Five

The Blondie managed to clean his Pet as best he could after making a mess of him earlier, but was still somehow in contention. Making love with Riki as the latter was unconscious seemed generally unfair, a complete violation of his body especially since it had been made virginal again by Jupiter. Yet in his black heart it felt just sinisterly amazing. To take what was rightfully his...never mind the questions of morals in the aim...

Iason raised that hand up.

He could still smell his Riki's essence there, he could taste him now if he wanted to. Somehow, he wanted to do it again. He wanted to own his beauteous Pet and make love to him, just twine his limbs with the other's limbs, kiss, touch...that seemed insane! But then he had long admitted the possibility that he had indeed lost his mind when he courted the disaster of having a slum trash for a pet.

A flash of red as Iason lounged contemplating. The System linked to the outside Gates immediately popped up in front of him in multiple projection screens. The Blondie's crazed fantasies and ponderings definitely needed to wait. They had company.

Tanagura's security force had surrounded the Tower below, swarming as if the location now housed a convict of some sort. Raoul and the other Blondies were present, stepping out from their respective vehicles, eyeing the tower with much nervousness and apprehension. He could see from the screens their doubtful eyes, but how long has it been since he's seen them all?

Iason knew there had been an evacuation earlier. The lower level VIPs had all been escorted out and in all likeliness did not even know of what was going on. Maybe the intention was truly to keep it all discreet.

"Such ridiculous roughness," the Blondie uttered, watching the swarm of black-armoured guards and drones gather like ants from all sides of the Tower. In their garbs, the elites looked like punctuations of coloured sand. "They can't even give us the night."

' I need to be alone. ' He cast a glance at Riki, sleeping peacefully on the bed. He just wanted to sort this mess out by himself for now. ' We need to be alone. '

--

Orphe Zavi tapped Raoul's shoulder, impatient, fearful of the outcome this reunion would bring, "Are you sure he'd returned here?"

"Yes."

Gideon likewise voiced his uncertainties, "There are other places he could go to Raoul. I mean, there were no signs that he'd be here. Nothing was activated up his level."

But Raoul was certain that this was the only place he would be. First because Katze had not confirmed that Iason had left to anywhere. Second, his home was Iason's sanctuary, a nest for memories. If his friend had need to find himself, this was the place he would more or less start. But then these were but mere assumptions still. To begin with, it was a fact that Katze owed him no loyalty so he wasn't certain if he would tell him the truth.

Raoul gave the order, "Get to the Penthouse."

But before the guards could mobilize, suddenly, a similar blaring alarm proceeded to ensue from over the Tower. The Defense System has been activated, sending the place to follow an automatic reaction of locking itself up into a fortress incapable of any intrusion.

Orphe did not hide his displeasure, "Damn it. The Tower's going on a lockdown!"

Raoul wouldn't take it. "Can't we override the sequence?" he hollered at the elite staff of Sapphires trying to do just that but could not. They could not stop the metallic barriers from falling down and locking into place to close the Tower.

"Give me that!" Orphe stole the console, as his charge had been Eos, he was not going to take this sitting down, "We'll need to do something! Get control of the system back!" But then they should have thought it was impossible...

Iason had managed to clear the space of several floors at once in flight, making his way to the entrance hall where he knew the troops had gathered. He didn't care if they sent the squads to try other alternate routes to get in: he has completely sealed and shielded the Tower, walking to confront the mob outside although he didn't want to see them at the moment.

All he had was a robe on which fell barely above his ankles, feet naked against the cold floor, but he could care less. In all respects he appeared solemnly ordinary, except for the perfect Adonis face and a shock of lusciously-longer Blondie hair which served to frame it. Briefly he wondered how he should proceed, before deciding exactly what it was he should be doing now.

The Butterfly Gates opened with a sound akin to a fizz or zing, and Raoul was first to notice the figure clad in white that stood on the other side of it. His presence made him stop.

"Orphe," the current Blondie in charge tapped his brother.

"What?"

A collective hush and pause echoed in the high-ceilinged partition as the entire class turned towards the direction, and were stunned to see the fully awake Iason Mink, regal as he always was no matter how muted he appeared, looking at them without an expression of care nor acknowledgement. Raoul signaled the guards not to make a sudden move as the former head of Syndicate all but reached a hand up to the door.

Spark of electricity enough to make his long hair flutter. The opening was shielded, and based on how they knew this Blondie for being intricate, so would be the whole of Eos Tower by now...It was Raoul who was first to approach their estranged comrade.

"Iason..."

Iason smiled, but spoke rather sadly, "Raoul."

"You did this?"

Iason could only confirm with a nod, "I'm yet to get a grasp on all of this. What Jupiter left...it's...too much."

Raoul then recalled a second empty pod in their sterile lab and somehow needed to know, "Is Riki...is Riki with you?"

Everyone waited for the response to reverberate from the other end of the shield. Perhaps as predicted, Iason replied, "Has he ever been anywhere else? Or do you still firmly believe I could otherwise do without him?"

That was a relief to Raoul somehow. At least he knew there would be little chance for Iason to do anything rash not with his only Achilles with him and safe. Not to mention they'd both be safer together. He stared at Iason for a minute. The expression there was something he couldn't almost understand. Confusion? Sorrow? What was it that seemed to trouble this once cold-faced Ice Noble?

"Iason, let's talk this through. We have things we need to discuss..."

Iason merely shook his head at that, "What I need is some peace."

Both Orphe and Gideon opened their mouths to speak, but Raoul promptly stopped them from uttering a single word of reprove. He wanted to prevent further anarchy than what was already happening.

"Why? Why all this? Do you really need to remove yourself so much from us?"

Iason could name all the Blondies present by heart. He had been groomed with them, had worked, functioned with them...but that had already been changed. He couldn't talk to them yet. He couldn't even bring himself to tell himself the truth of the matter, as if sleeping still in the cocoon with Riki. But then perhaps they knew now as well: he was certainly no longer the same as they were.

"Give me tonight Raoul..." Iason asked, his eyes the only betraying part of his anatomy. "Then you can tell me all that you want. Just...give me tonight..."

Even before they could stop him from going, the Butterfly doors fluttered shut, and the rest of the impregnable barriers locked into place, fastening so fast the motion totally surprised them. With that, they were entirely shut out. With that, Iason turned his back to them. Vainly, the guards tried to pry the System open, but under this new Jupiter's orders, the System just refused to give.

The encounter left Raoul even more aggravated, Gideon and the others confused, and Orphe whom the care of the Tower was stolen from, ultimately pissed, "Damn it. What now?"

Everyone turned to the only other Blondie worthy to command the charges left them by this disaster, next to Iason Mink, there was Raoul. The latter deliberated briefly with himself, staring up at Eos Tower and somehow picturing what Iason could be doing. Going to Riki certainly. Where else would the other be? The same reason his friend had gone to the fire, he will go into it again for that Pet.

"We wait," was all Raoul said.