Looking at it a bit closer, he read what was on the chip. "Morgan One."
"What does that mean?" Karin asked, checking around for potential enemies.
"Basil Morgan was a weapon trafficker, Sebastian killed him but Morgan had already sealed his fate by allowing Ambroise Ler to collect an insane amount of datas on him. So now these abominations have my blood and Morgan's DNA. We're about to experience hell. Can Kenza reach another country?"
"We have secret firms here and there and extra field agents, but Shill Na Ter is uncharted for us, he sees our activity as illegal. Shouldn't be a problem, but it is because of his utter control over his territory. Any semblance of technology — which we use constantly — wouldn't be able to bypass his network. So we stick to other, more peaceful options. Like this one here."
"Right. Makes sense. I was thinking of attacking him directly. There has to be a way for us to calcinate him directly without leaving a trace, but the real issue here is to also kill Aeon, his ai. We have to get under his skin and make him use whatever horrifying assets he's got over there in his museum of horrors. The longer we survive, the more treacherous his ways to fight will be. And that's where we'll deliver an anonymous message to the Council of States, stating the crimes against humanity he has committed."
"That...was your plan?"
"Easy targets. The higher the brick wall the easier it is to make it collapse. All it takes is a push. Ambroise Ler has so many strong assets that it's now become the kind of target everybody wants to tear down the most. And I don't care if it's me or someone else, it would actually be even funnier if it was a normal person destroying his fake pseudo-empire, it would mean that he couldn't even get through to me in the first place, that he had enemies weaker than me that ended up being a bigger threat for him that he originally thought. I want him to scream my name in despair, a name I don't even use anymore. He's behind, despite all of his strategies he's far behind. Weakened by his ignorance in real time."
"Which country could want him dead except the silent killers of Sehang?"
"All of the normal civilians discretely selling weapons of war. It isn't an insane thought that some young men have weapons of mass destruction hidden somewhere in a basement, in fact it's a regular occurence, we just don't tend to think about it."
"Then why is he still alive?"
"Because he's paranoid. Completely out of his damn freaking mind. He's constantly calculating probabilities to ensure his safety. He simply struggles to survive so he can survive longer, his constant longevity is the price to pay to still be able to breathe despite not being able to sleep or feed himself normally. Implemanting an ai in your brain doesn't automatically save your life, it might actually greatly reduce your lifespan. Every positive attracts a negative, and by experience, only a middle ground allows you to keep it together."
"Not drown."
"Exactly."
"Have you ever drown in that way?"
"Spent my entire adult life suffocating. I don't remember the people I used to be with, not that this is a problem but..."
"It is. It should be. All main horrors come from inaction and mental illnesses. Any wound that goes untreated, physical, mental or spiritual leads to certain death. And there's nothing to brag about a heal or the ability to adapt. Life comes with baggage, and some of us can barely travel. I'll never see the light of day ever again. I know Awane wants us to stay until ten but I refuse to look at the sun."
"The sun did something to you?"
The smile on Nero's face quickly dissipated and was replaced with actual concern.
"I was just trying to be a comic relief. What happened to you?"
"Nothing too bad. It's just that the sun is this awful thing, everything that happens to me happens during daylight. I begged Awane to be hired in the nighttime unit and she accepted. I understand what you said earlier, it really is peaceful. I hate light, I hate the way it shows people who I am. You can lie about your own flaws and even put make-up on your identity when nobody's watching, the cool person you think you are is what you show to others. I feel protected in darkness. I don't know what you guys smoke to stare at the sun."
"I get it. On top of all mountains, at the highest top, I think I could fall asleep in its' embrace, it's warmth, but I sympathize with you, I really do."
"All things considered, this is quite the uneventful night. Damn, Awane really hates me or anybody for that matter sleeping on the job, but even though I slept already, I'm so exhausted. I could go for a quick slumber."
"You might need some sunlight after all...it's fine, I'm just joking."
"I know. I'm self-aware, I lack vitamins. I can still make up for it."
"You're collapsing. Just go for a twenty minute nap I'll wake you up. Here's my coat."
Nero positionned himself on top of her on one leg and on knee, rifle on the right hand, gun on the other.
"Nero...if my sleep schedule is unbalanced, Awane will lay me out or put me into daytime unit, tell her...tell her I want nighttime unit."
"I'll tell her", he assured her, headpatting her. "Just go for a while, I'm here."
Nero spent two hours protecting Karin sleeping like she hadn't close her eyes in days. He puts his gaze on the corpse of the creature that seemed to breathe.
"The belly closely ressembles a life signature. What could this possibly imply..."
Nero widened his eyes for a split second and grabbed Karin's body and left as fast as he physically could. The body exploded in acid, eating out at the roof's structure.
"If there was a bomb drowning in acid, there was a mic. You heard my little speech, didn't you, you damn rat? You absolute prime coward."