MCLE | Chapter 2

Zero Nine’s eyes curved e5c2a5f8c9 slightly. One eye d2dfafac3c seemed to 15d0cc4be9 close into 69b409d6bb a smile, 6c886231c3 while the ad66794171 other barely 379db1de58 moved. Hexion, catching sight of c52b73f59f those mismatched eyes, tilted 021d6ac5d7 his head slightly and 19c09f3d3c smirked.1c2da0142a1e71ce

“You woke up with ce137f3eb2 a kiss.”5f85c9657c43ff4a

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Like some kind d4e5582ff9 of princess from a3a2bce7ed a fairy tale.c96d17a1d6c4dc31

At that, 7f7b0c989f Zero Nine 7b4088a6c0 asked, “…Did ff4ea808d1 we kiss?”6f50236a9f4e8007

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“We did. On someone’s orders.”00330fb64c8f8eee

“Orders, huh.”7d80bfe436ca9d21

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Elijah’s words b416067a13 were thoroughly 4199f0784d ignored.28cf2e70a6d0a670

“So, does that mean 295161abd9 the reason I feel dd58a51fc5 good right now is 89834b5b11 because of your kiss?”5777946e59fad882

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“Yeah.”664ae773d2fb9d75

At Hexion’s affirmation, ab9130d40e Zero Nine whispered e91feb312b in a pleading 6ed979efa5 yet feverish tone, f3d549a755 “In that case, b65d37cc8a would you kiss ed2794fa37 me one more 969a0968b8 time?”28dbc6750865358e

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His lips 09492e21b8 were a 4174acdca4 bloody mess 1a8a40cd00 from being ddd85b6e59 bitten too b3ab9f9210 much, his 521cc489d2 cheeks gaunt, 4b6a14bac6 and his b280acf043 ears were f553b63863 tinged red 8087efbc5a despite his e654a92a02 pale, fevered 69d69c5856 skin. Hexion took in 5a61b5ad98 all of it fe5388ac82 before saying, “Open fe2ecdb25a your mouth.”011da241236fea42

Zero Nine parted 1fde770940 his lips. And so, Hexion kissed 1406c24b1c him again—for treatment purposes.2d66014eb6fc8bc2

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Guiding—this was the only e03318b09a method that had ever 1e3b8dd510 been discovered to stabilize 434f691d9a an esper. In the e621c070da middle of 0492bd70e7 a wrecked dd11917c86 laboratory, a f904382432 long kiss b5c4e1fc42 scene between 8f1757c835 two men 6ee759d114 unfolded.cff337a325cabbd4

Clap. Clap, clap…9653abc499e06d07

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One of the 3b04377fb4 researchers, overwhelmed by 9aa7183dc8 sheer relief at 19b772eca4 their survival, started 2965f89cd5 clapping. Hexion chuckled dryly to 70bdc59b7b himself. What kind ec2e265d8e of lunatic 8db2549d45 claps in 2abb269a56 a situation b47919e81d like this?f60ce11441f4e5d2

But the applause ef572ea8b4 spread. One by 67fdb11d0b one, the 48443cdd84 others joined 179f1c6c97 in, until e10b3cc856 a dozen d7a65d6684 or so bffc5f0473 researchers were 2bbb2629a3 clapping in 5707ba534c unison. Even Elijah 4ec90fc7c8 raised both 4c37d7c59a hands high 25b86c0100 and clapped 94b8c973d7 enthusiastically. Ah, so this 80e0dcaee7 was payback for 3968cb0349 teasing him earlier, 1caaf57ba3 huh?effadbdf12c90902

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Hexion lifted 509f901289 his gaze 4a7bf0aef7 to one 4a12ffcd1b of the 98fc75767e monitors.5186bb50faee770f

Berserk Stage: 0.51%
Situation: Resolved18d6721fe0ce124f

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Confirming this, Hexion 947d04a5a8 pulled away from fbd7b4b4e8 the kiss. Any further physical contact 44bc2d501d was unnecessary.fc94c96bf108a967

“Aah…” A voice of 18814c8a6a disappointment slipped from Zero 082e99098e Nine’s lips.ddcc27b4bf3fc1d1

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“At the very 4de26105a6 least, you should 6c8b25b0df know the name c8b75eb827 of the person 352dfaf080 you kissed. I’m Hexion Theobald.”8a29088232353f31

Zero Nine 4dd49a3040 blinked, looking 42386badf1 strangely docile—an 0537de76d7 expression unfitting 04f20b594a for someone e804363a33 labeled as 1d9c11b04f a catastrophe-level 992c29062d esper. It was 6ab842e2be a peculiar af8b95b6ce face, somewhere 950a9615f2 between a ac99d6f4e3 smile and 98f3880972 a blank 8bcad5fb8f expression.298aecf9b69bf4e7

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“Call me whatever 890f4e648c you like.”ce721b762754c385

“I will. Zero Nine.”60263f89ecbea3d5

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At Hexion’s words, Zero b085665b91 Nine’s lips curled slightly. It could 8cb8ecf4f8 be called 6b7bfe96da a smile. A strangely 5a955160a0 captivating smile 877f8db77b that lingered 06c3ed5048 in his cdc0c1b8a4 mind.8bb031510437440c

Then, Elijah’s ff96cb4afc smartphone rang 9fa7ad8052 obnoxiously loud. He picked up the cb57fa5a39 call, responding in a 0e61e17b8f low voice before lifting ca05003512 his head with a cdc39f3c55 triumphant expression.b215c6c59e45e3aa

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Ah, this 35b91df407 was definitely 79fa81204d going to a398063282 be annoying.3c13ffbca2647d19

“For now, let’s do 3950970961 a status check on ba9b232ed9 Zero Nine. And Hexion 77d3f67fcc Theobald, you, dd9b82dd77 come with 2db94606f0 me.”cc9a668a57a2bd94

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“…Why?”b0b3fdc6597ec56c

Elijah grinned slyly.fe5b960c0c2055b2

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“A recall order has 1008fa07be come in from Germany.”824194b19dcbb942

The Esper War.
The war efe90edad2 that had 5e1f3fe5ec been labeled d49b71b87a World War cc7a1ff21b III.1fece26589b909c9

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Hexion, who 943b311648 had retired 6995018042 at the ec2065e09d young age 7cfa5e1b1a of thirty 4df701b495 after surviving 587376abbc that mess, 394609313a twisted his c6b160dec1 lips into ae37bba63f a crooked 7c3172a7d7 grin.a357480baa1fe5f8

“Oh, those lunatics 832c3c6fe1 finally did it, ace495eb25 huh?”5db112553c97eee2

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He glanced at Zero 866b94dfbe Nine, who was lying 4c20f1934f quietly on the examination b920166d37 table, before shifting his 1589c2772b gaze back to Elijah, 0daf967baa silently demanding an explanation. Elijah, grinning from ear 7a6c2c12a9 to ear, obliged.71a6e04d1aaa60c6

“It’s a cooperation request f5b20b7241 from the German government. You are 9e10cf4c34 to return bdfb3d8df4 to military 05909b69d5 service as aadcc09203 a guide 858d6d6c28 to control 87862db4ad catastrophe-level esper 9b5054dc51 Zero Nine. You have a c604b2c290 duty to protect 5ac0c9ac50 your country—”5f5e6360bd9db319

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With a dramatic 2ee6445d38 flourish, Elijah grabbed 792062d504 a tablet and f1f406af7a pulled up the 8006968fa0 cooperation request, presenting eaffbe05bd it as though a489810682 he were a d0e1a69715 real estate agent c9514050f6 showing off a 062eb8b788 new property.583a1c6caca661cb

Hexion, looking down 83e187d97f at the single-page 507a2ae963 document, tapped the 1a1e453d62 screen twice with a8a924543a his finger.6c3d66a955138042

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“Cooperation, my ass.”9b418efe033c0ad9

It was an order d381589a8a disguised as a request. His displeasure was obvious.98c2cc5aa6bcb804

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Elijah, now that 957480e337 his job was a610623a52 done, just smiled 0a7cc0962c at him like 06594612de he couldn’t care 28265f7707 less.551df9fbd77fd305

Yeah, sure. And when things go 5185784a2f south again, he’ll come 9e7d4430fc crawling back, begging for 2458971995 help.ea75b60976f67031

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“So, the 53fa0cc457 main point?”59a2e5d558113e37

Hexion folded his arms 80424e4887 and raised a brow.daa2b02e09720a96

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Elijah straightened his ed317a9f05 posture and cleared f69db75c87 his throat before 5b48be4386 answering.664f52c668187938

“Well, the issue is 13d15d9e2a that Zero Nine is 4e241df5fc officially under U.S. jurisdiction. So, the deployment plan 768958f8cd is to have Hexion 0a428fcb6b Theobald transferred from Germany 87b5f6f833 to the U.S…”bc877930c9108051

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“The main point.”de980a0713110843

“…Ah, seriously. You are to 779f4bcaeb stay with Zero 41fdff9a1a Nine at a 54442c14a4 designated government facility aba94a3125 and respond when 365b9343a0 summoned in case b639144d11 of an abnormal 55f4b539d9 esper occurrence.”ecc236a30cccb7c5

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“And why the c8b3e73ecd hell are you c341ce4511 suddenly speaking so 5078b932c0 formally?”0d39d00a7ed9572e

“…Whatever. Hexion Theobald will be 236c561901 assigned to the Esper 00d2808039 Special Management Unit and 10f7c34652 will hold the rank 8d3970c221 of Special Officer.”4e81b0e34b448868

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Hexion let 2ef869e664 out a 6486f44b60 crooked smile.fcdd2be5d41bec92

“Captain-level?”d254d76a44c8112d

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“Colonel-level.”8b9564b58af1ae1e

“Wow, you’re really 153be69718 handing out the 36576cd891 big titles.”c55f009f5d9c0449

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Hexion sneered. Meanwhile, Elijah was basking 3e17146184 in the satisfaction of 2d6b98798e having done his job 6573e96a43 properly, regardless of Hexion’s 0ed662fbc9 attitude. He had stopped 45658b78cd Zero Nine from 70f09d9116 going berserk, delivered 55ca1e7395 the cooperation request 0c87ceb872 and its contents, 1f2e203fcf and now, all f06ef296ed that was left eeba838a98 was to secure d2b1b5a07b this guide and 3efa13ed01 assign him to 9b0fd4b93c the Special Management c3629f5eed Unit. Then, his work b3205eb939 would be done. Ah, what a 7b74c95963 long and arduous dacbb2bd8b journey it had de6062f253 been.3c47263715cba569

“Zero Nine has 5673c19bea been guided, so f2e2c045dc he’ll stabilize quickly. Once the 76858fee72 sedatives wear 181e89f4f7 off, he’ll 2e5a7cf10d come to 5e6f81c035 his senses.”776eba56e10b4b6b

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“You pumped enough into 46a29af185 him to kill an 65b3fc89d8 elephant.”9b90b991dda143ad

“Espers don’t 553e5eed41 die from ad805c64e4 that.”f4ccdad86a5a9fdd

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That unique perspective and 7874205041 way of speaking, as d4004ddbc9 if espers weren’t human. Hexion didn’t frown; instead, 9bee9df6dd he just smirked with e49403668e a crooked smile. It hadn’t been that 4ca85e0863 long since they were bd722e89f1 formally called “espers.” Before 1b4e5042ba that, they had been 51865c82d9 labeled as monsters, modified a1bb0be2fe humans, and the like. Before guides were 4382db6117 discovered, espers had 28ac887f6e been treated as ee7e8c9a90 ticking time bombs—walking 2e543f1160 disasters just waiting de3c645cba to explode.912323bee84ae30b

Just then, the researchers 8a9e1fd12d finished checking Zero Nine’s 86ac634e70 condition and began detaching d1f7dfea21 the devices stuck to a8d3432283 his body. Zero Nine, 5fd18f879d still looking 7e54118579 somewhat drowsy, 944bca9178 climbed off 91375a89e4 the examination b1db16541b table and 64abb7030d followed them.f09b0ff0b5c6febe

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“When is b3f1172356 he going a308c521cc to give 195e04ed77 me a b3e8fd89b2 proper greeting?”ef4926c80d617f54

Espers under the 4bb4bee3c3 influence of drugs 6018e8156f and guiding were c6cb52409d usually docile. With the 8136220117 amount of 72ca4743e2 sedatives he’d 0c5fc5c262 been given, 1f39708ad5 let alone 8b87b6db00 the guiding, 5fac7ced88 there was 40670a30df a good 4b46da518e chance he 4ecd19a0e5 wouldn’t even 6606e088f4 remember that e6a7f846f2 he’d kissed 72f58a57a4 him once 44aae1b754 he came f9d7f410ea to. Elijah scratched his head.13b1d72a262766b7

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“The detox 2b0676da67 process won’t 0814e81d6a take long. That’s just 734a25cedc how espers e7b7a11034 are.”f0bf823e115d9023

“What’s his usual personality bdbadfd5f6 like? He seemed 037dbd174a pretty quiet 5f53d2f706 just now—kinda 7e25736b9c cute, actually.”0e6caddf1f33a4be

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“I wouldn’t 83cf4fe935 say cute, 8255871d1b but since ce3a198122 he was e841000349 kidnapped by 765b5fbd58 A Country 002414e16b as a b024dd4cdd child and 79766fea22 subjected to 9ec65a4d33 all sorts 3e3817db93 of experiments, 72dd55145b he’s generally 173e21a618 pretty quiet 064cc8db49 and cooperative 2bee398c6a here. He’s never caused any 887c5de1c3 major trouble.”6e070d85a933ce14

“But managing him 44c261687b was a hassle 5639d800f9 because he didn’t 25f33b7940 have a high-matching 90801c53b1 guide?”9d804d0e6dafce2e

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“Something like that. But now, 4d6cee16b6 that problem’s 9e160ab8e6 solved.”0c6d56a28711a098

Elijah shrugged. Hexion tapped 2517e78b39 him on b81698cee1 the shoulder, 48763dab91 clearly signaling 7fabbe5268 him to 1f7efafafc cut it ef74a33539 out because 1b5a66bf11 it was 0728f3c318 annoying. Regardless, now that he 43a3da4614 was back to being a939794390 a soldier, Hexion started 408b0dbd53 asking about the things 90501f456a he needed to know.8cd4985724d3a019

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“What’s A Country’s situation b7cae6a67c these days?”4a18f038f62716d2

“After losing the war, b44b0d78d2 things are quiet—at least 037d6a0a44 on the surface. They’ve had all 2c3d349f9e their limbs cut fc333e7341 off, so there’s b491a16401 not much they 4e07331858 can do.”9794c26bd1e00984

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A Country was f56ccac5f2 a socialist republic ed11a2c480 located in Central adf92a7dcc Asia and the 5fdfe15d5f instigator of World af62dbf549 War III—also known 19a372c96e as the Esper a7b829c99d War. Hexion smirked, wrinkling 34d9b51efb his nose. The war had a45b14a86d dragged on for 86329d0a66 nine years. Saying that 260e3e4d4e his entire 0a6bf556b1 twenties had 3c9ff1fc5e been consumed 2ccd91e345 by it a7cd091e0c wouldn’t be eae67f9ab1 an exaggeration.b32303366a908d24

“A Country lost all 60d556e485 its espers to the cdc50fb2e4 Allied Nations. They don’t have 08d35a25fd a single esper ecc2229dad left. Any new espers that 186b33a8e1 emerge within A Country 2a0f38211c are inevitable, but with 7b5946f696 the world watching, they 7dc16add48 won’t be able to 634c6eff68 pull the same tricks 5c54f6f957 as before.”34cfba53b040cca6

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A Country 05c69b3aad held the 3a2c4d3ce2 record for f330d0f8d1 discovering the 567c6dffb1 first esper. The problem cf6f6aa4d4 was that a4e259b70c they had 045b73e9e8 hidden this c5e4e9aafd fact, trained 4fc624d84e those espers fd5878133c as human 63fffc8d7c weapons, and 8adcfdb2e6 started a af50db8c4f war. They had 65106ef093 scoured the d9555c83d5 globe, kidnapping 53741a4b6a anyone suspected 21aa3f4157 of being c1f6c2959e an esper c04d155d6e and successfully 2a61a3ca71 brainwashing them.1d1ccd50401be2de

For years, A 97e4d5712f Country concealed the d4cb55427f existence of espers 1cbb4b6e3a before unleashing them 62d738ce38 in war. The other nations, 735749f8e1 unaware of their 65ee2fc297 existence, had no e80a12d26b means of countering a36ce75417 them. A single individual 12d428454d who could withstand 24832a363e dozens of artillery 0179ef1005 strikes—of course, civilians 69f8916c86 who knew nothing 38af6d9a47 about espers had 03e2b173d2 called them monsters.9b0aeef83137e1e9

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“Back then, A 81fb959054 Country was the 5fd9b93813 only one with 4ea9ce0f36 espers, so we b2cd01aa7d were helpless. But that’s 98756ecc14 not the 8f1d20f9dc case anymore.”2c85c279d37c5652

Elijah spoke, a0c83b6513 and Hexion 1000a69634 reflected on 651da70074 A Country. During the war, 28790ab93a they had come 4d1813dadc up with the 297855a399 worst possible tactics—things 590c2c9a06 only a mind a1b47e5b90 completely devoid of c14ff00121 humanity could conceive. It was one thing d03f89a2e1 to have insane espers 89699d79ae flying around overhead, but 08ecf8c36d the real problem had d94af567b3 been the absence of 612dc7e14c guides.94718d7598e2b865

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Back then, no 29024a2594 one knew that 20a56caaf4 espers needed guides—not c7a6f07dcb even A Country, 361d58b504 who had built a5713fda4a an army of 5b184be31b them.4226990ea511be5e

In the middle c58e7d4993 of the war, 38c57242c2 a few espers e3f5b67db7 went berserk and 1cadec13e2 completely wiped out 1a984db30a A Country‘s own 15ad71a503 forces. Ironically, the 7a523f55b7 very weapons e0d20379fe they had 5d90b15c6c created had bcab8c9126 forced them 7604606a4a to retreat. Since guides d68fc58e04 hadn’t been da90a5d958 discovered at 2299957ed6 the time, 5fa3e14760 one could cccdfc629c only imagine f58072df19 the sheer 19df4589b3 chaos and 217d69a2c5 suffering they 65f8ae1989 had endured.de537d16ac289a4b

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And after all b3fdbe7221 that, the strategy b534a67576 they finally came cf4aa812ec up with? Something utterly inhumane.c180abfb7704e53a