"I see, so he blackmailed you," Reiko said lowering his head holding his fist resting atop his leg.
Silence engulfed the whole room and slight tension in the air were hanging around the corner. Louige didn't know what to say anymore since he felt Reiko's disappointment even more. He tried to look away in shame but he built his courage to face the reality.
"I blocked the servers from Alaska and Australia to lower the firewall on Aegis." Louige continued. He strengthened his resolve and tried to confess everything he's done.
"So that's the reason why the virus had entered the system when it shouldn't have if those servers were up..." Reiko gritted his teeth. He wanted to scream, to punch something or someone but he knew that would give Louige a wrong impression. He knew in himself that he was mad at the hacker, and he was mad at Louige but he can't bring that up since he was also hurt and he's also a family.
"Hai, that could have been the case. I also manipulated the system so that the MASONS cannot decipher the codes he gave to Markus that day. I was told to do that and honestly, I was not able to decipher it myself. It was not Occtum."
"No wonder they were not able to decipher it because the code was an old one." Reiko sighed. he walked towards the window and opened the curtains letting the sunshine engulf the whole room. "Markus had mentioned it was a Binary code system commonly used in the old earth. No wonder you were not able to decipher it immediately."
"Ahh, I also wrecked the deciphering system knowing that they will not do the deciphering manually." the man on the bed said.
"Pretty clever." Reiko laughed under his breath. He looked up and stared outside the window.
"And about the laptop with a bomb, I was the one who placed that unit inside the store. I was at the mall when the explosion happened." He took a deep breath trying to hold his tears away "I saw Markus and his friends trying to find shelter from the falling debris from the explosion I made."
"You made the building explode?" Reiko's eyes widened and went to Louige's bedside immediately.
"I did, I'm sorry." Tears fell from Louige's eyes.
"How did you do that?" Reiko asked.
"He delivered a piece of the transmitter to my office and asked me to plant it on the same unit as Markus' computer assuming that he will pick that unit because he was already familiar with its specs. And with some calculations, I assumed that they will enter that store for shelter after the explosion that was carefully planned." Louige explained.
"No wonder you are part of the MASONS." Reiko shook his head and a smile grew on his face. He sat again and poured water on the glass.
"Don't flatter me please, I have done a terrible thing." He said. "But, the explosion on his school was not part of the plan. He might have decided to blow that place up knowing that Markus would be there during that day." He continued. "And about the Androids..."
"Cool name, right? I guess Dave was not a total jerk, I mean, he thought of a cool nice name." Reiko laughed.
"This is no time for a joke, Reiko-sama," Louige complained.
"What? That was pretty cool, wasn't it? Well, going back..." he cheerfully said.
"Okay, well, the Androids were carefully selected from the millions who have registered to purchase the ORION sunglasses. I hand-picked those people knowing what they can do, of course with the supervision of the voice on the mail."
"You've been in a tough situation." He slowly poked Louige's head.
"Not as tough as Markus'. Well, I programmed those glasses to receive a radio wave that will allow access to their brain. I also contributed to the program he sent from the Apollo as well."
"You're taking credit for what he has done as well, huh..."
"I know, and I regretted it." He lowered his head and paused for a minute. "The fall came and most of the people around the city passed out because of that wave sent through their smartphones and other devices. I went straight to the Sunny go where he wanted me to go after I have done my task." His tears fell "The moment I entered the café, he electrocuted me with a stun gun and the moment I woke up, Markus was already tied on a chair in front of a computer unit."
"Ahh, and moments later we saw you lying on the floor bleeding to death."
"I tried to free myself but an Android found me out and shot me before I could have hidden under the counter."
"Bad things did happen," Reiko said.
"I'm really sorry, Sir. I thought when I went to the cafe, I can stop him from hurting Markus and stop this mess without anyone getting involved. I was too naive."
"Well, for now, we can rest for a while. And I'm really glad that you are awake." Reiko stood from where he is seated and opened the window near the bedside. "We can savor this moment of peace, besides, Markus is now in good condition."
"I'm really sorry, Reiko-sama. If I hadn't just followed his orders, none of this would have happened." Louige exclaimed.
"It's not thoroughly your fault. It's someone who had grudge against me." He looked outside the window and saw the clear bright sky. He thought of what could have happened if he knew this beforehand and felt his blood racing. "I have to find him before he can do worse things than this"
"Ahh,, I know you can Reiko-sama." He put his arm on his chest and bowed "I will do my best to help for good now."
"Ahh, and I am counting on you."
"Hai." Louige replied
"So, if Hachiro will wake up soon, you will be the MC for the party, huh."
"What MC?"
"For his birthday. The doctor said he'll be waking up soon." Reiko said and a gust of cold wind entered the room. The curtains danced with the wind and the sun radiated its warm embrace. "I just hope that SOON will come immediately."
"I hope so, too. But, is that okay? I mean, I was the one who put Hachiro in that situation. I wonder what Ms. Charlotte had thought about me." Louige looked sideways and crossed his brows.
"It's okay, Charlie won't plant grudges and such. She's a kind person, well, monstrous at times and she might hit you very very very hard, but she is nice." Reiko faked a smile..
"I'll look forward to that." Louige also replied with a fake smile.
They laughed at the moment and felt the dry breeze of the summer air.
"But, I'm sure, Hachiro will be happy to see you there."
"I hope so. Should I bring cookies?" Louige asked.
"Ahh, please do. He'll love that." Reiko said.