Interlude VIII - アルファ AKA The Alpha Pair

‘So, you’re just going to let them drive off without giving them a heads-up?’

‘You saw as well as I just what those women are capable of, Momo. In any case, I’m almost certain they’ll be fine, more or less.’

‘What makes you so sure?’

‘You saw that black and purple-haired one that was at the wheel? Tonight isn’t the first time I’ve crossed paths with her. I came across her by chance, a bit over ten years ago; maybe six months before I met you. I found her in quite the compromising situation. She looked very different back then, but her eyes still have almost exactly the same look on close inspection; as if the world is a meaningless vacuum with very little of any value therein.

‘Anyway, back then, I got a brief glimpse of what she’s capable of, so I put her in touch with a relative, to help her out and ensure that her life didn’t go to waste there and then.’

‘Eh? You’ll have to tell me the full story at some point. Speaking of familiar looking women; you saw how that one with the orange streak in her hair handled that TPR, didn’t you?’

‘Yes, I did. What are you thinking?’

‘We should definitely look into her, right? She’s clearly been given the same training as us, so, in theory she should have no business running around in a small unit like that.’

‘Quite right, but we’re not going to interfere with what they’re doing though; the president would probably get annoyed with us if we strayed too far off into our own operations.’

‘Oh, yeah, I didn’t really have any action in mind. If she is one of us, it’d be good to know exactly who she is, for if or when we cross paths again though, right?’

‘Right you are.’

‘So, um, how much longer are we going to sit here? As much as I’d love to stargaze or watch the moon drift along by your side, doing it from the cockpit of this car isn’t exactly ideal.’

‘Spoken as if we haven’t had many fun times in here, Momo, honestly, I’m almost heartbroken that you’d say such a thing.’

She says with a voice completely devoid of expression. ‘Ha, please. We both know you’re not the type for heartbreak, or showing any real emotion, for that matter. At least, anywhere besides the bedroom that is, heh.’

‘Right. Let’s get going. We still have work to do, so we'll save the couple’s chat for when we’re done. Guess what? We’re not heading east.’

‘You’re planning to follow them, aren’t you?’

‘Well, we didn’t warn them about what’s in store. Also, you saw the state of them; they’re not doing spectacularly on the physical durability front, so they’ll probably need that ability of yours to help them survive.’

‘You’re such a sadist. You just want to witness first-hand how they operate, don’t you?’

‘Don’t you?’

‘Well, yeah.’

In response to Momo's mischievous smile, without another word, the raven–haired woman at the wheel pressed the rightmost pedal to the floor, commanding the S20 engine to growl and the car’s rear tyres to squeal as the Fairlady set off with ferocity akin to that of a devil.