Darker than Black:Gemini of the Meteor > 02

Distance: 250 meters.
Wind velocity: 1.5, blowing east to west.
Remember to breathe. Slow and steady. Breathe quietly.
Now fire.
Fire!

Survival of the fittest.
Natural selection favored our species with rational thought and use of tools.
Both of which are far more powerful than fangs and talons.

Papa...

But that doesn't mean we will always be on top.
There will come a time when you cannot hesitate even for a second to pull the trigger.

Don't worry, Papa. I'll always be there to protect Suo.

Shion...

That was the last time I saw a genuine smile on my brother's face.
Our lives were forever changed on the night of the Tokyo Explosion.
Shion became a Contractor.
For the price of his abilities, he lost the use of his legs.
After that, I swore I'd always protect Shion. No matter what.
And I'd overcome anything that got in my way. All for him.
That's what a sister is supposed to do.
But I had no idea what was coming.
From this day forward, my life is cursed to be cast in darkness.


OPENING


Shion Pavlichenko.
The meteor core... give it to me.

A Contractor...?

Get out of here.
Trust me. Head back to your house.

Well, good evening.
Uhhh... Zdravstvuyte. Ni hao? How 'bout Guten Abend?
Anything?
Did any of those click for you? That's all I've got.

Who are you people?
What do you want from me?

It's always the first guess. Perfect. I don't want to have to hurt you, kid.
So I'm going to ask you, please come with me. Nice and quiet.

Careful, Petya!
Come on, Petya!

Hey.
Tough little kid. How precious.


Papa... Shion...
Shion? He's walking...


Genma, Mina, over here!

Looks like we're dealing with a real troublemaker.
Chasing him is gonna be a lot of--

Now Yoko!

Right!
It must be difficult, always having to kiss men for your payment when that's not really--

Much better. Thanks.


Your precious Contractor went and got herself killed quite quickly, eh, Repnin?

And from what I hear, your soldiers couldn't even act as a shield for her, Colonel.
All they did was explode.
Do you have any idea how expensive it is to recruit and train Contractors?

I know it's a waste of money. They'll always be monsters.
They're completely ineffectual both as soldiers and weapons.

I've been given orders to conduct an ME erasure on any civilians that were involved in this incident.
Has the professor's child been found yet?

We're searching for him now.
We'll widen the field and bring in the Specters.

I want all of the corpses put through the memory recovery unit, got it?
And do it while they're still fresh.
The professor goes first.
The contents of his mind are a priceless national asset.


Coming.
Hello?

Thank goodness you're here!
Sasha, can I please hide out here for a while?

I'm sorry, who are you?

They used ME...


Tanya!
What the...

We have Nika Lobanov in this room here. What exactly did he do?

He's suspected of robbery.
We'll be taking him into custody seeing that he's recovered.

Oh...


Suo?

Nika!
You said my name! You know me!

We've known each other for years. Of course I do.
Aah... whoa... are you okay, Suo?


"What enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer,
and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge."
Once again, Madam, I have humbly come to you in search of some foresight.
One of my eastern block agents has stumbled upon something.
It looks like the organization in question has finally made its move for Izanagi.
So I figured you might know something.

It's flattering that the CIA thinks so highly of me, but it's not quite that simple.
As you must know, foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits, right, Mister Smith?

Yes, Madam, but "know thy enemy, know thyself."
I do prefer to play it safe.


What the hell is going on around here?
I called every one of our friends trying to find Tanya. Not a single one of them remembers who she is.
Then I saw all those fire engines at your house.
Your dad wasn't hurt, was he?
You hear me, Suo?
Bad news: there's nothing but junk food left.
But still, junk food is better than no food.
All right. Come on, Suo.

That's enough feeling sorry for myself.

Suo...?

I'm using your desk, okay?

Careful with that! It's an extremely powerful rifle!
That thing can destroy a tank!

Hmm... It's just a toy.
I'm going to make him pay for everything he's done!


I found the professor, but he was already dead when I got there.

Is that the truth?

What about these other Contractors?

We're looking into it.
I'll let you know the moment we figure out who they are.

I won't hold my breath.

I shouldn't have to remind you that you're working for us.
The CIA is paying you well for your complete cooperation.
We expect you to obey us, Black Reaper.


"Fugitive fiance.
This con man is on the run after stealing my sister's chastity and her savings.
Please contact this address if you see him."

Are you sure, Suo? This seems dangerous.

"Your fears will control you if you don't face them."
It's an old Japanese proverb.
Apparently it was my mom's favorite saying.

Why is that?

Because it's better to act than to think.

Well if you say so.

I felt like a kiddie gang being back in your base.
I didn't know you still used it.

I was actually toying with the idea of boarding it up.
Although...
You know what, Suo? You're really strong.

I swore that I'd protect him. No matter what. So I have to be.

I was thinking, you said that you saw the military take Tanya into custody, right?

Yeah.

It's just... I...

It's okay. I understand, Nika. Just be careful.


Someone just called in a sighting of the professor's child.

Hmph, we've been betrayed.
But I guess that's what we get for being so forgetful of the past.

Should I report the information to Major Repnin?

That's unnecessary.
The major's far too preoccupied with trying to indoctrinate that monster he recruited yesterday.


They're moving.

Thank you, July. I'll be back shortly. Stay put until then.


I didn't expect it to work out like this, but this does make things easier...
I bet you're angry, huh? You want to kill me, don't you? Well I'd like to see you try.
I'll spread these pictures all over the internet for the world to see.
I -- I've already worked out all the arrangements.
So if I wind up missing, that's what's going to happen. And that's the truth.

Shion Pavlichenko... give me the meteor core.
Hand it over, and I'll let you live.

You'll kill me no matter what!
All Contractors are liars! I won't fall for your lies!
Oh, what are you doing?!

Where's the core?

No! Stop!
No!
What kind of sick creep are you?!

You're not...

Where is my brother?! Why did you murder my father?!
Why did you have to kill Bella, too?!
You killed them both!
You did it like it was nothing.
You're inhuman!

I'm a Contractor.

Is that your excuse for murdering people?!
Is that your supposedly called "rational thought process"?!
Do you know what this pain feels like?!
Are Contractors even capable of feeling anything at all?!
What are Contractors?! How can you even exist?!
I don't see how there can be people in this world like you!

Don't move. Hands on your head.
You've made things easy for us, Shion. We're grateful.
Come with us, and we'll return the favor. You'll have our protection.

No way. You're the ones who took Tanya.

Your attention, gentlemen.
Sorry to say, but the young man is leaving with me.

Another Contractor? And this one's not even hiding from us.

Well, that just goes with being a magician.
What's the point performing without an audience?

Shoot.

Not bad, eh?

Stop them!

But I thought he wanted to kill me.
Why did he save me?

The show has just begun.

Go!

Not another one! You all working together?!

No. You're wrong about that.
We're clear here, Yoko. It's all yours.

Put me down! Just let me go!
As soon as they find out that I'm not Shion, they'll let me go!

They will kill you.
It's the most rational decision they could make.

A cigarette cannot physically pass through a coin.
There's actually a hole in the coin.
Its cover is spring-loaded to snap open and closed.
My payment is particularly cruel: spilling the age-old secrets of magic tricks.
It's absolute torture for a magician.
But it's a fair deal -- I ruin a few parlor tricks and get to use real magic!

And where are you going?!

Will you be okay on your own?

But why?

Driving a sword through an occupied coffin.
There's quite a few different methods, but they always decide beforehand where they'll puncture.
They plan it so the person inside simply contorts their body to miss the blade.

You see, I am a genuine magician. Abracadabra.

He's able to cause distortions in the space around him.
Guns and swords are completely ineffective.

A distraction? Heh.

He used a direct attack on him from the front. Impressive.

Come in, Mina. We're all set.

Wait! Don't do it!

Hei...

No! Yin!

Farewell... Hei...


ENDING


That was BK201.
It disappeared...


PREVIEW

This is the terminus, the place where all things end.
The field of snow is sprinkled with blood and gunpowder, as first loves die in agony.
The wind howls like a curse from the throat of a deranged sorcerer, but it vanishes into the darkness with the reaper.
This is the terminus, the exact point where fate wants them, the point where she will see the light.