Aki's Tour Part 2

Well, talking with Jensen was rather fun. Aki moved on to Squad 12, still with his top hat, dress shirt, and jeans. The five foot ten tall man walked into the door and was mezmorized by the technology around him. For safety, he stuck one hand in his pocket, and the other he kept it resting on the top sword like a makeshift armrest. He knew nothing of what any of this stuff does, and he didn't want to find out the hard way. For all he knew, one of these things could turn him into a frog...or worse, the opposite gender. That would be creepy.

He started going around and just looking at things. Akihiko was far too afraid to touch anything. Little did he know, he was being watched...

Within the hustle and bustle of the research and development bureau Anz sat in a large chair typing on a computer, the screen in front of him sat decorated with moving numbers and charts as he mapped out the several experiments he was currently running. Despite his attire, a white lab coat, kaki’s and a button down Anz stuck out from the rest because his hands were covered in silver gauntlets. Shooting around the lab there were four identical gauntlets with small cameras and microphones attached to them, one sat in a fume hood pouring chemicals while two others calibrated high-density lasers on the far end of the lab. The third zoomed through the air carrying a metal tube, dropping its load into the labs pneumatic tube system it stopped in front of Aki hovering for a moment. In the back of the lab the mans' face appeared in PATCH’s systems linked to all the gauntlets he was supervising all the experiments. Anz looked but did not recognize the mans face, quickly using facial topography mapping he pulled up his file and skimmed it over before speaking, his voice coming from the microphone on the gauntlet.

“Good afternoon Captain Iyou, I am glad to see your incarceration hasn’t been too detrimental to your health. I am Dr. Anzai Kuro captain of the 12th, I apologize for not greeting you personally however I am somewhat indisposed if you follow my gauntlet it will take you to my work station.”

The gauntlet then turned, gliding through the air past various work stations, where many squad members stood engrossed in their research, as well as the stations where the other gauntlets also worked. Finally in the back of the lab sat Anzai at his desk to the right his breakfast sat untouched and cold having been sitting there for hours the only missing piece; the coffee that once sat in the large mug next to the eggs. If Aki followed the gauntlet Anz would speak again, “A pleasure to meet you Captain, how can the 12th division help you today?”

Aki jumped and yelped at the floating talking gauntlet. Then stared at it in wonder. As it was leaving, he followed it. To find the person that spoke to him. "Neat stuff...Anyway, I didn't think my file was open to anyone...or you're just that good...at this stuff...whatever it is...please pardon my neanderthal perception..." He couldn't help but still be in awe of the place. Being imprisoned for three hundred odd years can certainly make things difficult for one to cope with such advancements. This was so...new and foreign to him. "Ah, my apologies...I'm mostly just updating myself with the other captains, the situation, and other things that have changed since my initial imprisonment. If you're busy, I can just come back another time..."

It would be rude to waste the man's time, especially if he was busy with other projects. Granted, he would love to learn what all was going on here, but he didn't want to be a burden. What Jensen said about the Vizards and the Arrancar intrigued him, and hoped this man could tell him more about them. That is, if he wasn't too busy...

Anz looked at the man listening to his response, of course he could access Akis’ file, the 12th division did all the network security nothing was truly restricted to him. Pausing for a moment he considered simply saying that he was busy and sending the man along his way, yet at the same time his curiosity drove him not too. Few had every been released from maggots nest, however as the trend held both men he knew of had gone on to become captains, a peculiar trend considering the facilities purpose. “Not at all, I always have time for a fellow captain. Though I must admit to certain curiosity as to your situation, if I might inquire to the cause of your imprisonment as well as subsequent release as the file is somewhat vague in both matters?” Sitting and waiting for a reply a melodic voice whispered in his mind, “Anz mind your manners, the man spent time in prison he doesn’t wish to speak of it, not to mention you haven’t offered him a seat or drink yet.”

A small flush of embarrassment ran up his face, he had indeed been rude, his curiosity getting the better of him. “My apologies, please allow me to offer you a seat before you answer. Would like a beverage as well?” As he finished speaking the silver gauntlet which had served as Akis’ guide floated to the side of the room reaching into the bookshelf to take a small metal cube and drop it on the floor in front of Aki. The device rapidly expanded turning into a plush leather desk chair similar to the one Anz was sitting in. Lifting his mug the gauntlet floated over to it steaming coffee seeping from the seams of the plate mail and running into the mug. Reaching into his desk he pulled out a second mug this one sparkling clean and held it out to Aki.

Aki just chuckled. And nearly outright laughed at the man's fluster. But that was soon replaced with awe as a makeshift table and chair unfolded? That was rather cool in his mind. He sat down, a little hesitant at first, before speaking. "No thanks, I just got here from Squad 13 and speaking with Captain Reinhart. Actually, I don't mind sharing the reason why I got imprisoned. Just let me dig out the official file that my probation officer gave me a copy of..." He went through the same motions as with Jensen; taking out the AK-47, a DVD player, several DVDs, a CD player, several CD cases, and then the actual file. "It is complete with pictures as well..."

Like with Jensen, he watched with great amusement of the man's reactions...or possible lack of it. Anyway, he wanted to get down to business a little bit. Piling the other stuff from his top hat back into it, Aki continued on. "I'd love to sit and chat for awhile, but you're busy, and I probably should be getting going soon. I wouldn't mind having your brief opinion on the other captains. Especially of the Captain-Commander. Also, if you have the time, I'd like to know more about these Vizards and Arrancar. If that's assessable to anyone...I do apologize. I feel so old and out of date with everything..." He chuckled nervously. Almost like a student telling their teacher he forgot his homework or something...

Anz listened to Aki then watched with amusement as he pulled several objects out of his hat, more then the volume that the hat should have been able to contain. Glancing it over with PATCH the miniature supercomputer scanned the surface of the hat it seemed to be made of a standard material. Yet the question of its volume was quite persistent, it wasn’t impossible to create pocket dimensions or arrange things into more tightly compressed states of matter but it wasn’t a simple matter either. However, before he could ask Aki handed him his file, taking it into his hand he opened the cover quickly perusing through the standard data found on the man’s digital files as well as adjusting the virtual file to cover the missing information, he quickly got to the reason for Aki’s imprisonment. Frowning as he looked at the pictures he raised an eyebrow at the length of the sentence, finally he reached the reason for his release and looked up at his fellow captain.

“Though I mean no disrespect, and although I may be tempted to agree that the central 46 is rather inefficient and lacks some of the required intellectual facilities one would expect in the average sea sponge. I find myself somewhat dismayed at your rather public disregard for the severity of your actions… While your display may have seemed important at the moment, and I well understand the value of an act of civil disobedience and the effect it can have to catalyze change. You placed your personal feelings over your duty as a captain; in the time you were incarcerated, soul society and the Seireitei have been attacked on several occasions and many have died, strength like yours could have prevented much of that… While some the blame may be laid on the over severity of your sentence, some of that responsibility has weight on your shoulders as well… I would hope your time in prison has impressed that upon you.”

Listening to the mans response or lack there of, he then addressed his follow up question while handing back the file, clearing his throat and taking a sip of his coffee he spoke again his voice remained friendly and polite; “No need to apologize how else does one learn unless they ask? You’re welcome to stay as long as you want I am highly adept at multitasking and most of my projects are still being attended too. As for your questions, they are somewhat loaded; I have great respect for Captain Reinhart, I find Captain Tomoshibi to be surprisingly acute for his age, Captain Sesshomaru is respectful and good at his duties, Captain Hironori is arrogant but adept, Captain Kusajishi is powerful but perhaps too young for his position, and I fear I know little of the other captains as I am somewhat recently appointed to my position, myself. As for the Captain Commander, I am grateful to him as his added support allowed me to recover this squad and facility from the disarray it had reached under the leadership of my predecessor, but I would say he would do well to perhaps pay more attention to his more mundane and daily tasks.

As to the races of Arrancar and Vizard, they represent a succulently new step in the development of spiritual energy a biased and somewhat heterogeneous blend of hollow and shinigami. Much study has gone into both races, and I would happily provide you with some reading material on their spiritual and biological physiology. If you would like?”

Aki was flabbergasted at the response. In one respect, he had to admire the guy. But in another, he had no sense of humor. And his expression showed it. But what the highly intelligent man said kind of put him off. "In one regard, I'm glad we share the same opinions. But blaming me for deaths that I may or may not have prevented because I was jailed is a little far. Death is typical among shinigami. I've sent hundreds of good men and women to their deaths on missions. It is unavoidable for any captain to have no casualties. And last time I checked, it was our duty to protect the Soul Society. They refused. I strongly dislike incompentency, and they shown enough of it in such a short amount of time. I do admire you, if a little fool hardy, to respect such incompetant leaders. But let's not debate this and move on..."

And they did. First, the man said that there is no other way to learn than to ask. As well as saying that he could stay for as long as he wished. The next comment kind of stood out. And Aki almost groaned. Polotics have entered the Captain Ranks now? Whatever happened to good old honesty and straightforwardness?! How far they have fallen. Anzai mentioned some of the captains, and his general opinion. He found it interesting, but at least he was honest about the rest. And continued on to his last two questions. Aki grinned sheepishly. "That would be much appreciated. But there are two people I'd like more details on. This Captain Riku Tomoshibi, and the current captain-commander. I heard that Captain Tomoshibi scolded the Captain-Commander for being childish at the last Captain's meeting. Care to elaborate from your point of view? The issue was an alliance with the Vizards, I know that much. Oh, and don't think that any of my questions are political, I'm just trying to get a feel of the unity among captains and everyone's opinion about everyone. Getting a feel for the current situation inside your own house that you've been away for...a... few...hundred...years."

After all, it would be nice to know if his "brothers" and "sisters" were getting along and everything. Otherwise, chaos will be their downfall...or he could somehow unite them better...

Anz sat back in the chair in truth he felt slightly disappointed in the mans reaction, it wasn’t a hard leap to figure out why he had been released from his imprisonment. Many situations that would have benefited from his power had come and gone, yet now he was released under the rule of absentee captain commander with no one who has the strength to replace him available. Whether Aki knew it or not he was on the fast track to being the leader of them all, yet his response to Anzs’ question showed he still had not yet realized why he deserved to be imprisoned and he felt duty bound to bring the topic back up. Yet, first he would address the mans question, though the politics between the races mattered little to him. Wordlessly he used PATCH to send a data packet to one of his subordinates telling him to burn the files of Vizards, Arrancar, and the recoding of the captains meeting onto a disk and bring it along with a laptop and detailed instructions on how to access the files to Aki’s personal quarters.

“I would not presume to summarize the thoughts and workings of both the Captain Commander and Captain Tomoshibi as such I have sent a video recording of the meeting along with your requested information on the cross reiatsu races to your personal quarters. As for my own opinion, I find both sides of the argument quite valid. The rules and laws that have been in place for thousands of years have done well to protect us and maintain our way of life. But I also agree, great benefits can come from collaboration especially in terms of research, as the sharing of data between races would open new and possibly undiscovered paths for study. As to your reason for wanting to know this, I apologize but I care little. Knowledge in its’ self is a worthy pursuit and I am not one to judge the driving force behind its acquisition.

However, I find myself unable to comply with your initial request. As your colleague and someday possibly a friend or subordinate; I find myself duty bound to inquire as to why You seem to feel yourself absolved of guilt, you put personal passions as justified as they were above the welfare, of your squad who lost their captain and leader; Your friends, who lost their comrade; and of course the future generations, who lost a mentor and teacher. I may speak out of turn here but I would hope those consequence would mean something to you, and the results of them would help you understand that as flawed as a system maybe, if you choose to exist within it. You are duty bound to fix it by following the protocols to do so, otherwise you invite others to follow your steps and there actions could have much more dire consequences.”

This guy was technical. Aki was smart, but this guy...wow. He made Aki feel like a freak'in little brat. An uneducated little brat. But this guy also clearly needed a sense of humor. But even if he had asked, Aki would have given his reasons. Then the guy continued. Oh boy. Now he felt like he was being scolded by a freak'in teacher, which in a way, he was, but still. Last time he checked, he wasn't in school anymore. Aki gave the man a hard stare. He had intimidated a few captains with it, unintentionally, but he somehow doubted this would be the case here. It was just the look he always gave when he started to get a little...irritated.

"Don't think that little detail has not crossed my mind. But to that I blame the incompetant leaders taking a prank way to seriously and giving out an excessive sentence. Not a single one got sick, no one was hurt. I was expecting maybe 25 years, a very strong maybe. I got twenty times that amount, and even then I had expected to at least run my squad and be updated on the situation, not locked in the deepest parts of the Maggot's Nest. I still laugh at their stupidity for throwing a senior captain at the time away for that long. It just proves their stupidity. Thank you for the files."

Aki got up and walked to the door, but stopped and turned to face the other captain. "But what do you do when the creators of the flawed system ignore the protocals to change it? What do you do when the creators of the flawed system didn't put in ways to change it? What do you do when the creators of the system forget why they're in power in the first place and pay the military that truely has the best interests of the place above their own no attention? I don't mean to speak maybe of treason or revolution, but if us captains are ignored so easily when we bring up major points in policy, especially when concerning the protection of Soul Society and its citizens, why allow such incompetency to rule us? If I could have done it legally, I would have thrown every one of them in jail and replace them with those that do have Soul Society as their heart."

Aki turned and left. That left a bitter taste in his mouth. If the other captain thought he would say "kill them all," he clearly would not know of Aki's own morals. That was one he needed to keep an eye on, that was for damn sure. Anyone that puts too much trust in the protocals of a failed and ingnorant system, especially when ruled by incompetant leaders too comfortable having the power they weild. And only care about keeping that power.

Anz smiled once Aki had left the lab, returning to his work he thought over the events. In truth when he had heard that the new captain was ex-convict he was truly concerned. Though he regretted having to step across the line that bordered polite interactions among colleagues he also understood that it was necessary to implicitly trust your fellow captains, and in truth until now he had doubted whether he could place his life in Captain Iyous’ hand. Despite his probes and questions the man had stuck to his guns and defended his points; he had shown an open mindedness and most importantly shown that he understood what was most important. It was a captain’s duty to put the welfare of the many over his own, in this respect Aki had proven himself. However, he had also obviously touched on the mans nerves an unfortunate consequence of his probe into the matter. Within his mind a voice whispered melodically into his head, “You have to apologize Anz, people aren’t experiments you can’t mine them for data and damn the emotional response.”

A frown crossed his face, he knew she was right yet he despised the idea of leaving his work to go apologize to the man in person. Using PATCH he drafted a quick letter to be printed and delivered to the man’s quarters;

Dear Captain Iyou,
I apologize if my comments during our meeting came across as hostile or accusative, with your criminal record I needed to confirm for myself that you could indeed be trusted to place soul societies needs in front of your personal feelings. Should you find yourself in need the doors of the 12th squad are always open.

Sincerely,
Dr. Anzai Kuro, Captain of the 12th