.” Her lips thinned. “He was still gone when the Professor began hallucinating, and was still out of contact when he was remanded to care in Aquacorde.”

“I see,” Kerry frowned, with a significant look towards Elle, one which the Interpol agent returned. “How long has it been since Monsieur Gallant has contacted anyone, Mayor Francine?”

“Too long, at least twenty months. You would need to ask the lab aides to be certain, but he has not reached out to anyone here in that time,” she said tightly. “He was a private man, but they have not told anyone if he has been in contact.”

“The aides? I thought the professor had only one assistant?” Elle asked.

“One Assistant, yes. But it takes more than just two people to run a lab the size of Ruscus’. He had five aides, people who helped with the research, cleaning, pokemon care– the usual,” she explained. “Not registered to go out and act in his stead, but employees, non?”

 Kiritsugu nodded. “If that’s the case, are any of those aides still keeping up with the property?”

“I know the caretaker, the secretary, and one of the researchers have left. Mme Ludvilla left town after her paycheck stopped being paid, and both Mssr Douglas and Mssr Adolph moved on to other employment; I believe they bought a ranch together with their savings,” Francine explained. “The other researchers are still visiting the lab regularly, though both work odd jobs in their spare time.” She smiled. “It is wonderful to see such loyalty.”

“I see. Is there any other information you believe would be useful, Mayor Francine?” Elle asked, jotting down a note and flashing it to Kiritsugu. Assistant likely murdered. Aides who retired may have been encouraged to do so. Aides that remain are likely Flare plants.

Kiritsugu gave a tiny nod. “We’d like to interview all the aides, if possible. Who is left working at the lab?”

“Mme Melanie Reale, and Mssr Jean Ferdon. I don’t have their numbers, but both of them visit the lab at least twice a week. They both typically meet there on Saturdays, so they should be there today, in fact!” The mayor beamed.

Kiritsugu stood with a clipped smile. “Thank you for your time, madame. We won’t waste any more of it.”

“Pas de probleme, young man.” She said in response, standing to clasp his hands. “I can see about getting you the address of the other gentlemen still local. It is good the league is finally trying to find Gallant, he may have been a quiet man, but he’s still one of us.”

Elle accepted the shake as the mayor moved to her. “We will keep you informed on whatever we find, madame. You have been a great help.” She shook the hand firmly. The moment the Mayor saw them out the door, her face dropped like a rock. “This is beyond my expectations,” she muttered lowly. “I was expecting one person pawning things to the black market, not what seems to be a conspiracy.”

“The League didn’t know any of this, or at least, we didn’t see any of it when the records were checked,” Haboo added, melting out of her shadow. “We should have known Gallant was off on Journey, the aides should’ve shuttered the lab without the Professor active.” Their tread on the ground was finger-light. “Did Flare muddle the sand with the league?”

“The Mayor isn’t in on anything,” Amelie said, popping back onto Kerry’s shoulder. “She feels… simple? Worried, but it’s small. Like nothing can really be wrong.”

“Naive,” Kiritsugu replied as he opened the door to his car, “Naive is the word you’re looking for, Amelie. Braixen, do you have a more specific lock on that sense of danger now that we have more information?”

“Yes. It’s most certainly in reference to this conspiracy,” the fox replied instantly as she emerged from her ball, before holding up a paw. “But I should gaze into my flame for a while to make sure I am correct on that. Please, do not disturb me while I do so. I will begin now, on the roof.”

For a few minutes, she meditated, the flame on her branch burning gold while they waited. Finally, her eyes sprung open. “There is definitely a fight in our near future, one which will quickly escalate. I sense… two opponents, perhaps three?” She shook her head. “Beyond that, I’m uncertain. It may come down to what we do.”

Kerry nodded, climbing back into the driver’s seat. “Is your friend–”

“Still on his way,” Elle murmured. “But I don’t think we can afford to wait, word we’re here will get around as soon as the mayor starts talking to people,” she said as she slid into the passenger’s seat.

“Okay then. Let’s go.”  Kerry started the car, rolling out of the parking lot and towards the edge of town.

A few minutes later they’d come up upon a wide building, two stories in one part and a single story in the others. The grass out and around the building was high enough to hide ankles, but not enough to reach their waists, and the paddocks for Pokemon were empty and overgrown. The gate was open, and two cars sat in the small parking lot out front, along with a rusty van with bulging tires.

Rolling into a parking space, Kiritsugu shut off the engine and climbed out, returning his team to their balls. Elle emerged from the passenger seat and let Haboo slip into her shadow, both of them looking around the dilapidated space with assessing eyes. Elle spoke first. “...well, if there’s a trap, it’s not an obvious one. There’s no welcoming crew here.”

“They’d be inside,” Kerry stated immediately. “Better kill zones.”

“Mm.” She looked over at Amelie. “Anything?”

“Two human minds, and a half-dozen pokemon.” The Kirlia shrugged. “I’m not sensing any worry or aggression right now.”

Kiritsugu nodded, walking towards the doors. “I suppose we’ll find out if that’ll stay the case.” He reached the doors and gave them a rattle, the wooden slab remaining closed. “Locked.” He eyed the nearby intercom and keypad combo, then looked at the lock on the door. “Call in, or break in? I have lockpicks if need be.”

Elle sighed, producing her Interpol Agent badge. “That’s a league standard reader, should accept my override.” She passed the badge over the reader, frowning as it beeped shrilly. “...or not. I think that did trigger a bell of some sort, though.”

“... Elle, you’re covering me now. We’ll take them alive.” Kerry sighed, having reached out too late to stop the Interpol agent from making the mistake she’d just made. Pulling out a brick of explosives from his coat, the former assassin expertly prepared the door for breaching, then, with a nod to himself, blew the door.

The lock busted off, and Kiritsugu entered with a bang, drawing his sidearm to point down the exposed hallway, just as a young woman with strawberry blonde hair emerged from a lab. She immediately screamed, raising both her hands. “AHHH!”

“Melanie?” came a voice from deeper in the building. A young man with black hair emerged from an office further down, Pokeball in hand. “Hey! What the hell are you doing?” he yelled at Kiritsugu.

“Put the Pokeball down,” Kerry ordered calmly, weapon already drawn towards the man with the live weapon in hand. “This is an Interpol Raid. Please don’t make my job harder by resisting.”

“You should probably listen to him.” Amelie added darkly, ready to forcibly remove the Pokeball from the man’s hand if he made a move to release the Pokemon within. “My trainer is a firm believer that kneecaps are a privilege, not a right.”

“Interpol?” The man, likely Jean Ferdon, scowled. “Badge, then.”

Elle snapped her badge out, revealing it to both people. “We’re here investigating the sale of restricted materials on the black market. Please stand down.”

Jean’s scowl intensified, before he let his arm fall and the ball returned to his belt. “Great, people are missing for years and now Interpol shows up and breaks our fucking door,” he swore.

“Jean, not the time,” Melanie snapped. Turning back to the two agents, she gave a tight smile. “I wish you had called ahead, but we will cooperate. Let me turn off the experiment I was running, and we can talk. Oui?”

“No,” Kerry and Elle replied in tandem. “You’ve already violated league rules by modifying the external scanner,” Elle continued, nodding towards Haboo, the Moureion leaping into the shadows to go scout ahead, “Hands up. On the floor. We are going to secure you, and leave a pair of our Pokemon to guard you while we inspect this facility.”

“Wait–” Melanie started out before Jean groaned, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her to the ground. “Jean!”

“We don’t have anything to hide, and it doesn’t do us any good to argue.” He jerked his head towards one of the labs. “When you head in there, turn off the shield generators, they might fail if they run too long without adjustment.” He groaned. “Fucking hell, what happened to make you so pissed?”

Elle moved over, producing two pairs of cuffs. Loosely securing both of their arms behind their backs and sending out Houndoom and Ampharos to watch the labbies, she spoke quietly. “Master balls in terrorist hands. At least one, and there were supposed to be three secured here, then returned to the league. Don’t strain against them,” she warned.

Kiritsugu ducked into the hot lab, eyeing the odd projector firing a pulse of blue energy at a backstop, before hitting the red ‘emergency shutoff’ button. Behind him, he could hear rising protests from both of the aides. Kiritsugu looked on his shoulder, Amelie peering back at them with furrowed brows. “Well, getting anything from them?”

“A bit of guilt from Mr. Jean, but not sharp guilt, if that’s any help. He’s more angry, frustrated, and just kinda grumpy. Melanie is more afraid, though it’s tempered with… resolve? Not sure what to make of that.” She reached up and rubbed the base of one of her horns. “I’d need to be a lot more obvious if I was going to read their minds. It’s not something I’m great at, anyway.”

Pulling a pokeball from his belt, Kiritsugu tossed out Braixen’s ball. “Braixen, what do you think?”

“The sense of danger is intensifying.” She hummed, pulling out her stick and lighting it, “Buy me about five minutes and I can probably get an exact fix. But I doubt we’ll need to. I am almost certain that this Melanie is one of our Flare plants.”

“Melanie?” Kiritsugu murmured, peering back into the hallway, where the two aides were still talking with Elle. “I’d have…” He paused, back straightening as he shook off his first impression and actually thought about her reaction, “... No, she tried to get time alone, to set us at ease. That makes sense. I agree, Braixen. Good work, I would have missed it without you saying something.”

“No fear, either. Like there’s something she knows that no one else does,” Braixen growled. “We felt it all the time back at our prison. This sense that, no matter what… they were safe, or at least beyond reach.” She paused, then shuddered as her ears shot up. “Teleport signature! Incoming!”

“Elle! Prep for combat!” Kerry roared, throwing out the Pokeballs for Quilladin and Frogadier, “Quilladin, move to support and defend Braixen and Amelie as they suppress their Pokemon. Frogadier, knock out our captives and ensure they aren’t liquidated!” In the same movement, he pulled out one of his holdout weapons, grimacing as two well-dressed Flare grunts popped into the corridor, immediately being driven back by Elle’s team and Frogadier. As he turned to head into the hallway, another teleport triggered right in front of him, a single figure appearing.

Dark dress swishing, the Contessa sighed. “Monsieur Emiya.” She took a step to one side as he snapped his gun up, a Mismagius rising from her shadow to pop a portal to intercept his bullets. “Pardon moi, but I was really hoping you were still on vacation.”

Melanie lurched upright before Braixen could hypnotize her. “Madame, you came!” She said, awe and reverence coloring her voice.

“Of course, my dear.” The Contessa scowled as an Alakazam popped into existence, only stopped from reaching the bound aide by Houndoom’s snapping bite. “I wish it were someone else here, Mr. Emiya; otherwise I would just take her and go. But with you here, I must try to claim your life before departing.”

“Take it if you can,” he growled, eyes flashing in rage for the first time in a while. They knew he’d been on vacation. Someone had leaked. He’d be cleaning that up later. No more words were exchanged. Without hesitation, he began firing, pulling his Thompson Contender from the holster he had kept it in since the fateful day he had been brought to this world.

Contessa grimaced as Kerry’s standard bullets pinged off a barrier, Alakazam shifting to covering her with a shield. She drew a sidearm of her own, firing back as her Furfou, Goodra, and Florges tried to battle against Elle’s team. The elegant woman smiled as Kiritsugu’s sidearm clicked empty, raising her own pistol and firing as he dodged. “I won’t give you time to reload, assassin.”

Kiritsugu raised his Thompson in response, sighting down and pulling the trigger as he aimed for the center of mass. The moment his gun came up, Alakazam jerked, swiveling rapidly towards his mistress, then teleported in to grab her, just in time to draw her away from the collapse of his barriers, the Origin Round parting the reflect shields like paper.

Contessa seemed shocked. “What– Gabriel!” She shrieked as the psychic type collapsed, convulsing as his own powers turned on him from the bullet’s effects. Everyone stopped as he spasmed, Contessa looking up with a stricken expression. “What did you do to him?”

“Fought back,” Kiritsugu muttered, face pinched. He didn’t like using the Rounds– it was a cruel way to kill. But undeniably effective. He slid a fresh magazine into his standard pistol at triple speed, then raised it towards the woman, only for Mismagius to grab her mistress and drag her into the shadows, beams of light catching all of her Pokemon as they fled. Melanie watched in horror as her escape was pulled clear.

One of the Flare grunts blinked from the floor, Frogadier sitting on his chest. “...um. Weren’t we supposed to leave with her before the bomb went off?”

“Frogadier, Quilladin, Braixen, spread out and search for any explosive devices,” Kiritsugu barked towards all but Amelie, moving over towards the grunts. “You have ten seconds to tell us exactly where that bomb is before I have a psychic rip it out of your mind.”

The grunts glanced at each other, desperate confusion evident, before Melanie screamed from her spot on the floor. “On the generator in the basement! The lab is off the grid, we use a type-reactant generator, and there’s a bomb on the pressure chamber!” She struggled against the hound holding her down. “I don’t want to die!”

“Elle, I’ll handle the bomb,” Kiritsugu barked. “Amelie, with me. Prep to teleport the bomb into orbit.”

“My range does not extend that far. Let’s hope you can disarm it,” Amelie said as they sped up, Kiritsugu darted around the corner and reached the stairs within seconds, not even bothering to use them as he leapt to the bottom in one go. Dodging around the boxes and shelving units, the two reached the obvious generator with time to spare, Kiritsugu taking a page from his son’s book and quickly using Structural Grasping to find the book-sized explosive. Eyeing the device, Kiritsugu simply ripped the detonator off the brick of explosive putty, sighing with relief.

Amelie looked around, head tilting. “Did this seem too easy to you? Three people and one bomb doesn’t seem like enough against what we’re capable of.”

“That’d be on me!” Both of them turned, gun coming up and psychic power igniting as they faced a man with short purple hair, hands raised. “Whoa there, I’m here because Elle called me in. Maekawa Will, at your service, here to block reinforcements and prevent ambushes.” The man gave a bow, a slight tightness in his movement the only visible response to the gun still trained on him.

“You interdicted them?” Kiritsugu asked, lowering his weapon but not holstering it quite yet. After all, he wasn’t entirely sure this man was who he said he was.

“Yeah. Three additional teleport rounds before someone wised up,” Will sighed. “They were good enough not to get caught in a redirect, but not good enough to break through before they gave up.” His expression turned serious. “When Elle told me she was handling something serious, I wasn’t expecting bombs and guns. Should’ve known she wouldn't be kidding when she said this was as bad as Cipher.” He crossed his arms, looking Kiritsugu up and down. “At least you seem seasoned. Better backup than I was, probably.”

“Flare started this by attacking the hospital that was graciously treating me for curse damage,” Kerry explained, nodding towards Will. “I intend to finish it.”

“...yeah, that sounds bad.” Will clapped his hands. “So, I can’t be here all the time; I’m not getting paid, and I’ve found getting shot at is very bad for my mental health. But you seem like you need psychic support, and I can deliver. Also, I’ve sent Xatu to let the league know you guys need a transport and an interrogator,” he finished, clapping his hands.

“...you are a very flamboyant man.” Amelie managed.

“Coping mechanism,” he replied frankly. “Also, you are a cute one, and do you have a little brother or sister I could recruit? Never did find a Ralts who wanted to come along with me, they’re often reclusive.”

“I have a few younger siblings, but as far as I’m aware, none are looking for a trainer. I can write you an introduction to one of the psychic enclaves near Lumiose, though,”  Amelie replied instantly, curtsying towards her fellow psychic. “If nothing else, many will find your mastery of your own psychic powers of interest.”

“More than I could’ve hoped for,” Will said. “Now then, I assume you will want to hear the interrogation? This will be messy, I suspect.”

--(0)--

“...and it wasn’t until after a few months passed that I realized they’d killed Adrien,” Melanie said with a sigh. “It was… disheartening. In the extreme, in fact. Sacrifices, yes, I understand, but to kill someone who was just trying to do his job?” There was old grief there. “I raged at the man who was my handler, then. It was la Contessa who comforted me, after.” Her face went gentle. “She’s a wonderful person, I can barely understand why she works with the brutes who have hitched themselves to Flare’s coattails.”

Kiritisugu watched through the camera as the interrogator leaned forward. “And Flare’s goals? Why did they come to the lab in the first place, you’ve not said.”

“Ruscus was not always the man I knew. He once made weapons for the military, yes? For the Great War. And though he swore never again to make weapons, there were so many ideas he developed which could be used as such. So many techniques, and of course, his studies of the old weapons. From the First War.” Melanie explained. “That first man, Gaston, presented himself as wanting to see those old notes, study them. Jean would have none of it, but he was persuasive. But it wasn’t enough to see the old notes, he wanted samples, items from the lab. Which Adrien would’ve spotted.”

“So they killed him,” Kiritsugu muttered to himself, shaking his head at the justifications the woman was providing for her actions. Pathetic, but expected.

“Seems like they eased her into it, slowly bringing her around to their way of thinking,” Elle said. “Dunno if Contessa was their ‘friendly face’ or if her presentation was genuine; most of the time they’d break down the patsy more, not show friction in the ranks like that,” she commented. “Either way, Melanie is… complicit in a lot. Grand theft, at least, possibly accessory to murder.”

“Prison it is." Kiritsugu stated uncaringly. “She made her choice.”

“I’m not protesting. It’s just good to remember that not everyone involved in groups like this are so evil and arrogant to want some world altering disasterm” Elle replied sadly. “Even in Cipher, there were people who just wanted to provide for their families. It doesn’t excuse what they do, though.”

Kiritsugu tightened his lips, turning back to the camera feed as Melanie spoke again. “...Contessa told me that the results of their plan were… extreme. She said there was debate among the upper echelons, about what they would do when they found the Ultimate Weapon. If it even still existed.”

“Hold on, are you speaking of the weapon which was said to have ended the First War, three thousand years ago?” The interrogator asked.

“Yes. That’s what they’re still seeking, even nowm” Melanie responded. “Contessa said some of Flare’s leaders want to use the weapon to force the world to bow, and make it better. Some want to use it for immortality, like the ancient king did for his partner and himself. And some want to use it to wipe away the stains of the world.”

Kiritsugu sighed behind the glass. “...another apocalypse cult? Let’s hope this one doesn’t have vampire backing,” he groaned.

Elle paused, tilting her head. “You did mention those dead apostles once. Or twice.” She looked back at the screen. “The Ultimate Weapon… that’s supposed to be just an old legend.”

“You’re not going to tell me not to believe in it, are you?” Kirtisugu asked rhetorically.

“No. We both know better than that. I just wonder what it’s really capable of.” She pursed her lips. “The professor’s weapon research might be what they’d need to reactivate it, but I wonder what the cost would be to use it? The legends say it had a ‘great cost’, which was one of the reasons why the King lost his partner and abandoned the throne after its use.”

“We’ll have to look into it,” Kiritsugu stated firmly. “Starting by having Interpol sweep the entire lab.”

“Already on it. They got there minutes after we left with the prisoners.” Elle looked back into the cell. “This went a lot smoother than it could have. But this is evidence Flare’s been working on its master plan for years. We’ve got an uphill battle taking them down before they get desperate enough to employing extreme measures to complete their plans more quickly. I know the type.”

Kirtisgugu nodded, frowning slightly. “Considering what they’ve already done, whatever’s worse will likely be catastrophic. We need to be prepared for anything.”

--(0)--

“Well, Xerosic? I have one of my best agents down her most flexible team member, and she’s not going to go into battle against the assassin without knowing why an Alakazam suffered a stroke.” Lysandre entered his chief science officer’s lab in a swirl of fancy coat and flapping scarf.

Xerosic looked up from his microscope scanner, pulling his glasses back down over his eyes. “Sir, I’m still analyzing the bullet we removed from her partner, but I can already tell its mechanics are outside my bailiwick.” He motioned to a screen, the device lighting up with a material composition. “So far, all I can discover is that it’s made of bone. Human bone, of all things, and treated with several exotic compounds.”

“Magic, then,” Lysandre grunted, grimacing at the very thought. “A very putrid and disgusting form of magic.”

“Likely. We will need the help of a mage to analyze it fully. For now, all I can say is that it forced a feedback effect on her Alakazam, causing him to suffer the equivalent of a major stroke. There may be more to it than that, but so far I cannot say more.” He looked over at the computer. “However, based on the effects, I can say that normal armor may provide protection, as might fully technological barriers.”

“See about setting some of your underlings to design such,” Lysandre ordered immediately. “Countermeasures to such a tool will be important in the future. Damn that interfering man.”

“Yes sir.” Xerosic looked in the corner, where their pawn sat unmoving, his suit holding him in place. “I’ll see about refitting EXS to handle the impact. He’s proven to be a good counter in the past.”

“Do that. Today was no great loss; but it proves once again that we are facing a truly evil man. Our efforts must not fail to stop him,” Lysandre instructed, before turning and walking from the room. “For a perfect world.”

“For a perfect world,” Xerosic echoed, turning back to his computer. He didn’t see his creation twitch, a flash of violent intent entering his eyes before they smoothed out once again.