Welcome to Gaia! ::

Kai frowned in confusion, looking at Kia's back as she apparently crouched over someone to help them. His frown turned to a snarl as he saw who was in front of the brunette.

"Fayina" He hissed, his eyes narrowing to slits. "What's she doing here?"

Fayina, oblivious to the arrival of the newcomers looked at Kia once more. "Do you know why?" She asked before her eyes rolled back in her head and the little girl fell forwards in a dead faint.

~

Kai walked into the room Tala had opened and looked around dismally at the sparse furnishings it had to offer. "Nice place." He said sarcastically, taking in the two single beds pushed into opposite corners of the room like an afterthought.

"Next time I get abducted remind me to be in a five star resort." He told Tala with a smirk, crossing his arms. "Where it's summer"

Brooklyn rolled his eyes. "Stop complaining." He told the bluenette. "At least we're safe."

"For how long?"

~

"I thought that too until she walked through the doors." Sonia told the techs seriously. She looked up at Boris. "She had four others with her. Some of them had sacred spirits in their possession."

Boris blinked again and slowly sat down in his chair. "Kia's alive?" He asked quietly.

Sonia sighed. "Yes, Kia is alive. I left her in room sub43A1- that's if she hasn't moved." She looked at the tech in charge of the surveillance. "Don't bother looking for that room- the camera hasn't worked in there for years It was never updated when the new system was put in." She shrugged. "They chose it before I could get to them."

"Kia's alive..." Boris said again faintly.

Sonia's eyes narrowed. "Yes, Sir, Kia is alive. Can we focus for a second?"

~

-Flashback-

Rei looked on jealously as his best friend looked nervously up at the head of their village.

"Do you swear to always respect and honour the great power of the Drigger? To use it in the best interests of the village? To use it to protect your people even if it means giving up your own life?" The elder asked solemnly.

Lee nodded before stopping, figuring he should probably voice what he was thinking. "Yes, Sir." He said in a voice which, to his credit only trembled slightly.

"Do you understand the great responsibility we're giving you, Lee?" The head asked, looking directly at the young boy. "It's not something that you can take on lightly."

"I... understand." Lee said quietly, reaching out to take the small disk containing Drigger's spirit, claiming the tiger as his own.

The village was attacked the next day.

((*faints from size of post* HOLY POO ON A STICK))

Kai stepped out from behind the gaggle of Mariah's followers. "Kai's here." He told Kia, pointedly ignoring Fayina. "He's also wondering why you're so willing to forgive that brat"

"He's also talking in third person." Someone in the crowd mumbled under his breath to the person standing beside him, earning a snicker.

Kai chose to ignore the voice, instead looking around the room, trying to find someone. "Where am I?" He asked, looking through the crowds. He's eyes widened briefly as he realised how idiotic that sounded.

"I mean," He said, focussing back on Kia. "Do you know where the other Kai is?" He looked down at Fayina disdainfully. "If she's here the other me must be here somewhere. He wouldn't have left her alone."

~

Brooklyn sighed as he was put down and shut his eyes, wriggling around on the bed Bryan had placed him on, trying to get comfortable.

It was difficult. The bed had obviously been made in the stone age. With Stones. Brooklyn kept his eyes closed, determined to get as much sleep as the bed would allow him.

Kai looked around the room, noticing a small line next to the doorway. He studied it carefully before blinking as he realised what it was.

The bluenette walked toward the imperfection in the wall and ran his hand along it, applying slight pressure to it and taking his hand away.

The small cupboard opened smoothly.

"Blankets." Kai said with a degree of satisfaction in his voice as he surveyed the contents of the cupboard. "They don't look very thick but they're better than nothing."

He reached toward them before stopping, a frown on his face. "Why would Biovolt have a place for blankets on a room like this? It doesn't seem like the place you put people when you care about how comfortable they are."

~

Boris blinked as he realised where he was. He couldn't afford to show weakness in front of these people. "Are you sure it was Kia?" He asked, frowning in an attempt to hide the fact that he still hadn't quite got the gist of Kia's sudden revival.

Sonia nodded. "It was her- apparently she never actually died. It was a setup."

"But I watched it." Boris told the blonde. "I saw her die with my own eyes."

"With your own eyes or on camera?" Sonia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"..."

"I thought it would be obvious by now that quite a few of the members of the resistance have insider knowledge about the camera system."

She looked around at the people in the control room. "Though, I can safely say that no on here is part of the movement- we still have some cameras that can only be accessed through these terminals. The resistance doesn't know of their existence."

Sonia looked at each person in turn meaningfully, "Let's keep it that way- ok?" She said sweetly.

Boris ran a hand through his hair, trying to process everything that he'd just heard. "If Kia's back does that mean they're planning an attack sooner rather than later?"

"Looks like it." Sonia answered seriously.

~

Rei ran through the corridors, going to the only place he could think Boris would be. He had to tell the elder about Lee. Maybe if he did that then this entire nightmare would be over.

Rei found the door of the main control centre and reached toward the intercom, his finger pausing above the button as he considered what he had to say.

"This is Rei Kon, Special Forces division 8 ID number 82635488 requesting entry"

Kai looked blankly down at Taki. "You know, the scary thing is I can see you being comfortable with a whole gaggle of brats like her." He said, raising an eyebrow. "Minus the gun and manic depressive disorder." He added with a smirk.

He looked over at Kia, demeanour changing to a serious one again. "They're?" He asked. "Is Tala there too?"

He bit back the question he wanted to ask. He just had to trust that the redhead was ok. He could look after himself.

~

Kai shrugged and reached for the blankets. "It is fairly cold- maybe they're just here to prevent hypothermia from setting in." He pulled out four and shut the cupboard door again.

"Why would they keep us confined here?" Kai asked reasonably, distributing the blankets, saving Tala's for last.

He draped the blanket over the redhead's shoulders and moved away, sitting down on the bed not occupied by Bryan and Brooklyn.

"That would serve no purpose." He explained. "The resistance needs to keep themselves on your good sides because if they don't they lose their greatest weapons." Kai sighed and lay back on the bed.

"Whatever side you guys choose- it's going to win." He looking over into Tala's eyes. "Make sure you choose the right one, ok?"

~

Rei blinked in surprise as he was let in. He had never been inside the main control room before, this was the heart of Biovolt.

He noticed Boris in the centre of the room, the true heart of the organisation.

The heart that Mariah and Kia wanted to rip out.

"Rei?" Boris asked, half rising from his seat. "What is it?"

"Lee." Rei said simply, walking toward Boris, trying to remember that he couldn't act normally around the head of Biovolt. He wasn't an equal in this situation.

"Lee?" Sonia asked.

Boris frowned in confusion for a second before remembering. "That person you talked about once? Your friend from the village?"

Rei nodded. "That's the one."

"Why are we talking about Lee?" Boris asked, confused. "I'm sorry, Rei, but I really, really don't have time-"

"He has Drigger."

Kai nodded, looking down at the ground. He looked back up at Kia and gave her a half smile. "I'm going to go and be with them if you don't mind." He said quietly.

He indicated to the door next to the one that Sonia had lead the troupe through. "Through there?" He asked.

~

Brooklyn sighed and sat up, wrapping the blanket Kai had given him around his shoulders. "No" He said sulkily. He shuffled down the bed so he was pressed firmly against Bryan's side.

"That's a little better." The orange-haired teen said quietly, leaning and resting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder.

Kai rolled his eyes at Tala. "You can't choose the side that'll get you out faster, love." He said, slipping in the endearment unconsciously. "Your presence is what will end this thing quickly."

He shrugged non-chalently. "Just giving you something to think about."

~

Boris blinked. That was a little too easy. "What do you mean by he has Drigger?"

Rei sighed. "I mean that Lee is the one who controls the sacred beast of the Tiger. I was thinking about what you said about how Black Dranzer was like the tale my village had with our Drigger. And..." He trailed off, not wanting to tell Boris exactly how he knew about sacred spirits other than Black Dranzer.

"-Anyway, Lee has Drigger I thought that you might want to know. Considering that I don't think the resistance is dallying around anymore I thought that it was important."

"Why didn't you remember until now?" Boris asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion, forgetting that he was talking to Rei.

"I was about five when Lee was given Drigger." Rei said, hurt that Boris didn't just trust him on this one. "The next days were rather... eventful so you'll forgive me if I can't call them to mind with perfect clarity."

Sonia sighed, not wanting to get involved with the lover's tiff. She turned toward the brunette tech and spoke quietly to him. "Call Lee over the intercom. You'll have to do a search through the database to find his id number- I doubt Rei knows it."

Kai rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I also kind of let him know about the sacred spirits." He told the brunette. "Or at least mine."

Kai shrugged. "He didn't really give me much of a choice." Kai sighed and opened the door Kia had shown him. "So I just walk down here for a bit and should find the room?" He asked.

~

Brooklyn didn't answer Bryan, already lightly dozing on the Russian's shoulder. Despite everything being near Bryan made him feel like things would be ok.

He just hoped that would be the case.

Kai smirked. "I'm not being philosophical." He protested. "I'm being practical." He shut his eyes, relaxing on the bed. "I figure that, since I really don't have any type of power here I should probably inform you of your choices."

He opened his eyes to train on Tala's. "Because I don't think anyone in the resistance will be telling you that there is another way."

~

Sonia sighed. "Stop acting like children." She scolded the techs, leaning on the back of the brunette's chair. "Though, it's impressive that you found his number and rank that quickly." She admitted.

Rei sighed and looked away from Boris' glare. "The thing is, it should have been me." He said quietly.

Boris frowned. "What should have been?"

"I should have been the one to get Drigger." Rei said flatly. When he received a questioning look from Boris he continued.

"It's not a vanity thing. I was the best person for Drigger. Ever since we were little I was always the better one out of me and Lee. I was always the one who was just that much faster and stronger and... well... better than him." Rei shrugged. "But Lee was related to the leaders of the village. I never even had a chance."

Rei smiled bitterly. "So on that day I had to be happy for him. All day. I couldn't understand at the time why he was the one to get it instead of me."

Rei grinned and looked at Boris. "Maybe that's a good thing though, right? As far as I know, Lee's never even gotten close to Drigger's full potential. I don't think that any person could handle the tiger at full capacity and still be the same."

Kai smirked at Kia's comment. "Gladly." He told her with a perverted glint in his eyes.

He turned down the hall and looked over his shoulder at Kia. "Tell Taki to knock, ok?" He asked before beginning to walk don the centre of the corridor, not waiting for an answer.

Kai looked up at the ceiling, trying to tell one smudge from a camera. It was impossible. Although Biovolt had flaws in it's security system, the person had to know the security system to exploit them.

~

"Your choices are the things that will keep you alive." Kai told the redhead seriously. "Besides that, I'm not going to let you get hurt."

He closed his eyes again. "And anyway, it wasn't even technically me that they wanted." He said quietly, more to himself than to Tala.

No one will ever want the me here. He thought sadly. No matter how much I feel the same I'm not. I'm different to Kai even though I am Kai.

~

Sonia looked up at the ceiling where Ilya had pointed. "There's a camera in this office?" She asked incredulously. "Isn't that a bit of a security risk?"

"Could you?" Boris asked Rei seriously, making the Chinese teen look up, startled. "If given the chance, could you handle the Drigger?"

Rei blinked. "But I-" He trailed off, trying to think of words. "What about Lee?"

"I've never met him, personally." Boris explained. "I don't even know if he supports the resistance-" He was cut off by Rei holding up his hand.

"Lee's loyal to Biovolt." He said quietly. "He... had a falling out with my friends about that." He said quietly.

Boris frowned as he considered what Rei had said. "You too?" He asked, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He didn't want to know the answer.

Kai turned the corner and noticed the line of doors along the corridor.

Great He thought sarcastically. walking toward the first one and opening it. Seeing it was empty, the bluenette closed the door again and moved to the one next to it.

This was going to take a while.

~

Kai opened his eyes and looked at Tala skeptically. "What's to enjoy?" He asked honestly. Kai sighed and sat up, continuing to look at Tala. "I'm not being depressive, I'm being practical. It's something you soul try one day. Maybe I have some perspective because after whatever goes down I'm going to die. Two heads aren't better than one if the second head is killing the other one, right?" He asked Tala.

"Maybe you could remember that before you tell me to calm down." Kai said harshly. "I'm counting the hours until I stop existing"

Kai looked away from the redhead, not wanting to see the reaction that that statement caused. It had come out harsher than he had meant it to.

"I mean-" He stopped. He had meant what he had said- no matter how harsh it sounded.

~

"Because half of Biovolt is about to revolt." Sonia told them calmly. "It would help to know which half before we start killing each other, don't you think?"

She shut her eyes briefly, wishing that she had had that extra coffee during lunch. "Have you found those two rooms I told you?" She asked Ilya. "If memory serves they should have sound. I want to know what they're saying."

Rei looked away from Boris, not wanting to answer. "Just trust me on this one, ok?" He asked quietly. "I'll explain when this is over."

Boris blinked and sighed, slumping in his chair, defeated. He couldn't ask Rei here and risk losing his commanding position over everyone. He had to wait.

And hope that Rei still didn't agree with his friends.

((Nyaw! Taki and Kia are too cute for words!))

Kai looked at Tala for a second, judging the honesty of the redhead's statement. "Sorry." He said eventually, looking at the wall behind the dozing Bryan and Brooklyn. "I wasn't thinking."

He pulled his legs up, curling into a ball to make more room for Tala on the bed. "I'm sorry." He said quietly, staring blankly at the wall.

~

Sonia watched the exchange between the clone of Kai and Tala with a calculating eye. "Troubles in paradise?" She asked herself, studying Kai2's face. "It doesn't look like he's happy with how things have turned out."

"Record the conversation." She told Ilya. "I want to be able to review this later. It could be to our advantage."

Rei frowned and glared at the door of the control room. Where is Lee? he wondered. Maybe Rei's old friend would at least help to distract him from what he would have to explain to Boris afterwards.

He wasn't looking forward to that conversation.