NECRO-Driver Dawn EP 23: A Haunting Mistake

*Baron, Ayumi, Jin and Roux all meet outside the Blitzwing not too long after ending their meeting with Capt. Maeko…*

Jin: Alright, so how do y'all wanna go about this?

Roux: Depends, how far is this place exactly?

Jin: I looked before we got out here. It's not that far, we could walk and it wouldn't take too long to get there.

Roux: Or…

Jin: Or we could drive there, doesn't matter really.

Baron Hampton: That one! Alright everyone, hop in!

Jin: Wait what? Uhh I don't really know about that one.

Baron Hampton: Aw c'mon! Why not?

Ayumi: Well I don't mean to be that guy big brother, but you DID say that I could drive next time we went somewhere.

Jin: Not only that Baron, but you play some very questionable music.

Roux: Insufferable really.

Baron Hampton: WOOOOOW! I can't believe you're all ganging up on me. It really be your own friends.

Ayumi: Don't worry big brother. I made sure to pick a high quality playlist for us to listen to.

Roux: Can we go now?

Ayumi: YES!

*The four of them hop into a car and prepare to depart. Except there was one small problem…*

Ayumi: Now that we're on the way, I can finally play my demo album.

Jin: I'm sorry, you're what?

(Play Renai Circulation (English Cover) - Lizz Robinett | Ladidadida Ladidadidi (Lyrics + Vietsub) ♫

Baron Hampton! Awwww yeah! This is my jam!

*Baron and Ayumi begin singing along…*

Roux: (Annoyed…) Jin…

Jin: Yeah?

Roux: How much longer do we have to endure this?

Jin: About 10 more minutes.

Roux: Ugh, kill me now…

(Fast forwarding about 10 minutes to Ta'Kelah…)

Baron Hampton: Alright, Ayumi and I are off to gather some of the supplies. You two can get the other half.

Ayumi: Yeah, we'll be able to accomplish things more easily if we split up.

Jin: Right…

Roux: And you just so happen to be going in the direction of the arcade and manga section of the city…

Jin: But surely you DEFINITELY wouldn't be going over there to goof off.

Baron Hampton: Look, you're more than welcome to join us after you've gotten everything you need. We'll still get our stuff, it's just that we need to enjoy ourselves too.

Ayumi: Yeah, you don't always get chances to relax like this very often.

Roux: Huh, they have a point.

Jin: Well, I guess Capt. Maeko will call us once he needs us to come back.

Baron Hampton: Exactly! Life ain't so bad at all, if you live it off the wall.

Ayumi: Truer words have never been spoken.

Baron Hampton: Welp, later peeps!

*The two of them jet off down the street towards the arcade and manga stores. Jin and Roux stand idly by.*

Jin: Well, whaddya wanna do now?

Roux: I don't know… There's a snack shop over here that claims to have never before seen snacks.

Jin: I guess we could check it out.

*Jin and Roux check out the snack shop before continuing on to other parts of the city.*

Jin: Ya know, for a city named after a beverage, I sure haven't seen any bars around here.

Roux: Maybe that's the irony of it all.

*They continue walking when they are stopped by a stranger…* (Play L's theme A)

Rin: So, we finally meet.

Jin: Who…

Rin: Alas, the time has come for us to meet, Jin.

Jin: Excuse me?

Roux: Someone you know, Jin?

Jin: Of course not.

Rin: Oh, but you do. Why we've met before, though you don't remember.

Jin: I'm sorry, but you must have me mistaken with someone else.

Rin: There's no mistaking it, you're definitely who I'm looking for. I would've never imagined that I would find both of you together though. This IS my lucky day.

Jin: Okay, I'll play along. Why are you looking for me?

Rin: Not just you Jin, but you AND Roux.

Roux: Okay, so let me rephrase it then. WHY are you looking for us?

Rin: It's been such a long time since I've seen either of you. I've missed you.

Jin: Okay, now you're starting to creep me out.

Roux: How do you know me?

Rin: We share a bond, Roux. A bond that can't be erased no matter how much those Sarlen try to deny it.

Jin: Wait… How did you know about-

Roux: What're you talking about?

Rin: You mean you don't remember? They never told you?

Roux: Never told me? Answer me!

Rin: Silly Roux, You and I are both experiments from the infamous Project VP.

*Jin and Roux gasp* (Stop playing the song)

Rin: That's right. You and I were both kids when that happened. It feels like it was so long ago, that we had our lives ripped away from us.

Jin: But I don't get it, what do the Sarlen have to do with any of this?

Rin: The Sarlen are the ones who allowed all of it to happen. While us children were having our livelihood played with, and our identities stripped, they just sat and watched in the background.

Roux: *Remains silent, before realizing something…* The Sarlen are the ones who bound me to you.

Jin: What?

Roux: After the events of Project VP, Fadra's family took me in. I was nothing but a shell of a person, I may as well have been dead. I never understood why, Fadra even said once that our parents were very reluctant to do so.

Jin: That doesn't explain everything. What exactly did they do?

Roux: In order to stop me from dying, my heart was bound to yours. It allowed me to continue living, and neither of us were to ever know. But… you knew something about it from the moment you met me, and so did I.

Rin: That's right…

Roux: I've pretended to not know anything my whole life, just to see if they would ever come clean.

Jin: But that doesn't make any sense. Why would they ever do any of that? And which one of them did it?

Rin: Ja'Skaar…

Jin: What?

Rin: Think about it Jin. Since the moment you've met them, they've had their own agenda. They've screwed you over more times than you can count.

Jin: How could you possibly know all this?

Rin: You mean you don't remember? "I cannot tell you my name, but you do know me. Or at least you will soon enough."

Jin: *Gasps* You're…

Rin: Yes, I'm the one who guided you in the realm of evanescent.

*Jin and Roux stand silently…*

Rin: Would you like me to prove it?

Jin: … Yes

Rin: *She reaches into her pocket and tosses them a device.* This will give you the answers you're looking for. Until we meet again…

*Jin and Roux look up, only to see that Rin is gone entirely.*

Jin: What?

Roux: Rin…

Jin: I'm having a hard time even functioning right now, I don't know what to say.

Roux: Let's go get those items…